MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

‘Art That Dares’ named Lammy finalist

Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More by Kittredge Cherry has been named a finalist for the 20th annual Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the Lammies.

Kitt also participated in a reading by Lammy finalists in West Hollywood on May 8.  See the video or click here for more info on the reading. 

Lammy winners will be announced May 29 at a gala ceremony in West Hollywood, CA.  The glamorous event is the queer literary version of the Academy Awards.

The awards recognize excellence in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender literature.  They are considered to be the highest honor for a book from the GLBT community

More than 80 judges -- writers, journalists, booksellers, librarians, professors -- chose 107 finalists in 21 categories this year.  Finalists were chosen from 463 books nominated by 190 publishers.

Art That Dares is one of five finalists in the LGBT Arts and Culture category.  It’s up against Harvard University Press among others -- quite an accomplishment for a small start-up queer press. 

Three legendary figures of the LGBT literary community will receive Pioneer Awards at this year’s ceremony.  They are Ann Bannon, author of the Beebo Brinker lesbian fiction series;
Mark Thompson, author of Gay Soul; and Malcolm Boyd, Episcopal priest and author of Are You Running With Me, Jesus?

Art That Dares is packed with color illustrations by 11 contemporary artists from the U.S. and Europe.  Art that dares to show Jesus as gay or female has been censored or destroyed.  Cherry gathered these beautiful, liberating, sometimes shocking images into a book to ensure that they would be available.  In the book, the artists tell the stories behind the images and the introduction puts them into political and historical context, exploring issues of blasphemy and artistic freedom.

For tickets and more info, visit LambdaLiterary.org.

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Kittredge Cherry blogs at the Jesus in Love Blog and edits the Jesus in Love Newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts.  She offers GLBT and progressive spiritual resources at JesusInLove.org. 

Black Jesus, Gay Jesus and Obama

Black Jesus is causing controversy now for U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama.

“Jesus was a poor black man who lived in a country and lived in a culture that was controlled by rich, white people,” said Obama’s recently retired pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.  He was preaching to a predominantly black congregation.

I appreciate the need for the black Jesus because as a lesbian minister and author I promote the idea of a queer Christ.  These radically new Christ figures embody and empower people who are left out when Jesus is shown as a straight man.  They can free the minds of everyone.

However, some people reacted with outrage when videos of Wright’s preaching were broadcast on national television yesterday.  News reports about the controversy focus not only on the black Jesus, but also on his analysis of U.S. politics, which Obama has condemned as “inflammatory and appalling.”

Wright recently retired as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.  Watch him on video and judge for yourself.
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Kittredge Cherry Kittredge Cherry is the author of Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More.  She edits the Jesus in Love Newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts.  She offers progressive spiritual resources at JesusInLove.org. 

Gay Mohammad art censored

Gay Mohammad images on video and in photos were censored recently from a Dutch art exhibit. The artist was forced into hiding by death threats from Muslim extremists.

Iranian-born artist Sooreh Hera says that her images are an artistic expose of Islamic hypocrisy on homosexuality.

She photographed gay men in masks of Mohammad and his son-in-law Ali. Her video mixes photos of gay men and Muslim clerics, Islamic chants and the hard rock of “Gay Bar” by Electric Six. 

The municipal museum in the Hague backed out of its plan to exhibit the photos from Hera’s “Adam and Ewald” series and a related video, according to recent news reports. Wim van Krimpen, director of the Gemeentemuseum, announced that the images were removed because “certain people in our society might perceive it as offensive.”

Hera, 34, accused the museum of caving in to pressure from Islamists, who also sent her death threats. Hera withdrew the rest of her photos from the show in protest, and another Dutch museum in Gouda has agreed to exhibit them in the future.

Her video “Allah ho Gaybar” was on YouTube for a few hours before it was removed for its provocative content. It is now available at a Dutch site.

A gallery of gay Mohammad photos can be viewed on Hera’s website. “Religion always wants to control human sexuality, most prominently with a compelling taboo on homosexuality,” she says in a statement on her site. “I have tried to show a recognisable beauty of homosexuals, but also an alienating beauty that to many may be unimagined, or dishonorable.”

In media interviews, Hera repeatedly criticizes countries such as Iran for imposing the death penalty for homosexual conduct.

The gay Mohammad controversy is especially interesting to me as a lesbian Christian art historian. I get many negative comments from Christian conservatives who are offended by the gay Jesus images in my websites and book Art That Dares. They often say that nobody would dare make a picture of a gay Mohammad because Islamic fundamentalists fight blasphemy with violence. Sometimes the Christian right sounds almost envious, as if they wished they could use violence instead of Christ’s command to “love your enemy.”

Well, the Christian right was wrong. Artists ARE making gay Mohammad images. As long as there is religious hypocrisy over homosexuality, artists will be making queer religious images that expose the truth. Society is enriched by the brave, powerful artistry of truth tellers like Sooreh Hera.

News reports about Hera and other artists addressing religion and homosexuality are included in the monthly Jesus in Love Newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts. I edit the newsletter and blog at the Jesus in Love Blog. Visit JesusInLove.org for more progressive spiritual resources.

(Photo above is from Adam and Ewald by Sooreh Hera)

Top 5 queer-spirit arts stories for 2007 named

JesusInLove.org has announced its picks for 2007’s top five news stories on GLBT spirituality and the arts.

Leading the list is the National Festival of Progressive Spiritual Art.  JesusInLove.org, an online resource center for GLBT people with spiritual interests and their allies, chose the stories based on Web traffic and attendance in real life.

Here’s a round-up of the year’s top five queer spiritual art stories, based on Web traffic and attendance in real life.

1.  Gay Jesus art delights crowds at National Festival of Progressive Spiritual Art.  More than 350 people attend the opening in Taos in May.  It includes the image at left, "Jesus Returns to God" by F. Douglas Blanchard. Click here for more

2.  A mini-riot erupts in an evangelical Swedish city over gay Jesus photos by Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin in August.  Click here for more

3.  “Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ and More” by Kittredge Cherry is published to enthusiastic reviews. Click here for more

 4. A leather version of the Last Supper sparks controversy as the poster for the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco in September. Click here for more

5.  National Coming Out Day inspires dozens of videos in October, including the year’s most popular video at JesusInLove.org. Click here for more

2007 was a fantastic year for GLBT spirituality and the arts.  Thousands of people to visited galleries, read books and watched videos last year to see new images of God based on gay, lesbian, bi and trans experience.  The images inspired hope -- and sometimes fear and violence.

JesusInLove.org promotes queer spirituality and the arts, with an emphasis on books and images.  We believe that God loves all people, including sexual minorities, and that the creative process is sacred.  We hope that the new visions, especially the gay Jesus, will free people to experience the divine in new ways and lead to a more just world.

Show your support by signing up for our free e-newsletter on queer spirituality and the arts.

See video for a happy new year in 2008

I made a video to wish everyone a wonderful new year in 2008. 

Be sure to watch this 30-second video to see the gorgeous poinsettias near our home -- and to find out why I believe 2008 will be a great year.
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Kittredge Cherry is a lesbian Christian art historian and author who offers gay-friendly spiritual resources at JesusInLove.org and blogs at Jesus In Love Blog.

Republicans, why don’t you respect my gay marriage?

I ask the Republican presidential candidates about gay marriage in my new video for the CNN YouTube debate.

I’m a lesbian who’s been married to the same woman since my church wedding in 1987, but all of the Republican frontrunners have been divorced and remarried, sometimes more than once!

I want to know why they won’t give my 20-year marriage the same legal status that their marriages have.

If my video is chosen by CNN, it will be broadcast and answered on live TV on Nov. 28. You can see the video now by clicking the button in the middle of image above.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate the live debate between the eight major Republican candidates for U.S. president – Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Sen. John McCain, Rep. Ron Paul, Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Tom Tancredo and Sen. Fred Thompson. It will run live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (ET) on CNN on Wed., Nov. 28.

In the video I show the “Holy Union” certificate from my wedding at Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco in 1987 – long before “gay marriage” became a major political issue.

Politicians like to make it sound like all churches oppose “gay marriage” while the government at least recognizes “civil unions.” My video shows that progressive spiritual communities have been blessing GLBT unions for decades.

For example, a variety of wedding rites and relationship blessings for GLBT couples are included in my now-classic book Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies, and Celebrations.  Someday I hope that the secular world will catch up with the church.

There’s still time for you to ask a video question, too. The CNN YouTube Debates site is accepting videos through Nov. 25.  If you do submit a question, please let me know so that we can support each other.

(cross-posted at the Jesus in Love Blog)

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Kittredge Cherry is a lesbian author who offers glbt-friendly spiritual resources at JesusInLove.org.

luminosity

 

Chicks break out of their shells because they’re dying.  When the fetal chicken is mature, the egg fills with a toxic gas and the chick inside must break out or die.  It seems harsh, but the chick’s passage from incubation to self-salvation and finally into the light is a rite of passage we all must make.  Same-gender-loving and Transgender people have been encased in oppression’s shell and repression’s closet for too long, and this is the moment for us to break out into a new life of equality, community, and joy.

Hiding in the shell is tempting—even if it means remaining disempowered and unfulfilled, frightened and angry, stuck, bitter and wounded—because the inside of the cramped porcelain oval is familiar and safe in it’s own way:  the shell insulates as well as restrains.  What’s outside is unknown, and it seems like once you’re out there, you’ll be more vulnerable.  Of course the truth is that the blind, embryonic creature trapped in darkness is far more vulnerable than the vocal, mobile animal able to roam in the light.

The egg is filling up with gas, and it’s time for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people to make a choice:  red pill or blue pill?  Do we want to continue as we are, or do we choose transformation, wisdom, and actualization? Shall we keep trying to achieve equal rights, recognition and respect by demanding change, or shall we create genuine, lasting change by embodying change?

The leaders of history’s successful social change movements have already told us the answer: the end is inherent in the means; inner transformation precedes outer transformation; and, we must be the change we wish to see in the world. 

Understanding Where We Come From, but not Losing Ourselves

I don’t know how many of you have been following all the to-do about a researcher in Oregon investigating the physiological aspects of sheep sexuality, but I have been. In the first reports to come out of Dr. Roselli’s research, I was among the many queers who were very frightened about prospects of research into hormonal “cures” of homosexuality. Now, as Dr. Roselli tries to distance himself and his research from these notions, I remain worried and skeptical.

 

While I have avoided posting on this subject because I feel there is not enough solid information available, I was reminded of Dr. Roselli’s work and investigations into the causes of homosexuality by an interview I read today on Salon titled God and Gorillas. This interview is just one example of scientific investigation into the origin of religion. I find both the investigation into the causes of homosexuality and the evolutionary origins of religion to be similarly worrying on a gut level, even though I support them on an intellectual level.

 

Like many queers, I feel threatened by research into the specific causes of homosexuality because I worry that if a gene, hormone, hormone balance, etc., were found that directly caused homosexuality, some might be tempted to develop a “cure” for homosexuality (or alternatively, mothers might be tempted to abort babies simply to avoid having a gay child).  While those of us who are out and proud and our allies recognize that such a “cure” is nonsense, it would likely appeal very strongly to those struggling with their sexuality, parents of those struggling, and homophobic policy makers and lobbyists.

Respecting the beliefs of others, even (if grudgingly) the religious Right

Truth is, its hard to get into a discussion about politics without also discussing religion. And when I get into discussions with my friends, on web and blog forums, or with authors who I wish could here me as a verbally respond while reading their books/articles, I am often miffed at how dismissive my fellow progressives and other Left-leaners are towards the faith of the religious Right. Recently I wrote a post on Mormonism which was inspired not only by a few articles I linked to in the post, but also by the Mormon bashing I hear from my progressive friends (who think of themselves as very tolerant). For whatever reason, people whose political beliefs lie a little left of center tend to be a little two faced about respecting diverse religious beliefs, as they continue dismissing fundamentalist and conservative Christians as nut jobs, whackos, or other similar epithets. At times, I’m guilty of it, too.

But do any of us really think that we’re going to get anywhere if we refuse to accept the genuineness and sincerity of fundamentalist and conservative political beliefs? While it may make us feel superior to dismiss those on the other side of the political fence as unintelligent, or worse, in doing so we do ourselves and our democracy a grave disservice. One has to recognize that there are some pretty smart cookies over on the right hand side of the political divide. The sophistication of the Right’s political and media machine betrays the amount of brain power that went into building and maintaining the religious Right. But recognizing the intellectual prowess of the religious Right is just the first step and, in my opinion, the easiest.

A Muslim defends his support of gay rights

By Joe Perez

In "My Road to Wisconsin Was Paved With Good Intentions: A Muslim-American Reflection on the Civil-Union Ban," Ambreen Tariq offers a Muslim perspective on attempts to ban gay civil unions.

Writing in The American Muslim, Tariq comments on a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution that would have denied marriage rights to non-heterosexual couples:

Although I believe that homosexual acts are not permissible in Islam, I do not want the government to espouse or express these religious views. Such entanglement with religion is dangerous. After all, marriage is culturally sacred, and for many, it is a recognition of a monogamous commitment between two people in the eyes of God. The state should not dictate the nature of this process. It is that simple.