Zaadz: Gay Spirituality

Kia Ora (greetings) from New Zealand

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:38:43 -0000

Hi from New Zealand. 47 year old single gender-fluid male identifying as 'gay'. . . single. I joined this a while ago, but, don't think I introduced myself before. I've 'returned' to gaia after a bit of a break and look forward to discussions with other queer/gay spirits out there.
Aroha
Larry - aka lagniappe

Re: Kia Ora (greetings) from New Zealand

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:40:01 -0000

Hey Welcome, from NJ in America! Not much going in this pod, not that it can't it just don't seem to happen... Check out my profile page and following the leads you feel comfortable with... there a bunch of gay folk, faeries, out here doin our thing...

(Oh! Yeah a bunch of so called straight people too) Ha!

Looking forward to travelin the path with you!

I am Love, jeff

a Spoof VID from you tube-Gay scientists isolate a christian gene

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:49:07 -0000

High y'all here is a link to a SPOOF video I found on you tube, hope noone is offended by it, Mike
follow this link
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=qCzbNkyXO50
or if the link doesn't work , cause I may be gay, but I'm no scientist, try copy & paste or go to you tube and typy gay+scientist+christian in the search box
perhaps someone less incompetent than me can post the actual link,
thanks, Mike

Looking for some clarity...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:44:57 -0000

Hey everyone. New to this site, this group, and to being out. I have really struggled with my spirituality ever since I came out and would like to see how others have handled this...To me, I just feel uncomfortable going to my home church because I can feel the weird looks, see people talking, etc. I go to a small church where I know EVERYONE so this makes it extremely difficult. Any hints on how to handle this better?

Re: Looking for some clarity...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:45:03 -0000

Marcus,

Many years ago I was told to church shop, if church is what you need at this time in your life.

Spirituality has nothing to do with going to church or what church you attend...

What if found usually it was my own uncomfortableness, my homophobia that caused me to thing people where looking and talking...

God loves you, He/She created us this way! Love God, Love yourself always...

I am Love, Jeff

Re: Looking for some clarity...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 21:39:40 -0000

Hi, Marcus,

I agree with Jeff that spirituality is personal walk, and is different for each person. However, if you are looking for spiritual community in the form of a church, there are many churches that are "open and affirming", meaning they not only accept, but celebrate, GLBTI persons.

Here's a short list:

Unity (New Thought)
www.unityonline.org

Religious Science (New Thought)
www.rsintl.org or www.religiousscience.org

MCC, the Metropolitan Community Church (GLBTI, Christian)
www.mccchurch.org

UCC, United Churches of Christ (Progressive Christianity)
www.ucc.org

You can also do a web search for "open and affirming" or "progressive Christianity".

Hope this helps!
dale
Sacred Place Ministries
www.asacredplace.net

Re: Looking for some clarity...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:08:24 -0000

Dale,

Thanks for adding the list, great... I was going to do that but I was waiting for some response...

There are great choices out there if you look around, and depending where one is...

I am Love, Jeff

Re: Looking for some clarity...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:46:37 -0000

You're welcome, Jeff, and you ARE Love!!

Blessings,
dale

Re: Looking for some clarity...

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:19:34 -0000

Dale,
Wow, thanks for that list. I have done some web searching and found some churches in Topeka, KS(where I will be moving to in December) that are very open. This has helped a great deal!

My Intro.

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:21:04 -0000

Hello everyone,
I am a 20 year old, recently out gay male. I have met the love of my life, and we are both vert spiritual. We are interested in pursuing a god and love-filled life.

Re: Would You Marry? Is marriage a good institution? In Californi

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:56:10 -0000

I wouldn't marry. I have been with my 'wife' for almost 12 years. We are DoMos (domestic homosexual partners) in California so we can be protected legally. However, I think the whole institution of marriage is messed up. No other legal contract is gone into without first having to have all the legal ramifications of the connection described in detail. I think that if people want to marry, they should have a spiritual union (regardless of the orientation) and then if they want to join their lives legally, that should be done through the court systems, since the divorce has to be done so. It needs to be more difficult to marry. Perhaps it should only be done if children are involved.

Where do all the lesbians go

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 01:59:12 -0000

It is so interesting to me that gay men form community so easily and women tend not to. I would love to have this place fill with uplifting posts from lesbians, everywhere. Tell your coming out story, give encouragement. Let's talk about great places to eat! ;-) I am from Sacramento, have been with my wife for nearly 12 years and love to eat at the

River's Edge Cafe & Espresso

- www.riversedgecafeandespresso.com
8740 La Riviera Dr # C, Sacramento - (916) 362-2221

Re: Looking for some clarity...

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:44:40 -0000

Marcus, you will only be about 3 hours from me. I live outside of Kansas City. If you ever come up this way, let me know!

Blessings,
dale

Re: Would You Marry? Is marriage a good institution? In Californi

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:38:47 -0000

I don't care what you call it; marriage, civil union... The bottom line is I deserve the same state AND federal rights as my parents have.

I am a tax paying citizen of this country who cannot (1) join the military and can't talk about men, or who I am dating (2) cannot get federal rights granted to me if I am in a civil union (3) can be taxed on my partner's income because we're in a civil union (4) cannot teach in a public school if I am openly gay

I am currently not involved with anyone but it is ridculous the level of discrimination that still exists against human beings. Remove the tags gay, homosexual, lesbian, marriage, civil union, rights...

We are talking about human beings and those who don't want to see us have any rights in this country have done a good job of removing a face from us.

It is easier to discriminate against a name, a group, an idea... Bring it back to a human level and for most it's not that simple.

Just my $.02 before having my morning coffee.

Bear

Re: Where do all the lesbians go

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:43:30 -0000

Hi PerfectGrace,

Wow...it's so interesting to hear from your perspective, because over here on the East Coast, lesbian and heterosexual women have formed women's circles, empowement circles...etc., for years now.

I have been wondering when gay men are going to start doing the same? Over the past twenty years I have made four attempts and not one of them came to frutition. Oh well...

I am grateful for an online connection because otherwise I think I would be alone! Well, not really alone, but point made...

Great ide about the cafe meeting, I really hope it takes off for you!

Bear

Re: Where do all the lesbians go

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:48:58 -0000

I think you have this backwards. Gay men look like they have community and call it community, living in the gayborhoods, going to dances, etc. Men do not bond in the same way...

Lesbians are the movers and shakers of the gay movement... the ones that have gathered and cared for community...

Yet again these communities are out there and one needs to search and choose where one wishes to spend time...

Coffee shops are great gathering places...

good luck, have fun, invite your women friends to Gaia... that is how this begins....

I am Love, Jeff

Re: Where do all the lesbians go

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:54:37 -0000

You are correct Bear! Women are gathering and have been... Men sort of do, just on a more lose form... they don't seem to bond in the same way... If you read Harry Hay's book you will see his vision for the Radical Faeries... one that is under what shows up today.

Also read "Soul Beneath the Skin" this book is very enlightening in how we gay men are still emerging, evolving....

I am Love, Jeff

a new ancestor

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:59:30 -0000

Here is a message from a man in Philadelphia who has been a Radical Faerie for as long as I can remember. I think he was born one. Chris is an amazing person and a leader in the gay community health services as well as creating a leadership program...

But this is not about him this is about a fellow leader and elder and now an ancestor... not long ago I had an experience where I said that I don't have "family" ancestors and stories what I have is my Gay family history and stories because that is where I come from. I share this story and memories so that the young men and women know why they have the freedom they have today, as gay men and women.

John Burnside, partner of Harry Hay, an inventor of kaleidoscopes and
an important figure in the history of gay liberation, died on Sunday,
September 14th, 2008 in San Francisco, CA of complications due to
brain cancer. He was 91.

I really loved John. He lived for the past decade or so in a pretty
little house on 17th Street between Sanchez and Church in the Castro.
The house has clouds painted all over it. He and Harry Hay lived
there together until Harry died in 2002. They were watched over by a
group of Radical Faeries called the Circle of Loving Companions.

I owe my meeting with Harry and John to SF faerie David Smith who, one
day in 1999 ran into me on Castro Street and said, "Do you want to
come meet Harry Hay and John Burnside?" That was like asking me if I
wanted to meet Ethel Merman--- OF COURSE!!

So we walked over to 17th Street and met Harry and John. The thing I
remember thinking when I met them was that John had a very very sweet
personality. He was much more gentle and unassuming than Harry. And
it was clear that he had dedicated himself to Harry and Harry's work.
And that was quite a thing to be dedicated to-- because Harry Hay was
always writing and organizing and speaking and rabblerousing.

I'm thinking how lucky some of the lions of the LGBT movement were
(Barbara Gittings and her partner Kay Lahusen also come to mind) that
they had these dedicated partners who were committed to supporting
them in their activism and vision. John was obviously that way with
Harry.

After Harry died, it was a bit easier I think to see the power of John
Burnside. With Harry passed on to the ancestor world, John could
really be present to the people he was with and not have to operate as
an intermediary energy for Harry. Harry's flame took up a lot of
oxygen! And it was nice to have some years where I could sit with
John and hear about him and just see how incredibly sweet and
delightful he was.

I also bonded with John as a fellow sissy. He had a particular sissy
style that resonated with me-- gentle, cultivated, and subtly
powerful. He was one of the people who helped clarify for me the
incredibly powerful role of sissies in the world.

But John is important to gay leadership and radical faerie leadership
because he exemplified a style of leadership that often goes
unacknowledged- - a behind-the-scenes- supporter of a great public
figure. These supporters are crucial to our leadership, and yet their
contributions are often unacknowledged because they are purposefully
behind the scenes.

What would it look like to do an inventory of our behind-the-scenes
leadership, and to quantify and qualify its impact?

When I heard about John's death, I took a moment to really think about
his great spirit and his dedication to the principles of gay community
and radical faerie consciousness. I encourage each of you to do the
same-- just take in for a moment that on Sunday, September 14th, 2008
a great man transitioned from elder to ancestor. And the question
now, to each of you, is how to make him into a meaningful ancestor for
yourself and for us.

__._,_.___

A joke from the Gaian humour pod-what do you think?

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:45:31 -0000

Hello, I found this joke on the humour pod and personally, I like it-how do you feel? does it offend anyone? not me
Mike
http://pods.gaia.com/gaianhumor/discussions/view/340543

Re: A positive reaction to negativity

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:57:08 -0000

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=EESDaO2K5qk
this video deals with the difficulty of telling a partner your serostatus-it's positively hilarious, butt puppet & all