Update: SFNYC, Giving, and Bible discussions at CMU

First off, Soulforce NYC is in gearing up in many new and exciting ways like never before. We're collaborating with Vassar College's Act Out for an event in a few weeks, moving forward with a spring campaign, and finally finally bringing in new voices and ideas. It feels soooo good and I've been waiting close to a year for the wheels to finally start spinning.

As the economic uncertainty continues, I recently read an article forecasting that Americans would simply find new and cheaper ways to indulge, rather than question the consumerist me-at-the-cost-of-others centered attitude. While I've given money recently to the Equality Ride and to No On 8 in California, it's been awhile since I've invested in small businesses worldwide through Kiva. Aziza Khamis and her friend Mtumuwa own small business making and selling "chipsi" (french fries) in Zanzibar. Through her business, Aziza is able to bring in $240 in profits each month. The loan, which I'm a part of, will help her buy ingredients to expand sales! My other Kiva loans are in the process of being repaid so I only had to contribute an additional $8.25 ... easy!

Micah and I returned from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA last night and I have many reactions to share. As I process them myself, I'll put them up here.

What better way to spend a Friday afternoon than with a music video?

Hacking Christianity posted this video and wondered if the ending didn't completely undermine the message. I can't decide if the ending is purposefully vague--leaving us with the reality that we are free to to decide how to react to Jesus's sacrificial death--or if the filmmakers buy into (the myth of) redemptive violence. In either case, the cinematography is beautiful.


Awake O'Sleeper from Brandon McCormick on Vimeo.

Meet A Rider: Alex Lundy

I think the Equality Ride is distinct in that it acknowledges the connection between religion and heterosexism. It does not discount it from the discussion or demand that folks "get their Bible out of school policies." Instead, it boldly meets people where they are. It affirms my unwavering personal stance that all people have the right to be freed from prejudice, no matter what their sexual orientation, faith, or personal beliefs may be. Every person has the right to feel empowered by truth and knowledge, and not become a victim of misinformation. Everyone is entitled to experience love, to love themselves and to love others. All people have to right to feel safe in their schools, churches, communities, and homes. And all students have the right to participate in higher education.

I am a living embodiment of change.

Support the Equality Ride by sponsoring Alex.

Meet the other riders.

When it comes to power, under is never equal

It's a busy day and I do not have time for my own writing today. Hectic work schedule followed by phone banking at the Task Force tonight. However, a post by Mimi Haddad came across my reader that I had to pass along.

Here is a fierce excerpt:

Gender is not the basis upon which authority in marriage or the church is determined. Remember, Paul tells all Christians to submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21). Wives have authority over their husbands’ bodies, just as husbands have authority over their wives’ bodies (1 Corinthians 7:4). Paul celebrates the spiritual authority of female apostles (Romans 16:1); prophets (1 Corinthians 11:3-5, 1 Corinthians 14:31, Acts 2:17; 21:9); house church leaders (Romans 16:13-15, 40, 1 Corinthians 1:11, 1 Corinthians 16:19, Philemon 1:2, and 2 John 1:1); deacons (Romans 16:1); teachers of the gospel (Acts 18:26); evangelists (Philemon 4:3, Romans 16:3); and those who do the very heaviest of gospel-labor (Romans 16:12). Paul calls others to submit to Stephanas’ entire household (1 Corinthians 16:15-16), including slaves as well as women who were part of this household ministry. Slaves, free, Greeks, Jews, men, women, the educated, and the illiterate shared spiritual authority — as they shared in the risen life of Christ (Galatians 3:27-29). And, this oneness in Christ would one day overturn slavery and the subjugation of women.

What have we become?

I was asked to join the 2008 Equality Riders in Baltimore before they hit the road for some video training, song singing with Micah, and general passing of the torch. They shared much with me. As I follow some of them through blogs and Facebook, removed from the immediacy by a computer screen, observing from a safe distance; my heart aches.

This is Lauren Parke.

She was attempting to enter chapel with students who invited her, to worship with them, and to continue in conversation. When did the Christian faith become mediated by handcuffs instead of prayer, when did the fence replace the communion table?

When did Christians arresting each other become acceptable? And how much longer will it last? It is more heart-breaking every time.

Meet A Rider: Taueret Manu

I first met Taueret here in New York City through friends from the Equality Ride. I immediately knew that she would be on the next bus. Don't forget to meet the other riders.

"Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours." It's time to speak for those whose voices are methodically silenced and inspire them with the tools to find their own justice and empowerment. I will challenge myself to overcome my own prejudice against those who would see my soul silenced and my rights taken away, and find the beauty and grace in every individual whom I encounter on this fierce adventure.

Support the Equality Ride by sponsoring Taueret.

Sometimes comics are unusually insightful

Blog Action Day Poverty -- Do Something!

Now that we're thinking and talking about poverty, it's time to do something. I sometimes find myself trapped in a cycle of researching and discussing, unable or unwilling to break out of my comfort zone and take action. Since returning from the Equality Ride, I have been intentional about finding ways to take action--and then following through. Here are some ways that you can help address poverty in our world.

Learn.
In order to be an effective advocate and ally, I need to understand what I'm dealing with. I need faces, names, and experiences to ground what might otherwise become abstractions. While "poverty" is a macro-concern, there are families and children, parents and neighbors, who have stories. This is more than an issue to manage, it is lives to support. World Vision Australia put together an excellent resource, appropriately titled Learn About Poverty. In addition to information about poverty, there's also concrete ways that you can get involved:

• Video on child and slave labor
• What is ethical consumerism?
• And more!

Invest
It is easy for me to think of people living in poverty as victims who need to be rescued. When I understand them as potential partners, everything changes. I don't come alongside people living in poverty out of guilt, shame, or even pride; but rather to learn and grow. As you know, I've started investing in small-business owners by micro-lending through Kiva. That's one way!

You can also sponsor a child through World Vision. This program puts a name, a face, and an experience on global poverty and--I think--enriches the sponsor just as much as the sponsored.

Communicate
My friend Dave O'Brien (director of Equality U) works for an organization called Causecast which is a place to explore issues while connecting with others who want to make a difference. Surf their site to find life-changing causes which you can support, network with like-minded others, and sound off about what you care about. Charity:Water works to bring life-saving water wells to communities in developing nations.

Tell us what you care about and how you're making a difference. No seriously, leave a comment. Knowing that others are out there makes it easier for me to get motivated. Communication is crucial.

Collaborate
Blog Action Day is about bringing together a chorus of voices together in unison. Together, we are taking poverty awareness to a new level. But what about tomorrow? What will rush in to fill the void? I propose, action. Tomorrow is World Food Day, visit World Vision's World Food Day section to find out how you can get involved. From prayer, to one-time donations, and to child sponsorship, you can take what you've learned during Blog Action Day and put it into action on World Food Day. Come back tomorrow and share what you've done!

Imagine
"You can do no great things, only small things with great love." What am I leaving out? What will we do today--and tomorrow, and the next day!--to address poverty in our communities and in our world. How will we interrupt cycles which create and sustain poverty? How will we support those working to climb out of poverty? How will we learn from and collaborate with people in poverty? How will we bring the reality of poverty to the public consciousness? Let's start dreaming and see what takes shape!

Blog Action Day: What Is Poverty?

A week or so ago, I stumbled upon a video while surfing the web. It asks, "What is poverty?" Today is Blog Action Day, a day when bloggers around the world come together to raise their collective voices in unison. This year, we're talking about poverty. As I've been thinking about what it means to make a living wage, what community looks like, and what I live for, I have also been asking, what is poverty? Why is there homelessness? How am I part of the problem? And what am I missing out on? This video has given me much to think about. I'll have more posts coming, but first, share your reactions! Have you ever lived in or near poverty? Have you ever been friends with people in poverty? If not, what are some of your assumptions about poverty, people living in poverty, the causes and effects of poverty? Share share!

Non-Violence is a kitchen a sink

In our house, we have a situation of sorts.

Rick really wants the common space to be clean and he keeps telling Ben that it's disrespectful to not clean his dishes right away and to just leave them in the sink.
But Ben keeps leaving them in the sink and when Rick asks him to clean them he says
"I will, I want to eat first, I just put them in there, I will get to them soon."
Often they get left for over a day.
And Rick gets really frustrated
Because he keeps telling Ben that Ben should care about the others, and that Ben should do them right away
And that's just "what is right"
Yet there are still almost always dishes in the sink

And Rick can tell Ben that he "should" do this or that he "needs" to think that or such and such is 'just the way things are"

But that's not going to clean the dishes.

Ben doesn't clean the dishes because Ben isn't invested in having a clean sink
And Rick simply telling Ben that he should clean the dishes isn't going to enroll Ben in having a clean sink, is it?

Our experiment in truth is still in progress.

There Is A Cost

"Why do you want to get arrested?"

We do not want to get arrested, we want to talk and share our experiences and our humanity. We want to find commonality and strive toward reconciliation. Fifteen minutes ago there was silence, now there are dozens of conversations lining the sidewalk in front of your campus. Ten arrests is a small price to pay.

That was my experience outside of Bethany Lutheran University in Mankato, Minnesota on the 2007 Equality Ride. As you know from my blog, the Equality Ride is in full swing again this year and the cost cannot be underestimated.

It is a core tenet of Soulforce to always hold out the possibility for dialogue and reconciliation even under the gravest circumstances. This is not a pre-arrest peptalk that we pay lip service to, but a lived and experienced truth of non-violence. Early on the 2008 Ride, administrators at Liberty University told organizers that no riders would be allowed on campus, when the bus arrived in Lynchburg, five young adults made it on to campus, donated books to the library and spoke with students. When you put your body on the line, mountains (sometimes disguised as police tape) can move.

Neither is willingness to submit to arrest an inspiring selling point, it is sacrifice. Today at Palm Beach University, six young adults put their body on the line in hopes of dialogue. The night prior, their bus door was smashed in, yet they continued undeterred. They refused to give up on the administrators and offered them a chance to respond with love to the end. Not only were they arrested; Danni, Enzi, Nicholas, Zak, and Lauren will spend tonight in a West Palm Beach jail. Think of them.

More photos and the full press release available.

Meet A Rider: Abigail Reikow

Each one the 2008 Soulforce Q Equality Riders brings a power and a presence that enriches the group and all those who will meet them along the way. I hope to personally support each one of them and as I do so, I invite you to learn more about them and to support them yourself. Here we go.

It has been over a year since the 2007 Equality Ride ended, and I am still discovering ways in which it has changed me. I now approach conflict with compassion rather than a sense of competition, and I try to find productive methods of resolution between myself and others, others and the world. I see the value in a simple conversation and understand the ways in which our words can punctuate a path towards social progress. Though I am a straight ally, I have even begun to conceptualize my own sexuality and gender identity in new ways. I now understand that much like the LGBTQ community, my freedom to express either is policed by a society that continuously places my body in a box. As my own transformations illustrate the many possibilities of human experience, I have joined this journey again in order to extend such liberty to everyone, to cultivate in the world the awareness that is growing within me.

Support the Equality Ride by sponsoring Abby.

I Don't Want To Know

I don't want to know that child and slave labor is the source of chocolate that I eat--that the Ivory Coast alone has more than 12,000 child slaves. # # # #
I don't want to know that tomato farmers for Chipotle are only paid $50/day for back-breaking labor and a day that stretches from before sunrise to after sunset. #
I don't want to know that 1.5 million people in New York City live in poverty, and that of those in poverty, 1 million have relied on emergency food at some point during the year. #
I don't want to know that over 100,000 people in New York City experience homelessness. #

But I know, so what now?

Everywhere, USA

I drove all night long through middle-of-nowhere Montana in a bus with twenty-four people I'd known for less than two months. Only twenty-four hours prior I stood in the freezing rain with winds up to 30 miles-per-hour for hours on end. We were on our way to North Dakota and in twenty-fours, I would be standing with these people in the middle of a small-town war zone: police cars and vans, wire fencing, concrete barriers, mobile command units, an ambulance, evacuation teams on stand-by and two streets closed down. Ellendale, North Dakota has a population of 3,000; this was big.

What could twenty-five young adults do to provoke responses of such intensity? Proclaim an affirming message to queer young people: "God loves and affirms you just as you are!"

This is the Equality Ride.

It's a two month long, cross-country, take it to the streets, non-violent direct action campaign which seeks reconciliation between faith and identity and today the bus sets out for the first school of the third ride. Modeled after the work of Gandhi, King, Jr., and others, the Soulforce Q Equality Ride recognizes misunderstanding and misinformation—not individuals—as the source of homophobia and transphobia. We confront the hurtful teachings which fuel spiritual violence . Liberation comes not only for the gay and transgender people who are finally able to accept and love themselves, often returning to and reclaiming their faith, but also for the former oppressors who are now able to understand their faith more fully.

Some organizations branded us radical gay activists, but I'm not sure if I deserve that title. You see, I'm really rather ordinary. As I was searching for something to do after graduation, I found the opportunity to share my story with America and ask America to learn from me. I had never participated in an advocacy campaign, nor studied queer theology, nor received any training in public speaking, event planning, community organizing, or any of the numerous other fields I would need to master. But that didn't matter. I was enough.

I have an abiding faith that God of this Universe created me with intentionality. And when God created me, God called the creation good. I have not always known what my purpose was, I still don't. I have struggled to make sense of how sexual orientation and gender identity fit into God's creative plan for humanity. I loved the Equality Ride because I was able to move from theory to reality. Anti-gay rhetoric is devastating. It isolates people from their faith, their family and their communities; it destroys integrity when it forces an individual into the closet; it fosters shame and turns people inward; it inhibits the growth of healthy relationships; and it, unfortunately, often manifests itself through violence, against self and inflicted by others onto queer people. As truth creates justice, lives are released. Gay and straight alike are set free to experience faith, love, and healing in powerful ways. The good fruits of affirming theology are evident: reconciliation with family, friends, and community; return to faith; healthy relationships; holistic understanding of self; outward-focused productivity; and the list goes on. The beauty is that these fruits are not for queer people to feast on in isolation, but to share with heterosexuals. When I ask my straight friends to love me, I don't need them to stand up for me; I want them to grow with me.

The Equality Ride showed me that anyone can be an advocate. I did it, you can do it. My journey was across the country but perhaps your journey is down the hall to a co-worker's office, across town to your church, or back home to your parent's house. Or perhaps your journey is getting on the bus. All around the world, people are waiting to be asked to love their gay and transgender friends and family. Let's tell them it's time.

To see this year's riders, visit: www.soulforce.org/2008riders

iTunes Debut

As part of the Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights kick-off, I was invited to speak at Jay Bakker's church, Revolution NYC, which meets in Pete's Candy Store, a bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The sermon, also featuring Rev. Vince Anderson, and Jay, is available as part of Revolution's free iTunes podcast.

Discovering Faith

I mentioned earlier that this year's Equality Ride was perilously close to being canceled. I'm happy to report that it survived the day but it's not out of woods yet. Tens of thousands of dollars were raised in a single day, a emphatic statement that "Yes, we believe in this." I was at Soulforce NYC's monthly meeting tonight and was excited to have Taueret Manu, who will be on this year's ride, join us. She shared that it has been a stressful 24 hours and that she spent a solid portion of today crying. But as a person who does not subscribe to an organized religion, she admitted, "Today, I had a spiritual experience." I felt it too.

As word of the Equality Ride losing a major grant spread, former riders responding swiftly with impassioned Facebook status updates and notes, forwarded email requests, and blog postings.

To even imagine the Equality Ride is absurdity. Take a group of young adults and put them on a bus and send them to the most virulently anti-queer places in the USA and expect change to occur. In 2006 33 young LGBT and allied people decided to imagine justice where it had never been imagined before, and then they watched it materialize. And it happened again--twice--in 2007. All you need to do is show up.

Some of my friends (all Republicans, actually) responded to my email to let me know they'd donated. At our meeting tonight, everyone chipped in--some long time SFers, others for the first time.

Truth, justice, and morality are on the side of liberating the oppressed. In the middle of an economic crisis, Americans are coming together to put young people on a bus and send them to the Deep South to talk about faith, identity, orientation, and race in bold, powerful, and positive ways.

There is a spirit moving, it's exciting to be a part of it. Will you join?

Equality Ride At A Crossroads

I need your help. As you know, in 2007 I was a part of the 2007 Soulforce Q Equality Ride. It was transformative for the communities and schools we visited and the students that we met. Since the first Equality Ride, nearly twenty schools have organized Gay-Straight Alliances or "safe zones". One school changed their policy to treat gay relationships the same as straight relationships. I continue to get emails from students I interacted with, and even ones that I didn't. They are empowered.

It also changed my life in deep and profound ways. I am excited to watch a new crop of riders step up to the challenge. But the Equality Ride is in serious danger of being postponed as major sources of funding close up. And so even though I continue to give my time and energy to this organization, I'm going to give financial support to this ride as well.

Will you invest in these 18 riders with me. I'm not calling it a donation because I feel as if it's an investment in our future, my future, our country's future, our world's future.

The Equality Ride needs $30,000 today to keep going and I'm going to give back to the ride that has given me so much. That is a daunting amount but I know there are countless people out there who believe in equality. If we all contribute what we can, we can change the world in a big way. If you can, please spread the word so that more people can support this worthy cause.

In addition to what I'm already pledging to donate to the ride, I will match any donations that my friends make. Let me know how much you're giving and I'll match it. That's pretty crazy but I believe in them that much. I hope you will too. In addition to financial contributions, follow the website and send them messages of support. Trust me, we need it on the road.

Thank you for supporting me last year--financially, emotionally, spiritually--it truly made a difference. I hope you've got more support to spare!

Meet the riders http://soulforce.org/2008riders
And donate online at www.equalityride.com/donate

Just One Issue, or No Rights for Faggots Pt. 2

Brandy recently expressed her frustration that acceptance of gay and transgender people as full members of faith and society can be "just one issue" among many that can be intellectually weighed in an assessment of a politician or theologian. "Richard Hays is a brilliant scholar, he's just wrong on this one issue." Barack Obama is an inclusive leader, he's just wrong on this one portion, of this one issue. My pastor from Maryland, Dave, is a great guy, he's just wrong on this one issue.

And we, gay and transgender people, are supposed to give these otherwise nice, smart, insightful, or charismatic individuals a pass. After all, it's just one issue. Theories of economics and governance are debatable. Political and even theological priorities are debatable. The effectiveness of various types of education are debatable. When to repave the local road or how many books to order for the library each year are debatable. My humanity is not up for debate. If we believe that being gay or transgender is not a sin, then to say otherwise is to take what God has made good and to call it sinful. It is to put oneself squarely opposite of God.

I understand there is process involved in understanding sexual orientation and gender identity. It was a long process for me. Some gay people I know are still on that journey. Many straight people are just now being asked to begin the process. I respect that.

But when assessing the spiritual insight of men like Richard Hays, we must firmly and decisively say: His insight to God is fundamentally lacking. When judging Senator Obama's leadership: His insight into the fabric of America and family is fundamentally lacking. When assessing Dave's performance: His ability to pastor is fundamentally lacking. This one issue affects countless number of people in real and immediate ways. For straight people, it is mental assent; for gay people, it is sanity, stability, safety, and often even shelter. It is not just one issue.

In recent days, I've had to deal with the emotional trauma of "this one issue." I found out that one of my best friends' boyfriend is on the wrong side of "this one issue." I was shocked because this friend really gets it. "I don't need to hear it from you, this is hard for me too," was her reply to my dropped jaw. But "hard" doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what this is for me. For her, this is internal dissonance. The values she holds dear in conflict with one she loves. For me this is my ability to marry, to participate in church, to be protected under the law, to exist in society.

She stood with me and heard the man shout "No rights for faggots" and was offended. She told her boyfriend about it and I'm sure he was offended too. How noble of him. But at the end of the day, that's what he believes: No rights for faggots. The man in the van just said it more clearly than this boyfriend, or Richard Hays, or Barack Obama, or Dave has ever expressed.

When you say I love you but refuse to marry me. When you say I love you but you refuse to learn from me. When you say I love you but refuse to protect me. When you say you love me but refuse to stand with me, you're letting the man in the van speak for you, and he's saying "No rights for faggots!"

Messages from Seven Straight Nights: Yet here you are

So many times the fight for freedom is a lonely one. The need to fight at all is a constant reminder of what almost every LGBT person would rather forget: that we are different, often hated, never able to just live our lives like everybody else. Maybe that's why there are so few LGBT activists - when the nature of your minority status is one that can allow you to pass, it is even more difficult to stand up for yourself... what sane person would ever step into a fire of misunderstanding and hatred when they could choose not to?

And yet, here you are - a straight person, surrounded by other straight people, joining that lonely fight. You don't have to. It would be so easy to walk away, to focus on any of the dozens of other issues and challenges that demand your attention, to stay safely on the sidelines of what many will say is not your fight. Yet, again, here you are. There is a divine madness in that. Thank you for walking this road with me, for standing in the fire for the sake of my right to love... for taking up this cross in a way that I can't, speaking to audiences who simply don't have the ears to hear a lesbian, or a gay man, or a transgender person.

Speak strongly. Love those who persecute us. Know that whatever happens, just by standing with us, you've made a difference. Thank you.

Messages from Seven Straight Nights: I Am

I am a teacher, I am a friend, I am the partner of a trans-man, I am a daughter, I am a sister, I am queer
Thank you for supporting me and all of my identities
Thank you for knowing how necessary that support is.