Out and About - July 2010

Above and right: On July 6, 2010, approximately 300 people gathered to hear theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether speak at a special "evening in the park" fundraiser for the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform (CCCR) at Lake Elmo Park Reserve, MN.

Rosemary, whose latest book is entitled Catholic Does Not Equal the Vatican: A Vision for Progressive Catholicism, shared her thoughts and strategies for why and how we can create a "liberating church."

To read the transcript of her talk, visit The Progressive Catholic Voice, here.



Above: Some of the merchandise we had for sale at CCCR's July 6 fundraiser. Those buttons went like hot cakes!

Left: Wearing a t-shirt and standing next to a banner highlighting CCCR's upcoming Synod of the Baptized: "Claiming Our Place at the Table." For more information about this exciting event in the local church of St. Paul-Minneapolis, see this previous Wild Reed post and this page on the CCCR website.




Above: CCCR's Synod billboard on the corner of St. Clair and Snelling in St. Paul. Doesn't it look great?! Best of all, ClearChannel Communications installed it two week early with no additional charge. It will be up for a total of six weeks - almost to the day of the Synod which is Saturday, September 18.

For more images of CCCR's billboard, see the previous Wild Reed post, Taking It to the Streets.



I'm a big fan of the HBO series True Blood (see, for instance, here, here, and here). Every second Thursday evening a group of friends and I gather at my home to watch the two most recent episodes of the show - episodes that my friend David kindly records and puts on DVD for me.

Pictured above from left: Rick, Bob, Brian, and John.



On the evening of Saturday, July 10, I attended the biennial show “Solo” at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, an event that showcases the six most recent recipients of McKnight Foundation dance fellowships, each performing a new solo work. It was a great night of dance, and part of a renewed commitment on my part to see more dance performances here in the Twin Cities and to regularly write about this art form on The Wild Reed (see, for instance, the previous post, The Dancer and the Dance).

In the picture above, a member of the Southern Theater staff (left) moderates an after show discussion between audience members and dancers (from left) Karen Sherman, Justin Leaf, Mary Ann Bradley, Roxanne Wallace-Patterson, Sam Feipel, and Kats D. Fukasawa.

I found all the performances to be excellent but was most taken by Justin Leaf's piece, "Cohesion" which addresses the U.S. military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy by having Leaf depict a gay soldier who has just received his discharge letter. Leaf chose to work with New York-based choreographer John Kelly to develop the piece as, according to the evening's program booklet, "both share an interest in playing with gender roles in their work, and with embodying characters." Says Leaf: "Working with John, I've experienced Apollo and Dionysus coming together - I am learning how to be spontaneous and at the same time thoughtful and intentional. That's what I want to be as an artist."

Interesting, Leaf and Kelly rehearsed in the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, which still houses a functioning regiment just back from a tour of Iraq. It was inevitable, says Leaf, that the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy should emerge in the dance they were creating. "We are working with the idea that to deny the truth of who you are has profound implications," says Leaf. How true!



Above: One of a number of creative and colorful pictures that are part of a mural in South Minneapolis. This particular mural is on the side of an industrial building next to the Midtown Greenway. It's a site that has long been a popular one for graffiti artists. I pass this mural every Thursday morning when I ride my bike from St. Paul to my friends' Ken and Carol's place in the Seward neighborhood of South Minneapolis. Ken and I deliver Meals-on-Wheels together every Thursday.

This particular mural was recently featured in an article in the Highland Villager community newspaper. In this article the building's owner, Darrell Hutson, notes: "There's no end to the constant battle of keeping the kids away from the wall. So this seems to be the best solution: Get a serious piece of work up there by artists the kids recognize and hopefully they will respect the art."

Notes the Villager, "the city of Minneapolis seems to respect [this solution]. As long as Hutson maintains the integrity of the mural, he won't be cited for graffiti on the wall, according to Angie Brenny, coordinator of Minneapolis' Clean City program." Mmm, seems like a win-win situation to me!



Above and right: On the evening of July 13, the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities (the group I serve as executive coordinator) hosted its 30th Annual Community Meeting at St. Martin's Table Restaurant and Bookstore in Minneapolis. Our special guest speaker was Janet Bystrom, director of RECLAIM, which "works to increase access to mental health support for LGBT youth so they may reclaim their lives from the impact of oppression in all its forms."

What a pity such a liberating service isn't offered - at least officially - by the Roman Catholic Church. All it offers is the shame-based apostolate known as Courage. Oh, and speaking of Courage, in June the Twin Cities-based Lavender magazine published an exposé of the group that caused quite a stir! I took the liberty of reprinting it at The Wild Reed - along with, a few weeks later, its author's rebuttal to those who criticized him for infiltrating the local Courage chapter and outing one of its members - a highly vocal anti-gay Lutheran pastor.



Above: Janet Bystrom with some of the young people who have benefited from the services provided by RECLAIM.

Left: The recipient of this year's annual Father Henry F. LeMay Pastoral Ministry Award is pictured with members of her family. Because of the type of support she offers to parents of LGBT persons it would not be wise to publicly name her on this blog - especially given the climate of fear and intimidation that many who offer anything other than unquestioning obedience to the church's official teaching on homosexuality experience at this time. It's sad but true.

Right: My dear friend Kathleen Olsen was awarded CPCSM's annual Bishop Thomas Gumbleton Peace and Justice Award for her tireless work and support of numerous justice and peace issues and organizations - including CPCSM.

Kathleen's dad is currently exhibiting a collection of his photography at St. Martin's Table. That's Kathleen as a child in the photograph on the wall behind the Kathleen of today!



Above: With Kathleen and her son Joey. We're about to start a 30 mile bike ride on the Elroy-Sparta Trail in Wisconsin.

We visited a number of interesting and beautiful places in Wisconsin as part of a 5-day road trip. These included Black River Falls, Castle Mound (left), Neillsville, Norwalk, and Potosi (below).






For commentary and additional photos of our "Wisconsin Adventure," see here and here.





Above: Sending a message to the anti-gay and anti-marriage equality National Organization for Marriage (NOM), which held a rally on the steps of the St. Paul Capitol on Wednesday, July 28.

For more images and commentary, click here.






Above and left: Monarch butterflies in the garden of my St. Paul home.

A Message for NOM (and the Catholic Hierarchy)

.

On Wednesday, some Catholic friends and I participated in OutFront Minnesota's Day of Action against the "intolerance and discrimination" of the anti-gay and anti-marriage equality group known as the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

Noted OutFront MN in a July 27 e-mail alert:

This month the National Organization for Marriage kicked off their nationwide summer tour of intolerance and discrimination. They're visiting a number of cities to foment opposition to GLBT equality. This week they will be in Saint Paul, Saint Cloud, and Rochester on July 28, 29, and 30.

Counter-demonstrations were planned and held in all three Minnesota cities, and, as far as I know, in each case those supportive of gay rights and marriage equality outnumbered those who turned out in support of NOM. This seems to be the case wherever NOM's "Summer Tour of Marriage" goes. In Madison, WI, for instance, only 54 NOM supporters showed up compared to over 400 pro-marriage equality supporters!

Given the woefully simplistic and often idiotic message NOM is spouting, it's really not that surprising that the organization is failing to attract many people. Yet on Wednesday, the big NOM bus rolled into St. Paul - complete with circus music (ironic, or what?!) and plastered with stock photos supposedly depicting straight couples and families.

The group's overall message is that the modern expression of marriage is ordained by God - a fearsome God, it should be said, who resides far above and beyond us. Who are we to question this God's unchangeable design for marriage? Never mind the long tradition of polygamy during biblical times, or the treatment of women as chattel. Such historical realities are conveniently overlooked. No, for NOM and, sad to say, at least one member of the local Roman Catholic clerical leadership who came out (so to speak) to support the organization, marriage always has been and must remain one man, one woman, forever! Divinely-wrought chaos and destruction will ensue if we dare meddle with God's unchangeable plans! Hey, weren't similar fears conjured in the South about racially "mixed" marriages?

The god of NOM is a petulant old ogre. There's nothing in the NOM's theology of the loving and transforming presence of the sacred discerned, mediated, and embodied in and through the diverse range of human experience. Accordingly, there's no sense of evolution in our understanding of God's presence and action in our lives - all of our lives, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. It's such a narrow, impoverished, and brittle way that NOM has of talking about what so many of us experience and celebrate as inclusive, abundant, and enriching.

Of course, the Roman Catholic clerical contingent likes to add the whole "every sex act must be open to procreation" piece to the agenda, a piece that I'm always curious to know how is received by the many non-Catholic members of NOM. I guess that's just another aspect of this bizarre circus-of-a-movement that gets to be conveniently overlooked. Intolerance makes not only for weak arguments and narrow theology, but for strange bed-fellows as well.

Anyway, James Sanna has a well-written report on Wednesday's events at the St. Paul Capitol here, while following are some photos I took of those who came out to counter the message of NOM.






Above: The t-shirt that this guy is wearing is available here.






Above: I was happy to see this reference to Sts. Sergius and Bacchus!


Recommended Off-site Links:
NOM Speakers Claim Victimhood at St. Paul Rally - James Sanna (TheColu.mn, July 29. 2010).
NOM in St. Paul: A Disturbing Perversion of Christianity - Timothy Kincaid (Box Turtle Bulletin, July 28, 2010).
Guess Who is NOT Showing Up to NOM Rallies? - Timothy Kincaid (Box Turtle Bulletin, July 29, 2010).
NOM's Rally in Wackadoodle St. Cloud Church Proves Uneventful - Timothy Kincaid (Box Turtle Bulletin, July 29, 2010).
NOM in Rochester: "We'll Be Treated as Bigots" - Timothy Kincaid (Box Turtle Bulletin, July 30, 2010).

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
At UST, a Rousing and Very Catholic Display of Support for Marriage Equality

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

Scaling the Heights

Celebrating "Wuthering Heights," Kate Bush's
classic debut single from 1978.

In honor of acclaimed British singer/songwriter Kate Bush, who celebrates her 52nd birthday today, I share this evening excerpts from Rob Jovanovic’s 2005 book, Kate Bush: The Biography. These excerpts document the making and reception of Kate’s debut single, 1978’s chart-topping “Wuthering Heights.”

But first some background information. According to Wikipedia:

[“Wuthering Heights” was] written by Bush when she was 18 [and] is based on the novel of the same name. She was inspired to write the song after viewing the last ten minutes of the 1970 film version of Wuthering Heights. She then read the book and discovered that she shares her birthday (July 30) with Emily Brontë. Bush reportedly wrote the song, for her [debut] album The Kick Inside, within the space of just a few hours late at night.

Lyrically, “Wuthering Heights” uses several quotations from the novel’s character Catherine Earnshaw, most notably in the chorus – “Let me in! I’m so cold!” - as well as in the verses, with Catherine’s confession to her servant of “bad dreams in the night.” It is sung from Catherine's point of view, as she pleads at Heathcliff's window to be allowed in. This romantic scene takes a sinister turn if one considers the events of the book, as Catherine may well be a ghost, calling Heathcliff to join her in death.

. . . The song came 32nd in Q magazine’s Top 100 Singles of All Time, voted by readers.

The excerpts from Jovanovic’s book below are followed by the music video and lyrics to “Wuthering Heights.” Enjoy!

_____________________________________

Side One of her debut album [The Kick Inside] ended with what is still Kate Bush’s most famous song - ‘Wuthering Heights.’ Musically, the track is both beautiful and haunting, right from the opening notes. The slow, measured piano chords (doubled with Andrew Powell’s chiming celeste) build tension before the vocal gains momentum up to the first chorus, which bursts open with Bush’s octave-running vocals.

“I think it is a great track and a style which flew in the face of everything else which was around at the time,” says [guitarist] Ian Bairnson. “We kept looking at each other thinking, ‘This is so different but interesting – it will either do really well, or bomb.’ I don’t think there would have been any half-measures in Kate’s success, but the Number One spot was a great bonus.”

The skeleton backing track was recorded “live” in the studio with all musicians playing together: Bush playing a Bosendorfer grand piano, Stuart Elliot on drums, Andrew Powell on bass and Ian Bairnson on an acoustic guitar.

“I can’t remember doing any editing on Kate’s sessions,” says [engineer] Jon Kelly. “I can remember ‘Wuthering Heights’ being a performance-y type song. Stuart was a brilliant drummer – he absolutely adored Kate’s songs – and the all-round enthusiasm and will to play well on those sessions was just fantastic. They were great musicians, and everything they did was of a very high standard.”

Overdubs included usual bassist David Paton playing a 12-string acoustic guitar and Bairnson’s original acoustic guitar work being double-tracked. The string section (eight first violins, six second violins, six violas and six cellos) and three French horns were recorded in what Jon Kelly described as a “huge room, twice as big as the live area in Studio Two. It could accommodate between 60 to 70 musicians, and had high ceilings and a lovely, bright sound. Everything sounded great in there.”

Kate recorded her vocal late one night when the musicians weren’t around. Jon Kelly recalls the effort she put into every take that she did. “In the case of ‘Wuthering Heights,’ she was imitating this witch, this mad lady from the Yorkshire Moors, and she was very theatrical about it,” he says. “She was such a mesmerizing performer, she threw her heart and soul into everything she did that it was difficult to ever fault her or say, ‘You could do better.’”

The final addition would be Ian Bairnson’s guitar solo, which would wing its way over and around the instrumental fade-out of the song. “For purely ‘guitarist reasons,’ I disliked the tone for many years,” reveals Bairnson. “I prefer my Les Paul [guitar] to sound harder and have more kick, like it usually does on records, but I got over it and am now quite happy with that guitar solo.

. . . In her own mind the choice of a lead-off single was obvious: it had to be “Wuthering Heights.” EMI, however, had other ideas and wanted “James and the Cold Gun.” Discussions on the matter started in September.

“It felt like a mission,” she says. “Even before I’d had a record out I had a tremendous sense of conviction that my instincts were right. There could be no other way. I remember sitting in an office at EMI with some very important people who were saying that “James and the Cold Gun” should be the first single. For me this was totally wrong. How could it possibly be anything other than “Wuthering Heights”? But they were going, “You don’t understand the market.”

“My secretary said Kate was very upset and she wanted to see me,” recalls [EMI executive] Bob Mercer. “She sat down and she said she wanted “Wuthering Heights” to be the first single. I said, “You and I are very close – we should tell the truth to one another. Well, I don’t come down to the studio and tell you how to do your job and you’re not going to come in here and tell me how to do mine.” She burst into tears. I couldn’t deal with that. I said, “Frankly, I don’t think there are any hits on the album, so I’ll put “Wuthering Heights” out. It will hit a wall and then you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

“So we went on saying the same things to one another for a few more minutes,” counters Bush. “I was being politely insistent. I usually am in an argument. I’m not good at expressing anger. That’s still hard for me. Then a guy called Terry Walker, another executive, came in with some papers in his hands and put them on the desk. He looked around, saw me and said, “Oh, hi, Kate, loved the album! ‘Wuthering Heights’ definitely the first single, eh?” And he walked out again. If he hadn’t come in at that moment, well, I don’t know what would have happened. It was so well timed, it was almost as if I’d paid the guy to do it. They obviously thought of me as just a strong-willed girl, but they trusted his opinion.

The first battle won, Bush prepared for her first single to receive a November 1977 release. Bush later said that delays over the artwork caused a postponement and things were put back to early 1978. . . . EMI in their haste to test the water had already sent out promotional copies of the “Wuthering Heights” single to several radio stations. Despite requests to hold back from playing them until after Christmas, the stations played it anyway.

At London’s Capital Radio, producer Eddie Puma played it to DJ Tony Myatt and they both agreed they had to put it on air right away, because it was so original. Night owls in the London area were thus the first members of the public to hear the song on The Late Show in November 1977. Soon afterwards Piccadilly Radio in Manchester followed suit and the single spread across independent stations around the UK like wildfire. When Radio 1 (which then still enjoyed a modicum of influence over the record-buying public) also put it on its playlist, the buzz really began to grow. By the time the single actually hit the shop shelves, almost everyone had already heard it.

. . . On January 20, 1978 “Wuthering Heights” was finally released, three months after the originally planned date. The buzz that had been building since November gathered momentum. From the early days of the single’s release people were raising their eyebrows and asking, “What is this song?” “Whose voice is that?” The tabloid press soon started looking for an angle, and they didn’t need to go far to get one: a sweet 19-year-old girl with a screeching voice and “weird-looking” video. A girl who sang about a Victorian novel and who shared the birthday of the book’s writer (Emily Brontë was born on 30 July 1818).

. . . Not surprisingly, the reactions in the music press were mixed. After all, this was a song that defied categorisation and was unlike anything that most people had ever heard before. It was certainly out of step with the rest of the charts. Melody Maker offered that she sounded like “a cross between Linda Lewis and Macbeth’s three witches,” though they generally liked the song. The Record Mirror didn’t like it and called it “B-o-r-i-n-g.” One complaint from listeners was that they couldn’t understand what Kate was actually singing in the song. Radio DJ Jonathan King took the extreme step of playing the song line by line and reading out the words from a lyric sheet to satisfy people’s curiosity.

Despite all the early airplay dating back to the previous November, the song’s ascent of the single’s chart was a slow one. It took a couple of weeks for it to creep into the Top 50 at the modest Number 42 slot.

. . . The Kick Inside was finally released on February 17, 1978, and media coverage intensified. Such a young, seemingly naïve and beautiful girl clearly caught the public’s imagination. She did her own thing, steadfastly refusing to follow trends while making career decisions that some saw as inspired and others as crazy. Either way she did things her own way and for the most part was loved for it.

All the hype culminated in “Wuthering Heights” becoming the UK’s Number 1 single on March 7. The song knocked super group Abba’s “Take A Chance On Me” from the Number 1 spot. Kate Bush was only 19 at the time. “Wuthering Heights” would sell a quarter of a million copies in the UK and be certified “Silver” (today, sales of just 100,000 qualify for “Gold” status, highlighting the importance of the singles charts then compared with now). Having an English singer at Number 1 clearly pleased the mainstream press. WUTHERING WONDERFUL!, exclaimed the Daily Express.

Out on the wiley, windy moors
We'd roll and fall in green
You had a temper, like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
How could you leave me?
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you too

Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff, its me, Cathy, I’ve come home
I'm so cold, let me in-a-your window

Oh it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine alot, I find the lot
Falls through without you
I'm coming back love, cruel Heathcliff
My one dream, my only master

Too long I roam in the night
I'm coming back to his side to put it right
I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering,
Wuthering Heights

Heathcliff, its me, Cathy, I’ve come home
I'm so cold, let me in-a-your window

Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away
Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away
You know it's me, Cathy

Heathcliff, its me, Cathy, I’ve come home
I'm so cold, let me in-a-your window

NOTE: To view the "red dress version" of the "Wuthering Heights" video (which was very popular in Australia!), click here.

For a very funny 1980 parody of Kate Bush featuring Pamela Stephenson, click here.


Recommended Off-site Links:
Classic Tracks: “Wuthering Heights” - Sound on Sound, June 2004.
Kate Bush News and Information
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 1)
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 2 [featuring an insightful discussion on "Wuthering Heights"])
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 3)
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 4)
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 5)
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 6)
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 7)
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 8)
Kate Bush - Under Review (Part 9)

For more of Kate Bush at The Wild Reed see:
Wow
The Man I Love
Oh, Yeah!
Celebrating Bloomsday in St. Paul (and with Kate Bush)
The Dancer and the Dance

Quote of the Day

Today's "quote" is actually a letter from Rev. Kittredge Cherry (pictured at right) to author Anne Rice (pictured below with her gay son, the novelist Christopher Rice). I've added the images that accompany this letter.


Dear Ms. Rice,

I read the news that you quit being a Christian because you refuse to be anti-gay and anti-feminist.

Believe it or not, you can be Christian AND support gay rights and feminism! I’m a lesbian minister and author who blogs about gay, lesbian, bi and trans spirituality and the arts at http://www.jesusinlove.blogspot.com.

There are thousands of churches around the world that affirm LGBT people. You can find links to them through my website JesusInLove.org.

It sounds like you have made an important transition from being a church member to being a post-institutional, individual follower of Christ. Congratulations. I believe that this is one of the stages of spiritual growth to which Christ calls us.

I feel a special connection to you because, like you, I wrote first-person novels about the life of Christ. I also enjoyed meeting your son when he moderated an authors’ panel discussion on which I appeared as finalist for the Lambda Literary Award.

A book review comparing your Christ the Lord novels and my Jesus in Love novels is available here.

Here is an excerpt from the review:

Cherry in essence begins where Rice's narrative ends… Cherry's primary objective is to depict Jesus as fully human in terms of sexuality, while maintaining, as Rice does, that Jesus was not genitally sexually active. Her rational for this, which I find marvelously sensitive and cogent, is that Jesus realizes his divine nature would inevitably produce an "imbalance of power" that would not permit the full and free interaction of "consenting adults" which sanctifies all human sexual interaction. Jesus also recognizes, in Cherry's vision, that he is "married" to the Holy Spirit.

Ms. Rice, I thank you for supporting LGBT people and I hope that you will continue to grow in your relationship with Christ.

Blessings,

Rev. Kittredge Cherry


Recommended Off-site Link:
Novelist Anne Rice Ditches Christianity for Christ - Cathy Lynn Grossman (USA Today, July 30, 2010).

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
The Inherent Sensuality of Roman Catholicism

Wisconsin Adventure

Part 2: The Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail


For this second installment of posts documenting my recent "Wisconsin Adventure" with friends Kathleen and Joey, I share some images of the Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail - a popular 32 mile (51 km)-long trail that runs along the abandoned Chicago & North Western Railroad bed.

We spent most of Monday, July 19, bicycling along part of this trail - one that has quite a smooth riding surface thanks to its covering of packed crushed limestone. The Elroy-Sparta Trail is actually part of the larger Wisconsin bike trail system, operated by the state of Wisconsin.

Above right: The Wisconsin town of Sparta bills itself as the "bicycling capital of America"!



Above and below: The trail is located in what's known as Hidden Valleys Country, and passes through that part of Wisconsin that was not covered (and flattened!) by glaciers during the last Ice Age. As you can see, it's a very beautiful area.




Above: Kathleen and Joey outside the Norwalk tunnel, one of three old railway tunnels that the Elroy-Sparta Trail passes through. We bicycled through two of these tunnels -the longest being the Norwalk Tunnel which is 0.75 miles (1.21 km) in length. So, yes, we needed a flashlight!

Left: Kathleen and Joey with "Tunnel Tom," a local farmer who welcomes visiting bicyclists to start their journey on the Elroy-Sparta Trail at his farm, located about 10 miles from Sparta and close to the Norwalk Tunnel.







Above and right: Norwalk, the Black Squirrel Capital!









Above and left: Lil's Korner Bar, Norwalk, WI. I have to say that I've never understood why people purposely chose to misspell words in the names of places! It seems to be a bad habit unique to the U.S. Regardless, we had an enjoyable rest at Lil's. Kathleen and I even got to sample a tasty beer named "Horny Goat"!





Above: After our time in Norwalk, we continued on to Wilton, the "Heart of the Elroy-Sparta Trail," before turning around and making our way back to Tom's farm. All in all, we bicycled about 30 miles.


Next: Potosi.


See also the previous Wild Reed post:
Wisconsin Adventure: Part 1 - Black River Falls

Photo of the Day

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Quote of the Day

[T]he [Roman Catholic] Church sponsored protests all over [Argentina], with several Opus Dei bishops prominent in the dissent. And while a few priests courageously broke ranks, the major opposition sprang from Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio of Buenos Aires who referred to the pending [marriage equality] legislation as a “destructive attack on God’s plan.” The Church waged a propaganda war with posters depicting a man and a woman and a baby as the ideal (read: the only possible model of family). Marriage equality in Argentina will require new posters depicting the many ways family can look—with or without children. The cardinal lost a lot of the Church’s credibility along with the printing costs.

. . . Even at the 11th hour the Catholic hierarchy was on the wrong side. Thousands of Catholic anti-gay supporters staged a loud protest in Plaza de Mayo on the frigid evening of the Senate vote. Alas for them, at 4:05 AM on July 15 it must have felt like a cold day in hell when the votes were counted and the exuberant celebrations began.

- Mary Hunt
"Don't Cry for Me Argentina, Cry for the Catholic Church"
Religious Dispatches
July 21, 2010

Recommended Off-Site Links:
Argentina Approves Gay Marriage, in a First for Region - Alexei Barrionuevo (New York Times, July15, 2010).
Defying Church, Argentina Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage - Uki Goñi (Time, July 15, 2010).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
At UST, a Rousing and Very Catholic Show of Support for Marriage Equality
Steve Chapman: "Time is On the Side of Gay Marriage"
Dr. Erik Steele and the "Naked Truth on Same-Sex Marriage"
What Straights Can Learn from Gay Marriage
A Christian Case for Same-Sex Marriage
Mary Hunt on Our Catholic "Stonewall Moment"

Image: Alex Freyre, right, receives a wedding ring from his partner Jose Maria Di Bello, during their marriage at the civil registry in Ushuaia, southern Argentina, Monday, December 28, 2009.