A Challenge To the LGBT

Communities in the Aftermath of the U.S. Elections

Be A Queer for Four More Years
by the Rev. Dr. Penny Nixon

Excerpted from a sermon preached at
Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco on November 7, 2004

Here we are. Many of us are disappointed, depressed, even devastated by
the outcome of the election. We cannot imagine four more years and
where
we will be at the end of the four years. We look back, but only long
enough to learn from our mistakes. We may be discouraged for the
moment,
but we live on hope.

Hope is not found in hollow optimism or in the language of cheap
platitudes. Hope thrives in adversity, comes alive in the most
undesirable circumstances, and finds kindred spirits with those who
choose to love in the midst of loss.

Eleven states passed anti-gay marriage laws, ten of them
overwhelmingly;
laws that will affect not just gay people. Many across the country
believe that moral values won the day. I believe that moral values
suffered a resounding defeat.

So, I am interested in conversations about moral values and family
values, compelled by the hard work of finding our way through and
forward to a new day.

I am interested in changing the public discourse and challenging the
assumptions that are the underpinnings of this discourse: The worn out
God vs. gays rhetoric; the imperialistic and violent language of both
politicians and religious leaders; the abuse of power; the worship of
corporations; the blatant double standards in our justice system; the
hijacking of religion for political expediency.

We have our own work to do, now more than ever. I want queer people,
LGTB people, our allies, sexual minorities and gender traitors, to live
boldly in the world, but to live well FOR the world. I want us to be
mature enough in our pride and celebration to also be honest with
ourselves:

honest enough to ask how our sex cultures, our drug
cultures,
our consumerism, our narcissisms, our low self-esteem disguised as
self-righteousness contribute to the world we say we want to create.

We cannot underestimate how difficult times might be in the next few
years. There will be tactics, overt and covert, to squeeze us out and
shut us down. All the more reason to be bold with who we are.

So I have a challenge: BE A QUEER FOR FOUR MORE YEARS

I want us to be queerer than ever. Queer includes an array of genders,
of families, of loves; means being suspicious of the status quo; means
moving outside the norm where we are in solidarity with all the
marginalized; demands a persistent refusal to be assimilated; expresses
an insistent authenticity, telling and living the truths of our lives.

We must find a way to talk about and live moral values by inviting
religiously disaffected people to a spiritual paradigm that fosters the
kind of conversations that help build bridges.

The conversations needed
are those that broaden the dialogue about moral values that are truly
suffering defeat-a living wage that barely allows people to survive,
standardized testing that leaves far too many children behind, health
care that is based on class, assault weapons for purchase, pre-emptive
war based on deception, ecological destruction of all life, disregard
for different types of families-and so much more.

These are the conversations we must engage in-and we must be willing to
find a way to engage the religious and spiritual issues they represent.
This discourse must be broad enough to include all those with spiritual
impulses whether they accept or reject a notion of God.

We will not use "God or religion" as a smoke screen for our own
political agenda, but do the soul searching work of creating an
inclusive spirituality that is broad enough and profound enough for our
complicated, messy and beautiful world.

A reporter interviewing A.J. Muste, who during the Vietnam War stood in
front of the White House night after night with a candle, one rainy
night asked, "Mr. Muste, do you really think you are going to change
the
policies of this country by standing out here alone at night with a
candle?" Muste replied, "Oh, I don't do it to change the country, I do
it so the country won't change me."

And here we are, holding our candles.

by the Rev. Dr. Penny Nixon, Senior Pastor, Metropolitan Community
Church of San Francisco
E-Mail: info@mccsf.org

For Additional Information, Contact:

Jim Birkitt, MCC Communications Director

8704 Santa Monica Boulevard, Second Floor West Hollywood, CA 90069

Tel.
(310) 360-8640, Ext. 226

E-Mail: info@MCCchurch.org

Website: www.MCCchurch.org