[supporting Black queer heroes]

“If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.” — Bayard Rustin 

Bayard Rustin was a leader in both the civil rights and gay rights movements. He organized and led civil rights protests in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.  Most notably the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who recognized Rustin’s “expertise and commitment in this area” (Papers 5:390), and earning him the affectionate nickname “Mr. March on Washington” from other civil rights leaders.

Rustin also traveled to India in 1948 to expand his knowledge on non-violent strategies from Mahatma Gandhi.

Rustin was an openly gay man at a time when this was especially not accepted, dangerous even, and thus was often an “influential advisor behind the scenes to civil-rights leaders” (Wikipedia). In the 1980’s, his activism for gay rights became more public, including working intersectionally to “bring the AIDS crisis to the attention of” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. (CCGSD)

He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama.

Read more: Why The Black Community Should Proudly Support Black Queer Heroes: More people should be quoting Bayard Rustin

https://medium.com/afrosapiophile/why-the-black-community-should-proudly-support-black-queer-heroes-5a814d05bb14

Photo credit:

By Leffler, Warren K., photographer; cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 09:59, 25 November 2010 (UTC) - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsc.01272. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12143472

[we either love and embrace...]

We are either a people who love, embrace, and enter into a caring posture with our family, friends, neighbors, strangers, and even enemies (real or imagined) 

or

we will spend our lives mercilessly trying to define who is lovable and who is not, who is worthy and who is not, who deserves my attention and who does not. Inevitably, we will end up loving people who look like us, think like us, and pledge allegiance to the same flag—and we will exclude the rest.

In this truly useless pursuit, we will separate ourselves from God (through tribal worship), from the world’s good (by avoiding healing and restoration), and from our very souls (through self-pre­occupation with ego).

Excerpt from Jack Jezreel. Spacing added. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/contemplation-action-week-2-summary-2017-07-08/

[standing with you...]

 

International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

Amazing graphic courtesy of may17.org

(6 versions available at may17.org)

Along with being about people and advocacy which I affirm and work for, these posters are absolutely gorgeous and I love the way they have incorporated different races, body types and abilities in the midst of the IDAHOBIT theme… 

"universal" washroom

A joke:

Question: What do you call a non-binary deer?

Answer: Dear.

---

Here's a cool version of a washroom sign at the Husky/Tim Horton's in Canmore. Very thematically appropriate as you'll know if you've ever been in Canmore or looked it up on a map.

One thing that's missing, despite its claim to be "universal", is that it still presumes two genders, as seen by the standard figure with pants with a buck's head and the standard figure with a skirt with the female deer head. 

What to put instead? 

How about a toilet? With a wheelchair to indicate barrier-free, and an image of a change table... Maybe the words "Restroom" or "Toilet"

Nowhere near as fun as antlers, I must say...

But going deeper, the problem with this sign is that it is conventionally unconventional - it is still cisheteronormative regardless of cute imagery. It is based on the foundation that presumes everyone is cisgender and heterosexual. 

And that's simply not true and not inclusive of all of God's creation.

mr mike's "he she" hallway

Saw this at the Mr. Mike's restaurant in North Edmonton - an open hallway with multiple doors, each with moustache and lips (some also with wheelchair and baby logos).

Not perfect, as the signs are still based on a gender binary, but pretty good.

It provides the second best alternative to truly gender-neutral washrooms: single-user washrooms with dual gender signage. This means that transgender and non-binary patrons can go into any available washroom without anyone hassling them for being "in the wrong washroom" No one will hassle them for what door they go through, and no one will hassle them for which washroom they are actually in (cuz they'll be in there by themselves).

I imagine that Mr. Mike's interior designers were going for cute and having the signage here align with the signage elsewhere in the restaurant. However, with a bit more creativity, they probably could have come up with all-gender signage that was still on brand!

What do you think? What kind of design would clearly indicate that these are washrooms, while still having a fun element?

[Kent Monkman at the alberta gallery of art]

 

If you are a fan of Kent Monkman as I am, and live in the Edmonton area, here's an opportunity to see four of his works -- at the Alberta Gallery of Art.

On until May 21, 2023, the Generations exhibit includes the three works seen above plus one more in another gallery. 

Of particular interest to me were the two paintings seen at the centre and right above (Resurgence of the People, and Welcoming the Newcomers, respectively). As you can see, they are large and detailed -- yet these are the studies for the final versions that are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art... final versions which are monumental at 11' x 22' in size. Nonetheless, as I can't get to New York anytime soon, it was amazing to see them this close up!

The artwork in the front is a "sculptural installation Museological Grand Hall by the contemporary Mi'kmaw artist Ursula Johnson [which] evokes a silent vigil for her female ancestors - makers of baskets..." (from the museum label).

six of my favouritist books

Here are six of my most favourite books, listed in the order that they appear in the image above:

1. Exclusion and Embrace by Miroslav Volf (more)
2. transforming: the Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians, by Austen Hartke (more)
3. God is a Black Woman, by Christena Cleveland (more)
4. Unclean: Meditations on Purity, Hospitality, and Mortality, by Richard Beck (more)
5. Where the Edge Gathers: A Theology of Radical Inclusion, by Yvette A. Flunder (more)
6. Grace (visual edition) by Philip Yancey (more)

In keeping with my late father's saying that "to read a good book only once is laziness," I have read each of these books at least twice and have read sections of three of them multiple times.

[an excerpt from "a booklet of uncommon prayer: collects for the #blacklivesmatter movement"]

Christians for Social Action has published A Booklet of Uncommon Prayer: Collects for the Black Lives Matter Movement—and Beyond, by Kenji Kuramitsu. 

This is an excerpt from the poem a prayer against the marginalization of queer people:

Triune God,

You exist beyond categorization and beyond the limits of what we can understand.

Reveal to us the fluid, all-embracing community of love and light that is at the heart of your character in three persons.

End all oppression and indignities...

---

Read the whole poem: https://christiansforsocialaction.org/resource/a-prayer-against-the-marginalization-of-queer-people/

Find out more about and order the Booklet of Uncommon Prayer: https://christiansforsocialaction.org/resource/booklet-of-uncommon-prayer-prayers-for-the-black-lives-matter-movement/