Something to Think About . . .

Art: "Includer" by David Hayward.

A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride

The 40th annual Twin Cities Pride Festival was held in Minneapolis' Loring Park on the weekend of June 23-24. Twin Cities Pride is one of the biggest Gay Pride events in the country, with hundreds of thousands of attendees and 500+ exhibitors. This year Catholics for Marriage Equality MN shared a double booth space with Dignity Twin Cities, and those who helped staff both booths reported receiving words of affirmation, encouragement and gratitude from countless festival attendees. Without doubt, people appreciate a Catholic presence at Pride.

Left: With my good friend Phil at this year's Twin Cities Pride. Phil recently contributed a great piece to The Wild Reed's 2012 Queer Appreciation series. To read it, click here.

Our key message this year was that one can indeed be Catholic and vote 'no' on November 6's proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban civil marriage rights to same-sex couples by limiting these rights to opposite-sex couples.

Following are the three main reasons why Catholics can vote ‘no’ on the ‘marriage amendment.’

1. The Primacy of Conscience

Our Catholic tradition teaches us that conscience is the highest norm, and that we are to follow our conscience, even in opposition to official church authority. In good conscience, many Catholics have pledged to vote ‘no’ on the ‘marriage amendment.’ They have done so because they have yet to hear a convincing reason why such an amendment to our state constitution is needed.


2. The Golden Rule

We would not want another religion using the constitution to impose its views on everyone. Yet for many, that’s exactly what the bishops are doing in actively supporting the ‘marriage amendment.’ Our church teaches, however, that “equality of citizens before the law” should never be violated for religious reasons. As Catholics we want to live by the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”


3. “Be Not Afraid”

In their support of the ‘marriage amendment,’ the bishops have provoked false fears. They warn, for instance, that if civil marriage rights are extended to same-sex couples, churches will be sued if they refuse to perform sacramental marriage for a gay couple. This is untrue. Even if the ‘marriage amendment’ is defeated in November, same-sex civil marriage would still be illegal in Minnesota. And if civil marriage rights were one day extended to same-sex couples, our nation’s separation of church and state would guarantee that churches would always have the freedom to choose who they marry.

Above: Steve and Cathie Wilson did a great job in overseeing the smooth running of the C4ME-MN booth throughout the duration of Pride. Plus they created the beautiful display they're pictured standing next to.

Above: As well as encouraging Catholics to vote 'no' on the freedom limiting 'marriage amendment,' we also gathered signatures for our 'Catholic Statement of Support for Marriage Equality.' We displayed a map of Minnesota divided into the state's dioceses and listed those Catholics from across the state who have already signed the statement. We gathered close to 1,000 new signees at this year's Pride festival.

To sign the statement online, click here.

Above: We also offered folks C4ME-MN buttons and bumper stickers with the message, "Another Catholic Voting No."

For information about obtaining one of these buttons or bumper stickers, click here.

Above and below: Throughout the two days of Pride we had a fantastic team of volunteers. They tirelessly greeted visitors, answered questions about the 'marriage amendment,' and collected signatures for the 'Catholic Statement of Support for Marriage Equality.' Thank you to all our volunteers!

Above: C4ME-MN volunteers Cathie and Steve Wilson and Kelly Doss.

Above: Sean Simonson and his parents. Sean is the former Benilde-St. Margaret student whose 2010 article in his school's newspaper about being gay in a Catholic high school was censored. To read more about this incident, click here.

Above: Lisa and Brent Vanderlinden, who feature in C4ME-MN produced DVD Catholics for Marriage Equality.

Above: With Darlene and Tom White, who also feature in Catholics for Marriage Equality.

Above: Preparing to march in Sunday's parade.

Above: Fellow C4ME-MN board members Jim Smith and Kathleen Olsen.

Above: The good folks of Dignity Twin Cities.

Above and below: Signs of the times.

Above: The parade gets underway!

Above: Longtime CPCSM member and gay Catholic activist Paul Fleege.

Above and below: The rapturous reception we received from the thousands who lined Minneapolis' Hennepin Ave. was tremendously affirming.

Above: My friends Phil and Kathleen!

Above: Cathie and Steve: Catholic, straight, pro-marriage equality!

Above: Jim and Neil.

Above: What a friend we have indeed!

Following are additional photos from Twin Cities Pride 2012,
accompanied by excerpts from KARE 11's June 23 news story about
this year's Pride festival and parade. Enjoy!

Gay Pride Festival Turns 40

By Allen Costantini
Kare 11 News
June 23, 2012

MINNEAPOLIS - Tents sprouted like mushrooms around the pond in Loring Park as preparations began for the annual Twin Cities Pride Festival.

The 2-day festival is celebrating its 40th year, having grown to become the 3rd largest pride event in the nation.

"The Twin Cities Pride Festival, each year, draws more than 350,000 people from all across the state," said Kate Brickman, spokesperson for Minnesota United for All Families.

Her group is a main opponent of the amendment to the Minnesota State Constitution that would define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Same sex marriage is already illegal in Minnesota, but the amendment would place the ban in the state's founding document.

"The people who attend the festival are really those who are going to be most hurt by the proposed amendment," added Brickman. "We will have hundreds of volunteers working with our staff as well as the Minnesota and local leaders who will be canvassing the people at Pride for donations, to get them to pledge to vote no, to get them to sign up to volunteer, to really get them involved in any way that they are interested in."

. . . The highlight of the Twin Cities Pride Festival has become the parade on Hennepin Avenue, which is now the largest parade in Minnesota. The line of march steps off at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

"Last year, we had a few brave service people who came out in the parade," said Dot Bessler, CEO of Twin Cities Pride.

The repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in the military has changed the feelings of many in uniform. Even the Pentagon took note of Gay Pride Month in 2012.

"This year, I think, we are having quite a few service members in the parade," said Bessler. "You know, Jeff and Lori Wilfahrt, who lost their son, Andrew, an openly gay soldier, last year, have been really involved in the cause since their son passed away."

Bessler said many service members will march in Wilfahrt's honor.

However, Bessler said the big draw this year is the gay marriage controversy.

"We are expecting a lot more people to come because of the marriage amendment," said Bessler.

Indeed, I think that here in Minnesota, this issue has galvanized people, including Catholics, in ways that those who back the amendment were simply not anticipating. We've certainly seen an increase in the number of Catholics contacting us and wanting to be part of CPCSM's Catholics for Marriage Equality MN initiative. Because of Archbishop Nienstedt's activism on this issue, more and more so called "ordinary" Catholics are willing to stand up and be counted among those who oppose the amendment, even if they're not totally comfortable with same-sex marriage. Accordingly, I'm optimistic that the "marriage amendment" will be defeated on November 6.

Above: Well, hello! Look what seemingly emerged

from the wild reeds of Loring Park!

Recommended Off-site Links:
Catholics in St. Joseph, MN Share Thoughts on Marriage Equality – Sensus Fidelium (July 7, 2012).
Why Catholics Can Vote 'No' – Bob Pierson, OSB (Sensus Fidelium, June 11, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
A Big Gay 'Yay' for the Catholics!
A Catholic Rationale for Opposing the "Marriage Amendment"
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride – 2011
Sharing the Good News of Marriage Equality at the Basilica Block Party
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride – 2010
LGBT Catholics Celebrate Being "Wonderfully Made"
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride – 2009
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride – 2008
300+ People Vigil at the Cathedral in Solidarity with LGBT Catholics
Inclusive Catholics Celebrate Gay Pride (2007)
In Minnesota, Catholics Sing Their Support for Marriage Equality
At UST, a Rousing and Very Catholic Show of Support for Marriage Equality
Tips on Speaking as a Catholic in Support of Marriage Equality

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

Quote of the Day

. . . I want to thank you, Mr. Frank Ocean, for your courageousness. It takes a brave soul to come forth in truth, and in love, despite what the rest of the world is doing or feeling as “flavor of the week,” as legendary soul singer, Maze, recently said in a speech at the 2012 BET Awards.

The mirror image you’re reflecting to the world gives us a new vision to aspire to. Your grace and ability to stand in your truth, and BE who you are called to BE, give others the courage and strength to be unafraid and be FREE. Thank you for not playing small, or even allowing yourself to be small. You’re too BIG, and nothing can contain your SPIRIT for it is your CALLing to give us this moment. Right here. Right now.

There are many young people, even mature people, who are struggling with their sexual identity, and are afraid to step out of the shadows for fear of being judged, criticized, or ridiculed. Every day the fear grips and chokes them, just as it once did to you. So, please know that they are watching, reading, and listening to you, and the declaration you’re making. A black man in Hip Hop, who looks like them, speaks like them, and realized his dreams despite the backlash or BS others tend to hold on to because of their own prejudices against same-gender loving people. You boldly refuse to be bound by others, and in that declaration you are giving others hope and courage to be their authentic selves.

Being black and gay so many times we hear, “No,” and “You can’t,” or, “It’s impossible.” Yet, your music and voice is heard around the world on radio channels, you’ve performed in stadiums before hundreds and thousands of people, and club DJs bang your songs while men and women, straight, gay, and bi, bop their heads and two-step to YOUR GROOVE. Yes, that is POWER-FULL! . . .

– Terrance Dean
Excerpted from "An Open Letter to Frank Ocean"
HelloBeautiful.com
July 5, 2012

Following is the track "Pyramids," from Frank Ocean's album Channel Orange, scheduled for release July 17.





Recommended Off-site Links:
Frank Ocean, R&B Singer, Comes Out – The Huffington Post (July 5, 2012).
Frank Ocean Admits Love for a Man Following Gay Rumors, No Longer Has 'Secrets' – Georgette Cline (The Boombox, July 4, 2004).
Creating His Own Gravity – Jon Caramanica (New York Times, July 4, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Homophobia? It's So Gay
• The Raising of Lazarus and the Gay Experience of Coming Out
• Coming Out: An Act of Holiness
• A Girl Named Sara: A "Person of the Resurrection"
• A Gay Catholic Man's Testimony of Courage and Grace: "God Made Me and Loves Me Just As I Am"
• "I Can No Longer Fight Who I Am"
• A Message of Hope (and a Call to Action) from the Land Down-Under
• Ian McKellen's Two Great Achievements: Playing Gandalf and Coming Out
• It Shouldn't Matter. Except it Does
• Coming Out in Africa and the Middle East
• In the Footsteps of Spring
• Soul Deep

Image: Kevin Scanlon (New York Times)

A Spirit of Defiance

The Wild Reed's 2012 Queer Appreciation series concludes with an excerpt from Donald L. Boisvert's Out on Holy Ground: Meditations on Gay Men's Spirituality.

Gay men have always had a peculiar love-hate relationship with religion. It is important, therefore, to understand the very intimate connection between the oppression an exclusion of gay men and the emergence of a distinctly gay spirituality.

Gays are intensely conscious, personally and collectively, of the disdain in which they have been held by organized religion, most notably Christianity, throughout history. One need only consider in this regard the statements of condemnation that continue to be issued by the Roman Catholic hierarchy. The political and social ostracism of gay men has its source in the oppression of Scripture. The blossoming of a gay spirituality can therefore be seen as a classic example of the positive recuperation, by the victim and the outsider, of the religious discourse of rejection and intolerance – in much the same way that gays and lesbians, for example, may opt to call themselves "faggot," "dyke," or "queer," or wear the pink triangle with pride.

In choosing to define themselves as persons with a spiritual life and a language with which to express it, gay men are staking claim to one of the most powerful and persuasive instruments of social, cultural, and political legitimacy, that of religion. In doing so, not only do they attempt to neutralize the sharp sting of religious righteousness, they also create a parallel religious discourse of inclusion and acceptance: sites of defiance and resistance, as it were. Such a parallel discourse, in turn, can become a significant source of personal and collective empowerment. The similarities with the field of liberation theology are striking, and it could be argued that these are more deliberate than accidental. Gay theology came into its own at the same time that several Latin American theologians were confidently redefining traditional Christian teaching with respect to the meaning of human salvation.

Gay spirituality is characterized by a spirit of defiance. In asserting the truth and viability of the gay religious experience, and in creating the conditions that allow it to assume meaningful and treasured place in the lives of gay men, gay spirituality situates itself squarely in opposition to the orthodox religious norm. Though some forms of gay spiritual life may be very much tied in with more established churches, gay spirituality, as a whole is transnormative. It may burrow blatantly and deliberately from a universal storeroom of religious symbols and rituals, but it posits a radically different understanding of the human body and of human sexuality, on the one hand, and of human relationships with the holy or with the sacred, on the other. This subversive element – vis-a-vis both the transcendent and the immanent – gives gay spirituality its force and dynamism, and makes it an essential constituent of the contemporary gay identity.

For previous posts in The Wild Reed's 2012 Queer Appreciation series, see:
• The Theology of Gay Pride
• Bi God, Somebody Listen
• North America: Perhaps Once the "Queerest Continent on the Planet"
• Gay Men and Modern Dance

For The Wild Reed's 2011 Gay Pride/Queer Appreciation series, see:
• Gay Pride: A Celebration of True Humility
• Dusty Springfield: Queer Icon
• Gay Pioneer Malcolm Boyd on Survival – and Victory – with Grace
• Senator Scott Dibble's Message of Hope and Optimism
• Parvez Sharma on Islam and Homosexuality
• A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride
• Worldwide Gay Pride

For The Wild Reed’s 2010 Gay Pride series, see:
• Standing Strong
• Growing Strong
• Jesus and Homosexuality
• It Is Not Good To Be Alone
• The Bisexual: “Living Consciously In the Place Where the Twain Meet”
• Spirituality and the Gay Experience
• Recovering the Queer Artistic Heritage
• A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride
• Worldwide Gay Pride

For The Wild Reed's 2009 Gay Pride series, see:
• A Mother’s Request to President Obama: Full Equality for My Gay Son
• Marriage Equality in Massachusetts: Five Years On
• It Shouldn’t Matter. Except It Does
• Gay Pride as a Christian Event
• Not Just Another Political Special Interest Group
• Can You Hear Me, Yet, My Friend?
• A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride
• Worldwide Gay Pride

See also the related Wild Reed posts:
• Spirituality and the Gay Experience
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Toby Johnson
• Gay People and the Spiritual Life
• The Challenge to Become Ourselves
• The Gifts of Homosexuality
• The Bible and Homosexuality
• The Roman Catholic Church: Officially Homophobic, Intensely Homoerotic
• Sons of the Church: The Witnessing of Gay Catholic Men – A Discussion Guide

Image: Subject and photographer unknown.

Something to Think About . . .

Sufism: A Call to Awaken

My interest in universal Sufism recently led me to Fazal Inayat-Khan’s 1973 book Old Thinking, New Thinking: The Sufi Prism.

The grandson of Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan, founder of The Sufi Order in the West in 1914, Fazal Inayat-Khan (1942-1990) was a psychotherapist and poet who led the International Sufi Movement from 1968 to 1982. Because he sought to incorporate the insights of modern psychology and dissociate from the traditional religious approaches of the past, Fazal's approach to Sufism was labeled “revolutionary and contemporary.” For Fazal, “sex, the family, children, education, the question of worship and devotion all take on new nuances and meanings when focused through the lens of mystical realism.” Accordingly, Old Thinking, New Thinking is described by its publishers, Harper and Row, as follows:

Old thinking explains, new thinking demonstrates. Old thinking puzzles things out, new thinking flashes with intuition. Old thinking is the tortoise, new thinking the hare. Rather than reject one for the other, the truly happy person dances between them. This is the message of Fazal Inayat-Khan’s piercing look at contemporary life through the Sufi prism. . . . Far from being buried in the scriptures and teachings of another culture, the creative Sufism explored in Old Thinking, New Thinking is a living, viable path for today. No magical formulas, fantastic techniques, or tricks will be found in these pages. But for those interested in becoming newly alive and who have the courage to travel deep within, this book reveals a way of seeing life that can sweep one toward final liberation from the world of illusion.

It should be emphasized that Fazal Inayat-Khan wrote his book in 1973. Accordingly, its language is non-inclusive, even as the book’s overall message is all about inclusion. Also, the book's chapters that deal with the unique challenges faced by the male and female genders contain, to my mind, a number of stereotypes that would puzzle and offend many people today. The excerpts I share this evening from Old Thinking, New Thinking are not drawn from those parts of the book. Rather, they explore the overall, the universal message of Sufism.

_________________________

Sufism has always tried to be an answer to humanity in the time of its need, realizing full well that as the need of humanity changes, the answer has to change. If someone is hungry you can bring him water, but it will not satisfy the hunger. If someone is thirsty you can bring him food, but he might not be able to digest it through lack of water. As one delves deeper and deeper into Sufism, one will find that on the surface it is culturally colored to give the immediate answer to man at a particular time in his humanity.; however, as it leads you along further and further, it tries to bring you to a more balanced approach to life; not strictly water to the hungry or food to the thirsty or vice versa, but maybe water to the thirsty to begin with and then food afterwards, maybe food to the hungry to begin with and then water. It tries to be an answer which leads man to a greater, a more balanced understanding, and thereby an acceptance of his humanity, his real self.

. . . Sufism is something which must help you to see life as a permanent transition. It is something which must bring you to a realization of dynamic peace: peace, not with what is, but with what will be. It is not, of course, possible to explain exactly what is meant by these terms. It is not possible because first, every general statement is in part invalid, and that part of it which is invalid begins to lose its validity as soon as it has been expressed; and second, because we must be aware that to each and every one of us everything means something different. . . . [T]here is nothing we know that we can be sure about, because all that we know is unique, exclusive to our own little consciousness. This may, in fact, be man’s greatest basic insecurity, the fear of having to face the fact that we know, for sure, nothing.

Think of of it another way: many people in the world are sure of what they know, yet there is nothing that can be known which is not subject to change, and impermanent. Very few people are sure of what they know not, and yet all those things which are not to be known are, in the end, the only things we can be sure of, the only things of which we are certain. Sufism begins by giving man that security, which could also be labeled freedom, to approach the experience of what appears as life without hesitation, without prejudice, without fear, especially without this incredible plague of our mind which conceives that things ought to be in a particular way. . . . Sufism brings a freedom to function in the known without fear, to function in the unknown without certainty, and to approach the apparent realiy of life with a mystical insight into its unreality.

. . . [T]he meaning, the value, the worth, the reason of life [is] not in what we do, nor even in how or why we do it, since all these are forever changing – but in becoming the experience. Some may say this is not clear, how can it be understood? Others may grasp the concept but feel that it is not sufficiently stable, how can one build one’s life? How does it help me to live? Here [another] important aspect of Sufism must be brought out, an aspect which may be as shocking as, if not more shocking than, the previous ones. That is that if one really begins to live, consciously, one can never live in the same way again. . . . Although you will still function as a human being, you will still be able to calculate, add and divide, you will still be able to laugh and cry, to break and to destroy, to create, to wonder, to hurt, to love, to disdain, to reject, to accept, you will be able to do all these things like any other human being, yet the coloring of their meanings, the reasons for why you will do, how you will do, what you will experience of what you will do, all will have changed, because the driving power behind your consciousness will have changed. This is the transformation of the personality, of the character, the real transformation, separating – and this may by cynically put, but it is still valid – the human sheep from the human beings.

Sufism is not something which one can define in form, it is not a grouping which one can understand in structure, it is not a teaching which one can communicate in words. It is an approach to life, a way of life, helping you at the speed at which you are able to unload the weight, the gravity of fear and attachment, bringing you to a transcendent freedom, the freedom of experience.

All these are big words, and maybe in their size you have become lost, but they are also very simple words and one usually becomes lost in their simplicity. In the spiritual search, in the cultural search, in whatever search for meaning that mankind is engaged in, we usually look for something magical, something sensational, something fantastic. . . . And yet, when Sufism is presented to your mind, you are totally estranged from it because it is not at all the kind of answer you are looking for. It is not something to sell, it is not another gimmick to help you, another wine to dull the senses into believing that everything is all right.

It is a way to awaken. Sufism is a call, a cry to awaken, to the minds who are ready, to the human beings who have slept enough, but to those who still want to sleep it is merely a lullaby along in their dreams. It is a cry to awake to life, to integration, to meaning, to honesty, to honesty with ourselves. It is a cry to drop all sorts of holy trips, flat earths, ancestor worships, sentimental attachments to souls and spirits and other trickery which exist or not, neither their existence nor their non-existence being that meaningful in the end. It is a cry to the genes of your consciousness, to the chromosomal activity of your mind, of your being, to awake, and live. . . .

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The Sufi Way
A Living, Twenty-First Century Tradition
Clarity, Hope and Courage
As the Last Walls Dissolve . . . Everything is Possible
The Winged Heart
Bismillah
It Happens All the Time in Heaven
A Dance of Divine Light
Never Say It is Not God
Rumi and Shams: A Love of Another Kind
In the Garden of Spirituality – Doris Lessing
Keeping the Spark Alive: Conversing with “Modern Mystic” Chuck Lofy

Opening image: Michael J. Bayly.