I am incredibly proud, grateful, humbled and heartened to be able to announce the launch of a new movement of queer clergy and community leaders, joined by straight and cis-gendered clergy/community leader allies who are joining together (tomorrow!) to reclaim the religious voice that has been weaponized to support 2SLGBTQIA+ hate. Please scroll down for our press release, or to learn more about why this matters to me, please click here to view the video that I created in December. To see events across Canada, please click here. To join our launch event tomorrow, please click here.
At a time of deep division, to watch so many powerful leaders (over 100 so far across Canada!) and diverse faith traditions (over 20 so far! and including some religious denominations in their entirety) come together has been profoundly healing. My prayer is that this is the start of a global queer redemption movement, and that next year, we will see it grow beyond the colonial border that separates Canada from the United States. I don’t care what religion one professes to be: hate is not a religious value. Many years ago, at the tender and wise age of 9 years old, my incredibly wise child said something more insightful than anything I have heard before or since in all of my years of fancy theology training combined: “If G!d is Love and someone says they don’t believe in someone else’s love, then they don’t believe in G!d.” It is that simple. Tomorrow, religious leaders and communities will begin to reclaim the religious voice across Canada and unite to affirm that G!d is Love.
G!d is Love. And truthfully, being queer, for me, is not only about who I love but also my ability to love. Being trapped in a gender closet meant being disconnected from my deepest self/Self: the part of me that knows who I am and that can feel. I don’t even know how to begin to describe what it is like to live authentically as me and be seen as me: it is like wearing glasses for the first time and realizing how much I was missing for my entire life. It is like breathing oxygen after living with a plastic bag of shame and trauma wrapped around my head, hiding in fear and trying to kill off the part of me that the world told me was unacceptable, but being unable to do this because it was my essence. It is the desire to live and the ability to feel alive. It is about being who G!d created me to be after a lifetime of feeling so trapped that I could barely feel anything. To come out of my gender closet is to be liberated from my desire to die.
This is why I keep speaking out and trying to explain: I refuse to believe that any human being would actually want to deny another person this right, except because of misinformation, ignorance or the fact that they themselves are in denial about their own stuff. To refuse another person the right to be themselves or love who they want is deeply cruel. I will not rest until every religious tradition understands that G!d is Love and that standing in the way of anyone’s ability to live a life where Love is present is equivalent to standing in the way of G!d’s Presence on earth. Indeed, I can only assume that the lack of compassion that is rampant is reflective of the ways in which more people than we can understand are in denial of the ways that G!d’s Love and Light is trying to become manifest in this world and in each of us. I invite anyone who encounters someone speaking queerphobia or transphobia to reply with the question: “What are you repressing in yourself?” and I can assure you that I have met enough people who have figured out that this was why they were queerphobic to feel very confident that this question will provide great insight. Every religious tradition teaches: “Love your neighbor as yourself” and if someone does not act in loving ways towards others, that says everything about how much they are hurting and in need of love on the inside. We must liberate Love from the shackles of religious closets that are wounded/wounding.
For me, to be coming out as transgender nonbinary at the same time as hate is organizing, and to be recovering from gender-affirming surgery while standing in the rain protesting hate organized by people who are likely themselves in the closet and in denial, has been deeply traumatic. It has also reaffirmed much of what I shared above, because while there has been trauma at facing so much hatred and rejection, there has also been a Joy and sense of healing that is more profound than anything I have known. I have felt Love in a way that I did not know was possible. Why would anyone begrudge this of me or anyone else? Coming out of the closet is painful and difficult in ways I have tried to explain, in my quest to advocate for those kids who are trying to come out with even less emotional resources or support than I have, and who may be facing so many additional barriers and challenges. For me, advocating for 2SLGBTQIA+ human rights is about advocating for human rights and working to stop the hate that I can personally affirm is lethal: As I explain in the video above, I do this in the name of those queer people who ended their lives because fighting this fight is so hard. I am begging everyone to have the uncomfortable conversations with their friends and neighbors and religious communities, because what is a philosophical debate or a political tactic for one person is a life and death issue for the rest of us. I am therefore grateful to share the press release of tomorrow’s launch here and hope to see everyone there!
Press Release: Launch event for National Queer Interfaith Coalition on March 14
WHAT:
New Canada-wide national queer interfaith coalition led by interfaith queer clergy and community leaders, has formed to reclaim the religious voice from those who use it as a weapon. Our core goal is to advocate for the human rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals and save lives.
You are invited to the National Virtual Launch event where interfaith clergy and leaders will speak about why they are committed to building fully inclusive communities of faith and joining together in advocacy to combat rising 2SLGBTQIA+ hate.
We will introduce our origins, have several speakers from our group, read our open letter (copied below), and hold a sacred time of silence for those who are suffering from religiously motivated hate and discrimination.
The Queer Interfaith Coalition for 2SLGBTQIA+ Human Rights publicly affirm that, despite our diverse beliefs and traditions, we all believe that all 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals are created in the Divine Image and that advocacy for their human rights is not antithetical to faith, but indeed a central tenet of our religious faiths. We believe that, in a time of divisiveness, it is important to join together in solidarity around this issue in order to amplify our message and display an example of diverse, faith-based leadership.
WHEN:
Thursday March 14 – 9:30am PT, 10:30am MT, 11:30am CT, 12:30pm ET, 1:30pm AT, 2pm NT
WHY MARCH 14?
We’ve chosen March 14, as it is National Affirming / PIE Day, and PIE stands for Public, Intentional, and Explicit. This acronym embodies how we should live out our values as people of faith, not just inside our walls, but out in the Public square! Being affirming and fully inclusive of all 2SLGBTQIA+ people requires tangible commitment, and we are marking this commitment as others across Turtle Island celebrate with us! https://pieday.ca/
HOW:
Register for the Launch: https://tinyurl.com/QICLAUNCH
All who want to learn more about us are welcome to attend or join us by signing onto our open letter or contacting me.
OUR OPEN LETTER:
The Queer Interfaith Coalition and its Affirming allies are reclaiming the religious voice from those who have sought to weaponize faith. We believe that all 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals are created in the Divine Image and that advocacy for their human rights is not antithetical to faith, but a central tenet of our religious faiths.
We denounce the historic and current harms caused by fear-mongering, misinformation, disinformation, political maneuvering, and hate speech. We seek to bring healing and justice on behalf of our communities of faith that have, far too often, been responsible for adverse religious experiences and spiritual wounds that have caused enduring harm to 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and their advocates.
We affirm that the shared understanding of our religious duty is to dedicate ourselves to advocating for the full and comprehensive human rights of all members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community; promoting mental health, realizing the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ children and youth, and ending gender-based violence. We commit to creating and advocating for religious communities that are reflective of these sacred tenets of intersectional equity so that all 2SLGBTQIA+ people can flourish.
We encourage people of faith to engage in the public square and support the Society of Queer Momentum’s response to rising anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate, including the #FactsOverFear campaign, helping change the conversation on inclusion in schools, and the #Act4QueerSafety initiative, mobilizing communities to call for the Government of Canada to take action on rising hate and violence.
We believe that every person is holy, every love and life is sacred, and that our faiths invite us to be more of who we are, not less. We call upon all people of faith to join us in denouncing the damaging heresy that some people are more deserving of equality than others.
We will not be silent. We will not be invisible. And we invite every person of conscience to join us in advocating for a world where the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals are no longer debatable.
– Queer Interfaith Coalition and its Affirming Allies
SIGN ON:
Join our growing movement:
https://affirmingconnections.com/interfaith-coalition
Emerging Torah as Rabbi Nachshon emerges 