Launch of New Blog on Queer Chican@ Theology

Over the past few years I have been shifting my work to have a more theological focus, as my way of approaching how I engage LGBT and Queer activism. It was during my time at Harvard Divinity School that I began to tease out my interests and begin honing in on what I wanted to focus my energy and time toward. I have wrestled with developing a queer theology that moves beyond homonormative thinking, while affirming the multicultural make-up of queers. I've been trying to liberate myself from a liberation theology that does not foreground my queerness as something that deserves to be liberated from the structures in place that oppress me. And I have arrived at a space where I find it necessary to begin having those conversations.

With the rise of jotería studies, an emerging field engaging queerness and Chicana/o studies, I am interested in how using this new language in conversation with my background in theology will open doors to begin looking at how we talk about same-sex desire in Latin American and Chicana/o contexts. What I'm basically getting at is, I started a new blog! One that will be receiving more attention than this, as that's where I feel my heart is at right now.

JOT(E)LOGÍA is an experimental conversation about understanding same-sex desire and queerness on a postcolonial, theological level. In other words, how representations of the sexualized body function as religious and spiritual practice. I endeavor to use an intersectional, intertextual, and intersexual approach to looking into what this new area looks like, making use of texts, images, videos, art, etc. So please make you're way over there to bookmark it and join in on the conversation! I really do look forward to seeing what comes of this project.

While my energy will focused on moving into this next chapter of my writing and thinking, I am still committed to speaking out against the ex-gay movement and affirming safe-spaces within the church and religious institutions for LGBTQ individuals. I look forward to still traveling the country to share my story and the stories of others on how we have found a place of reconciliation within ourselves. For information on booking me to speak at your school, church, or event, please email booking@vincentcervantes.com for more information.

I'm Proud to be _____sexual!

Pride season is well underway across the country. With the recently passed festivals and parades in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many more, LGBTQs are proudly taking to the streets to celebrate. Every year I think about what it is that I'm proud of and how that is related to our queer history that we celebrating in the streets. In other words, what's the point of Pride?

Tonight is the 43rd anniversary of the Stonewall raid and protest, which would carry on through the morning of June 28th. As many of us will recall, Pride parades are a reminder of the Stonewall actions. After standing up the police raid at the Stonewall Inn groups of queers protested up and down the streets in solidarity to put a face to the issue of queerness and to remind the rest of the world that we're not going anywhere. In many ways, our contemporary Pride parades and festivals renew that reminder of our queer presence and pay homage to our brave LGBTQ predecessors, but I can't help but wonder if we're losing the spirit of the initial queer liberation movement.

Announcing New Book: Outspoken

Over the years I have blogged and written about the importance of storytelling. I’ve described storytelling as social protest. I continue to make the argument that stories serve as a critical witness to empower people to forge a path toward social change.

It’s been almost five years since I began using my own stories of coming out at a Christian college, surviving a gay exorcism, and discovering a way to reconcile my faith with my sexuality; all in hopes of instilling a sense of hope and encouragement in the lives of other LGBTQs.

Less than a year ago, I began to think: I should tell a story about storytelling.

Affirming the Gays at Christian Colleges

On Monday, the New York Times published an article on the rising presence of pro-LGBT or queer-affirming groups on Christian college campuses. The article recalls the efforts of the Soulforce Equality Ride, a grassroots campaign that brings young adults to Christian colleges and universities across the country to engage in open and honest conversations about faith and sexuality, and how the presence of the Riders has really stirred up student involvement in talking about homosexuality on their campuses. However, as expected, these groups of students are met with resistance at their colleges.

As a past Equality Rider (2007) and a former student at an Evangelical university—that came out as openly gay while I was still a student—I find this conversation in the NY Times to be long overdue, yet still very relevant today. Through my own experiences as an out gay student at Christian college and an activist that has engaged in hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations with Christian college students about this very subject, I offer my thoughts and reflections on the subject presented in the article.

Fighting Our Battles

I am asked all the time how I keep up the work I do with with responding to and dealing with constant forms of religious abuse, bullying, homophobia, etc. The truth of the matter is, there isn't really one answer. The way I respond to the surge of emails I get with Leviticus verses changes all the time. The type of conversations I have with my adversaries differ person-to-person, situation-to-situation.

I've spoken at a number of schools and churches to offering training workshops on responding to our adversaries. And in those trainings we explore a variety of ways we can counter arguments and work towards actions that induce change. But as I continue my work, I have to keep rethinking the way I approach social justice work. Thus I offer a meditation on how we fight our battles, from where my mind is right now. How do we go forth and "keep fighting the good fight" — as my cellmates told me while I was in jail in Waco, Texas.

Queer Youth Speaking Up: Reteaching Gender and Sexuality

Check out this video I came across yesterday. It's been the repost of the day on Facebook by queers and trans folk across the interwebs. Young people in Seattle from the Put This On The Map project put together this fantastic short video. I think it's vitally important that we allow young people to speak for themselves and define their own queerness and their own spaces; as opposed to just telling them, "It Gets Better" — which these young people also critique in this video.

My favorite line: "We need to move past safe spaces ...how about liberating spaces?"

Exodus International Targets Young People for 2011

Despite the substantial scientific, and even theological, evidence that debunks the myth that homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender variance are not embodied ‘disorders’, ex-gay organizations, like Exodus International, have refused to close their doors and rescind their claims that LGBTQ folk are morally flawed and in need of fixing.

Instead, for 2011 Exodus International has refocused their mission and their strategic vision planning has developed into the following manifesto for the upcoming year: Simplify, Amplify, and Intensify.

In an open letter to their supporters, Alan Chambers elaborates on these concepts as they move forward to refocus their mission (simplify), refocus their target audiences (amplify), and refocus the cultural impact their message carries in the world (intensify).

As expected, I have many contentions with Chambers’ message. I find his argument within these categories to be theologically problematic. However, despite my best efforts to disagree with Chambers and Exodus, their organization continues to exist and their message continues to reach the lives of many individuals every day.

An Indictment Against the Violence and Harm of the 'Ex-Gay' Movement

The Soulforce Symposium on "The Truth About Faith, Love, Science, and Reparative Therapy" created a space for some of the leading voices working on 'ex-gay'-related research and work to come together in hopes exposing the violence and harm produced by the 'ex-gay' movement.

I mentioned yesterday that I had the opportunity to present a paper on the intersectionality panel, titled "Critical Witnessing and Multilingualism: Building the Counter Movement," which is available for download on the Soulforce website.

After the Symposium I took time to reflect on my experiences and to process the information and arguments I heard over the weekend. I wrote an article titled, "An Indictment Against the Violence and Harm of the 'Ex-Gay' Movement," to respond to the Symposium which is available through The Bilerico Project.

As I stress in the article and in my paper, it is crucial that we talk about the violence produced in the 'ex-gay' movement in order to build an inclusive radical counter movement. I hope my words and reflection can help inspire us to get to that point.

"Breaking the Chains" Documentary

A year ago, three American Evangelical leaders traveled to Uganda for a conference on “the gay agenda” to speak about "alternatives" to homosexuality; in other words, to falsely teach that homosexuality is "curable" human condition.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill was proposed just a few months later in Uganda and introduced some of the harshest punishments in the world for homosexuals. The Bill calls for lifetime imprisonment of all LGBT people, death to homosexuals who are HIV-positive and prison for any Ugandan who fails to report LGBT Ugandans within 24 hours of the Bill passing.

Despite the security risks, Ugandan activists are raising the alarm about this human rights abuse. Recent Northwestern University graduate Alyssa Eisenstein traveled to Uganda this past spring to hear from these inspiring men and women. With interviews from LGBT activists, legal and political authorities, university students, village leaders and even a traditional healer, "Breaking the Chains" profiles these activists as they tell this story in their own words.


Watch the documentary after the jump.

Standing Up to NOM in St. Louis

Telling Our Stories Video

Two weeks ago, I wrote a post that highlighted the importance of storytelling as a form of social protest. The video that follows really demonstrates the point I was trying to make when I say that is important to use our personal experiences as a springboard for critical engagement and social protest.

I tend to enjoy Annual Conference season in the United Methodist Church. It gives us the opportunity to remind ourselves and others of God's never-ending, reconciling love in the Church. The following video was shown at the UMC 2010 California-Pacific Annual Conference this past weekend. The video highlights LGBT United Methodists sharing their stories of how churches have hurt them in the past and how they pray for a reconciled and all-inclusive United Methodist Church. (Video is after the jump.)

Highlighting the Sanctuary Collective

There is an amazing group that has been doing some powerful work, that I am proud to be a part of, and want to share more about. It is rare to find a group of young adults that are so committed to working at the intersections of social justice and religion; yet nevertheless, it is also encouraging when we do find them.

I introduce, Sanctuary Collective, a group of young adults networked together that work to inspire, empower, and support young LGBTQs and allies as they work for justice in Christian communities.

Sanctuary Collective works to train and connect young people with a supportive collective of people that are there to encourage their work, provide them with resources, and so much more. This is truly some exciting work going on here. On their website there are connections to sermons, prayers, bible studies, scriptures, and so much more.

Storytelling as Social Protest

Over the weekend I spoke to graduating LGBTQ (and allies) high schoolers at a Rainbow Graduation Celebration in Riverside, CA. I spoke to the graduates about the importance of sharing their stories and experiences. I drew on my own experiences and how I've used my own story in the work that I do as an advocate for social justice.

I have been having a lot of discussion around this topic of 'storytelling' for quite some time now. I believe that stories are absolutely powerful tools and critically instructive because they challenge and expand our thinking about the world around us. Every individual has a story. Whether those stories be about traumatic experiences, triumphs, achievements, or whatnot, they're stories and they are valuable. Stories have the power to instigate change.

"The Right to Serve" v. "The Right to Marry"

Last night was the film screening of ASK NOT in West Hollywood.  After the film, there was a panel discussion that followed (I was a guest on the panel).  First, the film was absolutely amazing!!  It really shed light on the issues attached to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and the ways that the policy affects real people.  The questions we got asked on the panel were some very great questions; they were actually rather challenging questions, but that's good though, because this is a challenging issue.

There was one question that was asked that stuck with me the rest of the night and it's still in my head.  The question was something like, "Given that the LGBTQ community is more liberal, they tend to be anti-war and thus, anti-military, do you think that LGBTQ persons don't care as much about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" as they should?  Additionally, given the recent rulings of Prop 8, do you think that the movement for the right to marry has overshadowed the movement for the right to serve?"  (This was not the exact wording, but the gist of what was asked).

This was such a great question!!  I can't even count the number of times I have heard gay and lesbian people say, "At least I'll never be drafted, because I'm gay!"  Responses like that make me upset, because they are accepting policies that discriminate against them.  I wanted to share my response to this question through my blog, because I believe it's important for us as a community of LGBTQ people and allies to understand this.

A person's personal feelings about war, militaries, etc., are irrelevant when it comes to legality of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."  The larger issue here is discrimination.  While, the issue of marriage seems to be more of a current event, I don't think it has entirely overshadowed the right to serve movement; because at the heart of both issues is the need to end discrimination.  Regardless of how someone feels about certain topics, everyone should have access to marriage and the opportunity to serve in the armed forces (if they so choose) without being discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation.  Plain and simple.

For more information about research being done on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," please check out the website for the Palm Center at the University of California Santa Barbara (http://www.palmcenter.org)