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Marriage Equality is now the law of the land. Finally, each marriage in this country will be protected and afforded the equal opportunities, rights and benefits they deserve. No government will be allowed to stand in the path of those who wish to marry. For those who have known the trauma and hardship it has taken to advance to this day, it is, indeed, a day worthy of robust celebration

Marriage is after all, a celebration that aches to be shared with as many people as possible. The joy of love (if you’ve ever been so fortunate to have been there) is an experience that you want to blissfully shout out from the mountaintops. Yet, the deepest bond of love asks for more from those would-be partners. It longs for commitment, patience and reliable presence through all of life’s ups and downs in ways more substantial than mere romance affords. Knowing this, we long to make ceremony of our intentions publicly. If one looks to the “traditional format” of a wedding, it is the act of standing before our highest powers and saying “I am here for my Love, above all others, and will be held responsible for my commitment.” The witnesses to this act not only verify the union and encourage accountability of the betrothed, but also stand in a place of honor to assist in the protection of that union. It is an act of equal commitment from friends, family and community that says, “I will help you succeed together.”

That we now have a government standing along side us as an honored witness and protector for our marriages will only strengthen our wider community’s understanding and LGBTQ acceptance.

Still, many will disagree we should be celebrating. Cue, the religious objectors. Cue those who think strong communities are better separate than equal. Cue those who cannot fathom life without prescribed gender roles and static sexual orientation. Cue the onslaught of “Christianity is under attack” speech and Religious Freedom Reformation Acts.

As momentous as Marriage Equality is, expect to see more, not less, religious pushback. Expect to see more discriminating business owners citing religious objection. Expect louder, fearful cries from ecclesiastics who have never, on their darkest days, have ever been forced to marry anyone they didn’t want to. Expect to hear more agonizingly hateful sermons proclaiming “end times” and “abominations”. Expect to continue to hear more quotes from GOP candidates and Christian Conservatives on the “true” definition of marriage, religious freedom and rights of conscience.
And if you can, in the midst of all that, rejoice. Rejoice by celebrating your freedom to marry. There will be clergy there to unite you. Families by your side. And finally, the rights and protections afforded you equally by your government.

Pardon me, Justice Roberts, but you’re damn right I’m going to celebrate. In our history, the LGBTQ community has gone from being targeted enemies of the state (you think I’m exaggerating?) to, finally, being protected by it. Pardon me, if for a moment, I take the religious cries that “the sky is falling” to be a bit melodramatic.

Religious freedoms, so far as the eye can see, have been well tested, judged and protected in this country. In fact, we’ve spent ample time clarifying the bounds of where religion has it’s rule in a pluralized society so much so that ordinary, individual citizens have had to labor to define themselves apart from it. Believe me, Jesus is going to be just fine.

To faith communities already in the swing of Marriage Equality, having long embraced the LGBTQ community, thank you for your efforts. Were it not for your willingness to marry, support and bless these unions, we may well been relegated to “civil unions”. That being said, we still have a very long way to go.

Christianity is still synonymous with being anti-gay and there are many who expend great effort to color God that way. If the Church feels any kind of pressure at all over this decision, it should be in living up to its own expectations of peace. By continuing to side with theologies untenable to preserving human dignity, religious objections become impotent to their proclaimed higher calling of compassionate life. The rite of marriage is an act of unity and preservation. It is a coming together. A fusing of spirit. By standing together as any witness, we stand together in community saying, “I wish you peace. I wish you all happiness. I will fight for you toward success. I will comfort you in trouble. I am by your side.”

It’s time, Church. It’s time to be a gift-giver rather than a wedge. It’s time to make peace instead of starting a new fight.

How many more times, I wonder, will the high court of our nation have to remind us to treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves? It is a lofty ideal we aspire to, fail quite often, rarely arrive at without leadership instructing us to do so, but upon occasion in history, we are find we are capable of more than we might have imagined.
Ready? Set…Go!

Originally posted to Huffington Post: Religion

From the moment I began to acknowledge my connection to women, many of my Christian friends began to immediately critique my spiritual standing. The conclusions always jumped to my lack of self-control, some failure of mine to “respond to the Holy Spirit” or that I was willfully sinful, headstrong and purposed to throw out my concern for pleasing God. The thought of my spiritual mentors and evangelical friends always ended with the conclusion that something was horribly wrong with me.

I wish that I could say that I was surprised by these reactions, but I was not. On more than one occasion I was “admonished” privately for the mere appearance of being gay (I don’t really like to wear high heels!) Despite years of celibacy and years of ignoring any sense of my own sexual identity, I was still being cautioned. The message to me was very clear: being gay was not an option for a “true” Christian.

It took many years of fearing to ask the difficult questions, but eventually I discovered that my sexual orientation was not the sole determining factor in my journey of faith. I began to investigate how other people of faith approached the issue. I discovered that there were actually well respected theologians, supporting denominations, and members of clergy that had been facing up to this reality for decades. What was even more amazing to me was that there were actually gay Christians out there…REALLY!

In 2010, I publicly disclosed that I was in a same-sex relationship. Under heavy scrutiny, I maintained that I still considered myself a person of faith. I received terrible emails and letters. I was deleted from thousands of iPods and dropped from Christian retailers and radio stations. Although a painful experience, I was aware that this scenario was on the horizon. But what I didn’t expect was how my inbox began to fill up with stories from other people just like me. I was not alone. I was not the only person in the world that was being silenced by their very own faith community.

For a while, I could not be convinced that I had anything to offer this conversation. I considered it a stalemate at best. Frankly, I was more than ready to wash my hands of the whole “church thing”. But then I started to notice something incredibly powerful; simply by being honest about my sexual orientation, a door had opened that encouraged others to speak of their personal stories. Over the last couple of years I have met thousands of LGBT people who have less than pleasant narratives of their religious experiences. I have met many who have not yet known the joy of affirmation and support of a caring faith community. They continue to sacrifice their own spirit in response to the shame they have been convinced they must endure. All of this because some religious folks insist that God would have it no other way.

Much to my surprise, however, I have also witnessed many people who have found healing and hope. They share their deeply moving journeys of spiritual odyssey, limitless love and abiding faith. I have seen that sexual orientation and gender identity is not the lens through which faith can be fully qualified. I have not learned this alone, but by the journeys, experiences and courage of others who dared share their stories with me.

Last year, after many requests, I began to directly engage the faith community by telling my story. Today, I speak candidly of my experience as a gay person of faith through an event I call Inside Out Faith. After experiencing rejection and criticism, I have had to overcome my own prejudices toward the church. I share how I reclaimed my faith experience, owned my sexual orientation and how these two qualities in me co-exist. But I recognize that my story is just the starting point for a much more complicated tale. For many churches that I go to, it will be the first time they have said, as a faith community, that they will openly stand in support of LGBT people. Some of the pastors I meet are openly supportive of their gay congregants for the first time without threat of losing their position. For the first time in decades, many LGBT people of faith are walking back into the sanctuaries with hope rather than fear. I, for one, am happy and grateful to be one of them.

XOXO
Jennifer

Tag: inside out faith

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