November 2, 2018 / ex-gay, ex-gay survivor / No Comments »

Boy Erased and UnErased Dig Deep into Conversion Therapy

The motion picture, Boy Erased, premieres in the USA today. It tells the true story of a young gay man, Garrard Conley and the complex relationship with his fundamentalist Christian parents before and after Garrard spent two weeks in the Love in Action ex-gay conversion therapy camp in Memphis, TN. The film is based on the Boy Erased memoir Garrard published in 2016. With academy award star power behind it, Boy Erased has a good chance of being seen by lots of people. From those told me about the premiere, I hear good things, and I have read reviews of moving performances by Nicole Kidman, Russel Crowe, and Lucas Hedges.

People who want to dig deeper into Garrard’s story and into stories about conversion therapy, there are lots of options.

UnErased–The History of Conversion Therapy in America

This is a brand new podcast series that aired today alongside of the Boy Erased film. The first episode gives Garrard a chance to share some of his story beyond what the film shows, and it introduces listeners to the Love in Action program the book and film feature. I speak a little bit about my own time in Love in Action. Jad Abumrad from RadioLab hosts the show and along with his team produced it. You can listen to UnErased wherever you get podcasts.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

This film came out earlier this year and won top prize at Sundance. Like Boy Erased, this is the story about a teen forced to attend a conversion therapy camp. Chloë Grace Moretz plays Cameron and powerfully portrays her journey into conversion therapy and out. It is beautifully shot and extraordinarily moving. Much of conversion therapy has focused on cisgender gay men, the number one target of these Protestant Christian facilities, so it is refreshing to see this world through Cameron’s eyes.

Beyond Ex-Gay Website

This website was created by ex-gay survivors for ex-gay survivors–those people who went through conversion therapy and survived it to go on to pursue a new life out and proud. It includes personal stories, art work, articles, a survey of ex-gay survivors, and even apologies from former ex-gay leaders, who in addition to trying to cure others, also felt coerced to change their own sexuality and gender differences. If you have gone through conversion therapy, this site might be helpful to you.

Ex-Gay No Way: Survival and Recovery from Religious Abuse

This Lambda award nominated book by fellow ex-gay survivor, Jallen Rix, not only highlights the horrendous effects of conversion therapy, it also provides insights into recovering from these experiences. As a train sexologist, Jallen provides a fresh perspective on finding a new life after conversion therapy.

Offering a detailed comparison of the ex-gay world and the phenomenon known as Religious Abuse, this manual shares a personal journey through the hopeless mistreatment and manipulative system of ex-gay ministries and the recovery process involved in regaining strength, acceptance, and self-worth.

Putting Lesbians in Their Place: Deconstructing Ex-Gay Discourses of Female Homosexuality in a Global Context (pdf)

Dr. Christine M Robinson at James Madison University along with Sue E. Spivey have done more academic research into conversion therapy than anyone else I know. Many of their articles appeared in academic journals, so are difficult to read unless you have access to these types of journals, but one of the most important ones they wrote is about the experience of women in ex-gay ministries and conversion therapy programs. Putting Lesbians in Their Place: Deconstructing Ex-Gay … highlights how the world of conversion therapy has been a boy’s club for a very long time and unmasks the often overlooked fact that these program exist to help gay men regain lost power and privilege because of their sexual orientation and gender differences. It operates as an anti-fem space.

‘Ex-Gay’ Survivors Go On-Line–Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide

Back in 2009 I wrote this article for the Gay and Lesbian Review in order to provide some history about the Ex-Gay Survivor Movement and the vital role the internet played in the movement.

OVER THE PAST EIGHT YEARS, new voices have entered the public discourse over anti-gay ideologies. One of the loudest and most hostile toward us is the “ex-gay” movement, which attempts to de-homosexualize homosexuals under the pretext of saving souls in the name of Jesus. On the Internet and in the press, we are increasingly hearing the stories of ex-gay survivors, people who attempted and failed to alter their sexual orientation through programs such as Exodus. Although these survivors have been around pretty much from the moment the faith-based movement launched itself in the early 1970’s, it is through the Internet that these former consumers of ex-gay theories and treatments have been able to connect with each other and speak out. In so doing, they have rerouted the media and refocused the ex-gay debate.

Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House

While Garrard’s memoir takes a serious look at the Love in Action facility, back in 2003 I took a ridiculously serious look at it through the comedy, Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo House–How I Survived the Ex-Gay Movement. I retired the play in 2008, but before I did filmmaker, Morgan Jon Fox, filmed and edited it. It is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

This is What Love in Action Looks Like (documentary film)

Morgan Jon Fox directed and edited this award-winning documentary about the Love in Action program. It centers on the true story of a 16 year old, Zack Stark, who is forced to attend the new Refuge program for teens. In response, Zack’s friends rose up in loving protest and helped shut the place down. I especially love the 2010 extended trailer for the film. It is a condensed version of the final product. It always makes me tear up at the end.

What is missing from this list is any resource about transgender and gender non-binary people who experienced and survived conversion therapy. According to a study Garrard references on his blog, “over 700,000 Americans have been subjected to conversion therapy and over 20,000 Americans are currently affected by this abusive practice.” What is striking is how many of those people are transgender and gender non-binary.

But we also want to share even more important message, especially in light of the current administration’s proposed idea of limiting gender classifications and therefore of erasing trans lives: that “trans people are twice as likely as LGB people to be subjected to conversion therapy, which substantially increases the risk for suicide” (Trans Lifeline).

In the past few weeks, both the Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline have received four times the normal call rate, with a significant increase in new calls. As we celebrate Boy Erased, “we also need to redouble our efforts to fight for the most vulnerable members of the community it portrays” (Trans Lifeline).

What about you? What resources would you like to add to this list?

October 29, 2018 / Uncategorized / No Comments »

Words of Wisdom that Inspire and Guide Me

Sometimes we drug ourselves with dreams of new ideas. The head will save us. The brain alone will set us free. But there are no new ideas waiting in the wings to save us as women, as human. There are only old and forgotten ones, new combinations, extrapolations and recognitions from within ourselves–along with the renewed courage to try them out
-Audre Lorde

. . . [O]nce we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that they feel in accordance with that joy which we know ourselves to be capable of. Our erotic knowledge empowers us, becomes a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence, forcing us to evaluate those aspects honestly in terms of their relative meaning within our lives.
-Audre Lorde

This is what you should do: Love the earth and sun and animals,
despise riches, give alms to everyone who asks,
stand up for the stupid and crazy,
devote your income and labour to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,
have patience and indulgence toward the people,
re-examine all you have been told in school or church or any book,
dismiss what insults your very soul,
and your flesh shall become a great poem.
-Walt Whitman

Corazón Nuevo
Mi corazón, como una sierpe,
se ha desprendido de su piel,
y aquí la miro entre mis dedos
llena de heridas y de miel.

New Heart
My heart, like a serpent,
has detached itself from its skin,
and here I look at it between my fingers
full of wounds and honey.
-Federico Garcia Lorca

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
-Max Ehrmann

October 20, 2018 / blogging / 2 Comments »

The Life of a Public Introvert

Most people do not believe me when I tell them I am an introvert.

But you are so friendly. You are so animated on stage. You seem like you love to be around people.

While all those things are true, I am still an introvert. The problem may be in the classic definition of introvert.

in·tro·vert [ˈintrəˌvərt] NOUN
a shy, reticent person.
synonyms: recluse · lone wolf · hermit · solitary · misanthrope · outsider ·

While I often feel shy, I have taught myself to be assertive and even bold. While I benefit greatly from time alone (and lots of it,) I am not a recluse. Yes, while I attend a conference, I often go to sessions alone and carve out time by myself. Does that make me a lone wolf? Almost every definition I find for introvert makes it sound like social disorder or a moral failing.

For me being an introvert is all about where I get or lose energy. In loud spaces with lots of people and chit chat, I feel like an ancient mobile phone quickly losing its charge. Move me to a quiet space where I can be alone or with one person for a deep conversation or time of reflection, and I feel the life pour back into me.

Peterson and Ruth on Tour!

In reading Susan Cain’s book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, I marvel at descriptions of people who get more and more energized in large gatherings, meeting new people, and with lots of lively activities going on late into the night. It’s not that I don’t like those sort of settings. I really do; I just can’t be in a space like that for too long. No, and it is not just that I am getting older; it’s always been that way with me. As a teen, I would find times and spaces to be alone in my room, in nature, in the toilet. Wherever.

I had the joy of traveling with a fellow introvert while I was on my recent UK tour. Ruth Wilde, who works for Christian Peacemaker Teams and is the national coordinator for Inclusive Church, agreed to a joint three week tour that took in multiple venues in England, Wales, and Scotland. It was a mad and wonderful road trip (with the occasional rail trip) in and out of people’s homes, churches, and universities. Ruth is also an introvert. Together we listened to Susan Cain’s Quiet as an audiobook. Ruth wrote about our time together in a blog post that both introverts and partners of introverts will benefit from reading.

Many people assume, unless I tell them otherwise, that I am in fact an extrovert. Cain explains that the reason many introverts have become so adept at pretending is because we learnt early on that we often need to be extrovert in order to get on in life. We are also often genuinely interested in people- we’re not faking that- but we are just tired out a lot more quickly by conversations and especially superficial chit chat.

Introverts have also developed throughout our lives. When I was a child of 4, I literally hid behind my mum. When I was 16, and in a school where I didn’t have many friends (due to my Dad’s job, we moved around a lot), I often preferred to be alone in the music rooms practicing at lunchtime rather than in the social spaces with other people. In fact, I hated most of my time spent in school because I was a shy introvert. Nowadays, I’m not shy, but I’m still an introvert, and there are still social situations which I find uncomfortable, for example team building exercises in work places where the focus is on enforced small talk with people who are not my close friends!

Ruth’s partner, Ellie, is an extreme extrovert. Ruth put into writing a list of the things that stress her out as an introvert and invited Ellie to create her own list. The outcome is fascinating.

You can see the lists and read the blog post, Being an introvert in an extrovert world, over at the Inclusive Church website.

What about you? Are you more introvert or extrovert. Are you an ambivert? How does that affect your work? Your relationships? I’d love to hear your experiences.

September 3, 2018 / faith, LGBTQ / No Comments »

A very shoddy dishonest welcome: LGBTQ and Church

I recently chatted with a Quaker about the issue of inclusion. I will lead a course at Woodbrooke Centre on LGBTQ-Friendly Bible stories. “That’s a mouthful,” she said.”We welcome everyone in our meeting; no need to be specific about LGBTQ.” She added, “We need to get away from the ego of everyone feeling they need to be listed.”

We then had a thoughtful, respectful conversation about the topic. I do not pretend to fully know her identity and history, but if she is white, middle class, cisgender and straight, she may not have had the opportunity to consider how some people feel excluded unless they are specifically welcomed into a space.

In societies where churches have given moral authority to the legal and social persecution of LGBTQ people, our faith communities need to promote justice & equality. We are responsible to undo the damage. We need to be specific in our welcome. We also need to go beyond mere hospitality.

Many LGBTQ people in the USA received the message loud and clear from many/most religious groups. You are not really welcome here. This is true of other people too–people living with mental illness and people with disabilities/disabled people. At times divorced women have also gotten the cold shoulder from a faux welcome.

As a gay man, many churches welcomed me only as temporary guest or as a mission project to save. To be part of the community I needed to submit to change ministry or be driven out of the congregation.

While some denominations have actively worked on welcoming and including LGBTQ people, in many, it is up to the local congregation to decide just how inclusive they will be. Therefore, I look for any sign they are on-board with queer folk. In other cases, the welcoming/affirming movement was so long ago, many younger people do not know the history. Quakers have done marvelous work around LGBTQ justice, but do people walking by know that history?

My friend in the UK, Trevor, reminded me of a time I performed Transfigurations at the Oxford Friends Meeting. This presentation reveals gender non-conforming Bible characters. The poster the organizes placed out front explicitly spelled out the word Transgender, and that it was an LGBTQ presentation. During the Q&A an audience member stood up,

“I’m trans, and I have walked past this meeting house hundreds of times and would never have come inside. You can only imagine my shock and delight when I saw the poster outside advertising this event!”

Today there are churches and Quaker meetings who have done the work and are genuinely welcoming, inclusive, and affirming of lesbians and gays–those who are not transgender or gender non-binary. The work continues. Bisexuals in society, in lesbian and gay spaces, and in churches are often overlooked or dismissed as an urban legend. Cisgender gay and lesbian ministers and leaders need to learn and grow so they do not perpetuate the silencing, the exclusion, and the injustices against bisexuals, transgender and gender non-binary people.

I am not trans myself, so I continually need to learn, listen, and recognize that while there might be some overlap in the issues I face as a white, cisgender, fem, gay man, other people’s experiences are vastly different from my own. As we listen more deeply to each others’ stories, we all benefit and learn about ourselves as well as each other.

In addition to listening to stories, we can easily research the issues and experiences through books, films, lectures, and the vast resources available. Austen Hartke provides an excellent list of resources looking at transgender and gender non-binary experiences and issue.

Also check out the Bisexual Resource Center

The community deepens as it becomes more diverse and educated.

All church sign memes created by me. Make your own through the Church Sign Generator.

August 29, 2018 / Inspirational Quote / No Comments »

Courage, Compassion, and Tenacity

In reading the monthly journal, The Sun, not to be confused with the daily British tabloid with the same name, I have been moved by an extended interview with the Black intellectual, Cornel West. It is rich and deep. I find myself reading it like a devotional, in small sections, so I can reflect. This passage in particular stood out.

West: There will never be a true paradise in this world. There will never be any kingdom of heaven in history. There will never be any utopian society.

The question is: Do we have the courage and tenacity and compassion to try to move beyond our tribalism and narcissism? That’s the best we can do. Biologist E.O. Wilson says our basic problem as a species is that we are just too selfish, narcissistic, and tribal. Anything that goes us away from those proclivities is a major contribution to progress.

There are different ways of overcoming our narcissism and tribalism: secular, scientific, artistic, religious. All of them are concerned with unsettling our ego so that love and compassion can flow.

August 21, 2018 / Climate Queer / 1 Comment »

An Inconvenient Poof

At most festivals and conferences I attend, queer and straight, it’s like we are on a different planet–one that is not warming. Glad to see Greenbelt Festival 2018 is taking it on climate change and letting me do my quirky queer Quaker gay climate exposé.

One of the unfortunate consequences of climate denial both in the US and the UK, although it’s been less of an issue there, is that when someone does not deny climate change, they feel as if they’re somehow Progressive.

The bar is so low.

The reality is people who claim they’re concerned about climate change virtually put no thought into it. In fact, I think people who are dismissive of climate change end up talking and reading more about it than the average person who says they believe climate change is real.

I was just at a wonderful Festival in Ontario, Canada, and all of these incredibly earnest church leaders were asking questions about how they could make the church much more relevant, particularly to the young people. Yet nobody was talking about climate change. Whenever I brought it up, people’s response were typically, “Yeah it’s crazy that some people deny it exists.” Or something like, “We’re doing a lot to lower our carbon footprints.”

I rarely hear about a larger framework for understanding how to talk about this issue. I see no real curiosity to find out how.

Of course there are people who are beginning to wake up to this and becoming curious, but many want nothing to do with it.

I was the same way myself for a long time. I believed I had bigger fish to fry. Or I assumed big important people were taking care of it so I didn’t need to worry about it. But this is one of those issues that we need all hands on deck. And we each have something significant to contribute.

August 14, 2018 / queer / 1 Comment »

Joseph and the Amazing Gender Non-Binary Bible Story

In my film, Transfigurations–Transgressing Gender in the Bible, I look at a variety of people in the Bible who transgress and transcend gender. Over and over audience members tell me how blown away they are by the Joseph story and the new way I present it. Now you can watch this scene for free.

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Vimeo

June 29, 2018 / justice / No Comments »

A Frank Discussion about Race, Pollution, and Justice

Brentin Mock

Some people have the idea that climate change conversations only center around polar bears or parts per million of carbon dioxide. I sat down with two African-Americans concerned about the environmental health impacts on people of color. It is a moving and challenging conversation. I also chat with Tyree Daye, a poet from North Carolina who reads from his book of poems, River Hymns.

Dr. Natasha DeJarnett

You can hear Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

After 10 years of reporting on race, culture, and civil rights, Brentin Mock embraced environmental issues as his new beat. That was in 2008. He has since become a leading voice highlighting environmental racism in America. He speaks with Citizens Climate Radio host, Peterson Toscano about pollution, segregation, asthma, and mobility. Brentin also speaks candidly about failures of predominately white environmental organizations that attempt to reach out to people of color. He shares why these attempts fail and what climate advocates can do to build a more diverse coalition. Also joining the discussion is Dr. Natasha DeJarnett, environmental health policy analyst from the American Public Health Association. She outlines statistics on historical and contemporary pollution and how air and water pollution pose severe heath risks for everyone, but espeically people of color in the USA.

African-Americans faced 54% higher health burden from air pollution (particulate matter) compared to the overall population. Communities of color overall had a 28% higher health burden compared to the overall population (Mikati et al., 2018).
Communities of color have higher exposure rates to air pollution than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts. A study monitoring 12 air pollutants showed that whites had the lowest exposures, non-Hispanic blacks had higher exposures than whites to 13 of the 14 pollutants. Hispanics generally had the highest exposures (Bell & Ebisu, 2012). Some of the pollutants studied including particulate matter, nitrate, chlorine, nickel are connected to repertory illnesses, asthma, and cardiovascular issues.
From a 2010 CDC report, seven million American children have asthma, about one out of ten. One out of every six black child has asthma (CDC, 2010). The reported rate rose 50% between 2001 and 2010.
In 2000 and 2010, disparities in nitrogen dioxide concentrations were larger by race-ethnicity than by income. Black and Hispanic people experienced 37% higher exposures to NO2 than white people in 2010 (Clark et al., 2017). NO2 is linked to asthma symptoms, increased susceptibility to repertory problems and heart disease (EPA).
Most communities located next to, and directly affected by the operations of, corporate, industrial, or service facilities are low-income, communities of color, and other systemically oppressed groups. This placement exposes these groups of people to health, economic, and social hazards. Over 1 million African-Americans live in counties facing cancer risks above the EPA’s level of concern from toxins emitted by natural gas facilities. (Franklin, 2018)
The percentage of black people in fenceline zones is 75% greater than for the U.S. as a whole, while the percentage of Latino people is 60% greater than for the U.S. as a whole (Orum et al., 2014). Larger, more chemical-intensive facilities tend to be located in counties with larger black populations and counties with high levels of income inequality.
People of color are more likely to be exposed to environmental threats than are whites of the same social class. Race is a powerful predictor of many environmental hazards including the distribution of air pollution, location of municipal solid waste facilities, location of abandoned toxic waste sites, toxic fish consumption, and lead poisoning in children (Bullard, 1993).
People of color make up nearly half the population in fenceline zones (11.4 million), and are almost twice as likely as whites to live near dangerous chemical facilities. Children of color make up almost two-thirds of the 5.7 million children who live within one mile of a high-risk chemical facility in the United States. Facilities in communities of color have almost twice the rate of incidents compared to those in predominately white neighborhoods – one incident per six facilities compared to one incident per 11 facilities (Starbuck & White, 2016).

(Special thanks to Dr. Natasha DeJarnett and Siena Fouse from the APHA for Dig Deeper content)

June 10, 2018 / Climate Change / 4 Comments »

Convening with Theater Art Climate Geeks

I am on the train from Boston to Washington traveling from one climate change gathering to another. I’m off to the Citizens Climate International Conference and Lobby Day to learn more about climate change policy in Washington, to c0-facilitate a workshop on Telling Better Climate Stories, and to serve as a volunteer lobbyists speaking to a US Senator from PA and a US Representative from my district in PA.

My mind, heart, and notebook are filled up from the Theatre in the Age of Climate Change gathering convened by HowlRound in Boston. 30 theater professionals from North America, South America, and Asia gathered to talk about climate change theater and to explore next steps in creating projects, resources, and ideology for the work we do.

This post serves in large part as a space to park ideas that emerged through our convening, the reflections they sparked in me, and resources I want to explore further. I hope you find these musings helpful too. Note: so much happened so quickly, I do not always remember who said what. HowlRound has posted a video archive and other resources connected to our convening.

In the introduction to the Inner/Outer conversations, the facilitator stated a concept that I found meaningful: Dialogue is a substance.

Early on in our group discussion Chantal Bilodeau, one of the masterminds behind this gathering (and a featured guest on Citizens Climate Radio) said, Perhaps humans will go extinct and something better will emerge.

This chilling thought immediate got me wondering, Are humans the new Neanderthals?

Una Chaudhuri of NYU referenced Amitov Ghosh and The Great Derangement throughout the weekend. Most notably she reminded us on how modernity is a delusion. We have lived with the mad notion for the past 400 years that we are the controllers of the earth. We now have an opportunity to return to earth–to become earthlings again.

She also spoke about the need to decolonize our minds, which got me thinking of the need to decolonize our imaginations. Our imaginations have been hacked by the climate denial narrative. Climate change communicators give presentations that almost always contain a section that once again asserts that reality is real: “See! Climate change is really happening.” The traditional environmentalist playbook points us towards individual actions of lowering personal carbon footprints. But what if we throw both out? What if we liberate our minds and imaginations from the patterns and constructs passed down to us–the talking points above along with self-centered, wasteful, racist, classist, heterosexist, human-centric thinking?

Hearing Una and then reflecting on this, I was reminded of Doris Lessings’ Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, a print collection of lectures that helped me liberate my own mind from years of anti-gay ideology.

Una is very much involved in the work of Climate Lens.

Climate Lens

a network of theatre makers and culture workers who pursue an imaginatively expansive approach to the phenomena of climate chaos, seeking new perspectives that include but also move beyond questions of politics and policy–and beyond expressions of fear, anger, and despair.

Una Chaudhuri also told me about Meet the Climate posters created by DearClimate.net. As she explained the concept to me, I was reminded yet again about the importance of whimsy in this climate work. With slogans like, “Spend Quality Time with an Insect,”Gobble the Landscape,” and “Bored? Talk about the Weather,” along with the simple black and white images, these posters blend the silly with the serious.

Someone gave the definition of performance as twice behaved behavior. I see a reference of it in Richard Schechner’s 1995 second draft of his Performance Studies Handbook:

And, of course, each of these performances enact specific sequences of events. More often than not, these sequences tell a story, as in drama, the Mass, and the seder dinner. Or, as in sports and games, the events separate out winners from losers,forming a temporary and contested hierarchy, just as initiation rites separate out adults from children, the married from the single, even the living from the dead, creating distinctions and hierarchies of a more lasting kind.

Thus performances mark identities, bend and remake time,adorn the body with costumes, and provide people with behavior that is “twice-behaved,” not-for-the-first time, rehearsed, cooked, prepared.

We had a discussion about Hope and Despair. On a spectrum we were asked to put ourselves on the line between these two common climate change binaries. I found myself resisting these two poles; in my work I have taken myself off of this spectrum. It is not helpful. I remember hearing the hosts of the podcast, No Place Like Home, talking about the hope/despair setup. What is needed is not hope but courage.

I decided to create a new space for myself–Determination. I aspire to live without the push and pull between hope and despair and instead to embrace that place of determination no matter how I feel and how grim things may look.

With the suicide of Anthony Bourdain breaking as we began our convening, the idea of climate change as a global act of suicide (and homicide) came up in discussion. For episode 22 of Citizens Climate Radio show, author Claire Vaye Watkins speaks about how she associates climate change with suicide in her mind and how as a species we are experiencing a collective suicide.

Jayeesha Dutta, “a tri-coastal, Bengali-American artist, activist, and strategist, currently serving as lead strategist for StoryShift at Working Films” turned us towards the Just Transition movement and shared the principles and praxis they have created at StoryShift. These include:

Based on the adage “nothing about us, without us,” storytelling needs to be developed by, or in partnership with, those whose experiences are being shared. Creative collaboration centering the experiences and aspirations of communities is a feature of many long standing traditions in art, journalism, and storytelling. However, this work is often undervalued, or dismissed as aesthetically inferior in the fine art world and mainstream media. Intentional support of queer, disabled, black, indigenous, people of color and/or women -led media making is critical to ensure community histories, traditions, languages, and truths are honored, celebrated, and accurately represented with beauty, power, and authenticity. (Click here for the full document and to learn how you can signal your agreement of these principles.)

I do not remember who said it, but I agree that the Act of Making Theater is a rich and rewarding one that can create community, stimulate imagination, and bring about change in and of itself.

In the beginning of the second day of our convening, we had time for reflection. In gatherings like this there is rarely time to quietly think, so I was grateful for a moment where the facilitators asked us to think radically about what we want to do with theater. If resources were not an issue, what do you dream of doing?

I wrote:

I envision an audience weeping. Emotional breakdown in a Tent Revial. Conversion. Commitment> “Come down to this altar and give your life to this new earth.” Repent! Find mercy, freedom, and new life. Rumbling from the earth all nature groans> Lay down your arms. Turn from your sinful ways. Softly and Tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me.

Rev. Yolanda from the Old Time Gospel Hour

I imagined a climate-themed Tent Revival. Both absurd and sublime tent revivals are spectacles. I remember my days in Pentecostal and Fundamentalist church and the revival meetings designed to “save souls” and lead people to rededicate their lives to the Lord. What would this look like related to climate change?

I envisioned the New Beginnings Tent Revival lead by fictional characters, Rev. Josiah B. Simpson. Music provided by The New Earth Singers. Special ministry by Mother Phoebe Bloom, and semi fictional drag personas, Elizabeth Jeremiah, and Rev. Yolanda. It is time for that New Time Religion!

Here are some books and resources I want to remember:

An anthology: The Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet: Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene
Collision Course by Kerryn Higgs
Queer Appalachia
Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir
BECC Conference: Behavior Energy and Climate Change
Climate Justice Alliance
Climate Change Theatre Action
Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown
As One transgender themed opera by Laura Kaminsky

I am so excited about the artists I met-courageous creators who care deeply. These include:

- Xavier Cortada, who uses visual art, performance, comedy, and ritual to engage his audiences with ecological issues.
- Elizabeth Dowd and Climakazi Miami,

Rob Davies, “a physicist and educator whose work focuses on synthesizing a broad range of Earth Systems science through a lens of human systems sustainability and planetary boundaries.” We had a candid and frank conversation about climate change, one that once again jarred me to see the risks we face and the devastating effects humans have had on the planet. With Rising Tide, Rob’s talk is accompanied by a chamber orchestra and visual art to help people better understand climate change.
M.J. Halberstadt, a fellow climate comedy theater queer. M.J. is a playwright and academic whose career I will follow closely.
Abhishek Majumdar is a playwright, director, and scenographer based out of Bangalore. His insights into outdoor theater and drawing on traditional site specific performance stirred up a longing to travel to Bangalore.
Grisha Coleman reminded me to live in my body, be in my body, and move my body. Her kinesthetic excercise got me thinking about my need to get back to reflections on broken bodies, something I did back in 2014 when I first began to formulate art around climate change. An artist intention I now have is to return to the exploration of broken bodies and the experience of living in, living with, and living on broken bodies.

I feel deep gratitude for the organizers of the Theatre in the Age of Climate Change convening and for my theater colleagues who live in this strange, risky, painful, and potentially creatively explosive intersection of climate change and art

June 4, 2018 / Quakerism / No Comments »

Quakers and the Arts — A Rich and Complex History

The Friends Journal, a North American Quaker publication, dedicated its June/July 2018 edition to the topic of Creativity and the Arts. Various Quakers (or Friends) weighed in about the art they do and how they do it as a Quaker and for Quakers.

Joey Hartman-Dow, who collaborated with me for The Amazing Adventures of the Afterbirth of Jesus, writes about being a visual artist. In addition to creating deliciously whimsical characters based on shapes found in maps, Joey recently started a comic book series for the Quaker organization, FCNL. Joey’s piece, Art That Works, looks at the questions that come up for this Quaker artist: What do you want to be? and How am I going to make enough money to survive, in the same weird world I’m trying to change? Included in Joey’s reflections are samples of the gorgeous and stimulating art.
Arthur Fink writes about dance, not something that one imagines happens much in a quiet, still Quaker meeting for worship. Applying the practices of freedom of expression and of being self-aware that Arthur experiences in Quaker meeting for worship, Arthur worked with dancers in a studio and photographed them as they moved without choreography. Instead the dancers created their own movements that emanated from within. Arthur’s piece is The Dance Studio is my Other Quaker Meetinghouse.
Maggie Nelson writes about an intergenerational Art Camp. Like Joey, Maggie raises important questions: “Creative Friends and spiritual folk are everywhere, but are we recognizing the interconnectedness of our art and faith? What are we missing when we don’t worship with all of our senses? And what does it mean for the Quaker community when its members start experimenting with art and worship?”

I contributed my own piece, A Reluctant Minister. I write about the weird tension I feel from competing roles of artist, activist, and academic. Added to these are the pulls that come from presenting to Friends. Early on a member of the Hartford Meeting referred to me as having a “prophetic ministry.” My reaction to this statement surprised my support committee and has given me something to consider even now in my 15th year of public performing.

I suddenly felt cornered. I explained I had attended Pentecostal and Evangelical churches for nearly 20 years. The words “ministry” and “prophetic” stirred up trauma for me. The “ministry” I had received attempted to “de-gay” me and destroy much of my personality. The prophecies, at times literally yelled in my face, served to undermine my sense of self. Bill nodded and listened. His tone softened as he assured me, “I am talking about something different. You are speaking truth to a generation that needs to hear a message about justice and equality. You are pointing out wrongs in the world and showing people a different, better way. Your prophetic ministry gives light for straight people like me who need to see the world in a fresh, new way.”

As I considered this, I relaxed back into my seat; my fists unclenched. His description of prophetic ministry was getting closer to what I sought to do with my play Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House, but still, something unsettled me. After a period of silence I spoke, “I hear what you are saying, but it is hard for me to accept that position. It sounds like you see me as a preacher, but I am not; I am a performance artist.”

Check out the many pieces in the current Friends Journal.

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