MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

kd lang Comes Out Spiritually

The March issue of Shambhala Sun Magazine features Melvin McLeod's interview with kd lang about her Nyingma Buddhist practice with teacher, Lama Chodak Gyatso Nubpa , and her new album, Watershed: 

"The idea of watershed has a great deal of pertinence to becoming a Buddhist and following the path.  It seems to me that the flow of dharma - or the flow of one's own innate buddhanature - is like water.  There are obstacles, but eventually the water will find its way around them. 

"A change of direction happens when you take refuge and become a practitioner.  For me, it's been about reassessing, reviewing and reprioritizing everything in my life.  It's been about revitalizing my morality and my relationship to cause and effect, meaning what I do as a person - with my body, speech and mind - and how it affects all other beings.  Each song is about my relationship to something, and it's also about the cause and effect of each of those relationships."

Subscribe to Shambhala Sun Magazine.

Buy kd lang's Buddhist-inspired album, Watershed.

Isaiah Washington pulls a Gibson

By Joe Perez

If he uses another bigoted slur, actor Isaiah Washington should be fired from the cast of TV's hit drama Grey's Anatomy. But as it stands now, Washington's public apology seems unusually candid and refreshingly remorseful, and ABC's rebuke of Washington more than a mere slap on the wrist. Washington's recent use of anti-gay slurs coincides, as it so happens, with Name-Calling Week (NNCW), a laudible effort by GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) to call attention to the continuing prevalence and widespread acceptance of anti-gay slurs among young people today.

A few scans of recent Hollywood news reveals the problems afoot at Grey's Anatomy. Basically Washington called his co-star T.R. Knight a faggot in an on-set tirade, an event which prompted Knight to subsequently publicly acknowledge his homosexuality for the first time. Washington later lied about the incident at the Golden Globes, after a reporter asked him about his use of the term "gay" as a slur. Washington said he never used the word "faggot," which is exactly like a white guy saying he never used the n-word to describe a black colleague, while actually using the n-word in his denial. Not cool.

A "punk under God," Jay's a role model for Christians

by Darrell Grizzle

Jay Bakker, son of PTL Club founders Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner, is all over the news because of the new TV documentary series about him, “One Punk Under God” (on the Sundance Channel). CNN.com recently ran a profile about Jay and the TV series, as well as a commentary co-written by Jay and a member of his church, “What the Hell Happened to Christianity?” As far as editorials go, it’s pretty basic, but it raises some good questions.

I watched the first episode of “One Punk Under God” and quickly became engrossed in it. I was a member of the PTL Club back in the 1980s, when I was still a closeted Pentecostal zombie, and it was sad to watch Jay tour the grounds of Heritage USA, which are now decayed and weed-strewn. I wonder why no developer has bought the land and torn down all the rotting buildings. Of course, it may be a legal issue as to who actually owns the land. Jerry Falwell and his minions ended up with the satellite network, which is now nothing more than one of dozens of “Christian” networks on digital cable. (I resent the fact that I have to subscribe to all those channels in order to get the ones I want, like National Geographic, Logo, Sundance, BBC America, etc.)

"Convert or Die"

By Darrell Grizzle

Just in time for holiday gift-giving . . .

Liberal and progressive Christian groups say a new computer game [Left Behind: Eternal Forces] in which players must either convert or kill non-Christians is the wrong gift to give this holiday season and that Wal-Mart, a major video game retailer, should yank it off its shelves.

. . . The Rev. Tim Simpson, a Jacksonville, Fla., Presbyterian minister and president of the Christian Alliance for Progress, added: “So, under the Christmas tree this year for little Johnny is this allegedly Christian video game teaching Johnny to hate and kill?”

The news story, from the San Francisco Chronicle:
‘Convert or Die’ Game Divides Christians

How religious gays are portrayed in pop culture

"Gay People of Faith Come Out of the Closet" is the title of an article by James Hillis on Afterelton.com. It provides a discussion of gays and religion with a focus on portrays in movies and other pop culture.

The article notes that "the Web has become the best place to find diverse, positive representations of gay people of faith," and then highlights the web sites of two Muslim organizations, a Jewish organization, a Buddhist website, and two Protestant Christian websites.

All in all, "Gay People of Faith" provides good background information on portrayals of gays in mainstream religions. However, readers will find no explicit discussion of "spiritual, but not religious" category of gays (which may comprise as much as 40 percent of the population).

The Daily Show on Ted Haggard

Jon Stewart is brilliant in this clip on the good rev.  Money quote:  "People like you make it hard on...people like you."  Too true.  (Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan.)

Queer spirituality in Time Out NY

Some great news.  As a part of Gay Pride, Time Out New York's June 20th issue will feature QueerDharma in an article written by Gay and Lesbian editor, Beth Greenfield.  The piece, she says, is about queer spirituality and its rapidly growing community.  No word yet on who else may be featured in the article, but it really is great news for those of us who have been working to raise the profile of LGBT spirituality in the media.

Thanks to Beth and Time Out for the article!  Can't wait to read it! 

Brokeback Mountain: the straight reaction

Two wonderful stories of real-life reactions to Brokeback Mountain...

First, Nicole Langolis in The London Free Press:

The silence of the religionists

The following post contains graphic and good-taste-defying descriptions of mind numbing, humanity draining, stomach churning, breathtakingly evil sentiments by a religionist. Read on at your own risk.

More news of the weird

Blizzard, makers of popular online video game War Craft, is fucked up. They have a policy against harrassment on the basis of sexual orientation. They use the policy to allow gay jokes and to prohibit the creation of a "GLBT-friendly" chat room. Huh? Here's what a gamer has to say:

Sara Andrews has stated that she will not be renewing her World of Warcraft account due to Blizzards lack of support for a GLBT friendly environment, "It seems to be OK for general chat to be flooded with, 'That's so gay!' and 'I just got ganked! What a fag!' yet advertising for a GLBT friendly environment where we don't have to deal with such language is deemed inappropriate."

Sorry I don't have anything more uplifting or inspirational to post today. It's just been one of those days.