"The Saint of Dry Creek": Story Corps Remembers Stonewall Uprising

Watch “The Saint of Dry Creek,” as part of our #StonewallOutLoud initiative to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Learn more at https://t.co/b57SPaI7GY pic.twitter.com/qaGJVe3dBQ

— StoryCorps (@StoryCorps) June 15, 2019

I shared this "Saint of Dry Creek" video back in October 2015. I'm very happy to see Story Corps circulating it again on social media this week as part of its #StonewallOutLoud initiative.

It's a keeper, in my view.

Pride Month: Remembering Ellen Degeneres' Coming Out on National T.V. Twenty Years Ago

Pride month is a good time to point you to the commemoration Ellen Degeneres did on 28 April of her historic coming-out episode twenty years ago. It's on my mind today because I save episodes of Ellen's show to watch as I slog on my treadmill daily, and have just gotten to that episode in my queue of saved shows. Steve and I just finished watching it.

Krzysztof Charamsa Publishes Book Explaining Choice to Come Out as a Gay Priest: The First Stone: I, Gay Priest, and My Rebellion Against the Church’s Hypocrisy

As many of you will know, shortly before the Catholic Synod on the Family opened, a Polish priest, Monsignor Krzysztof Charamsa, who worked in the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, revealed that he was gay and has a partner, Eduard Planas. He was subsequently removed from his CDF position and defrocked. If you click on Krzysztof's name in the labels below, you'll find a series of postings telling his story, with links to statements he has made.

Ex-Gay Activist Peterson Toscano Launches New Blog: Combining Climate Change Activism with Queer Activism

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "Born This Way"

In the chapter of John Corvino's book What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (NY: Oxford UP, 2013) entitled "Born This Way," one line above all stands out for me: as Corvino shares a painful, powerful, and detailed account of his own coming-out process in an Italian Catholic family in which he prayed devoutly to be freed of his homoerotic leanings, and considered becoming a priest, he states, 

For Your Weekend Viewing: Hero Reporter Dave Hansen on "Ellen Show"

Dave Hansen says that the positive feedback he's gotten from across the U.S. for his support of Michael Sam gives him hope for the future for his children and their children.

Bridegroom: An Interview with the Filmmaker, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

A quick footnote to my posting last week about Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's wonderful new documentary Bridegroom, focusing on the love story of Tom Bridegroom and Shane Crone: 

Bridegroom: The Love Story of Tom Bridegroom and Shane Crone, a Primer about Gay Youth, Coming Out, and Religion in the Heartland

I mentioned several days ago that the Oprah Winfrey network had aired several programs about being gay in America. One of the films that OWN aired as part of that initiative was Linda Bloodworth-Thomason's documentary Bridegroom.

For National Coming Out Day: "What If I Told You God Is Gay?"

For National Coming Out Day today, a powerful poem by University of North Carolina drama student Elliott Darrow, which has recently gone viral at You Tube: for Time, Elizabeth Dias comments on Darrow and his performance: 

Commentary on Jason Collins's Coming Out: Importance of Hearing Gay Voices Talking About Gay Experience (with Arkansas Footnote)

A whole row of statements today at Huffington Post about the significance of NBA player Jason Collins's game-changing decision to come out of the closet:

Frank Bruni on Why the Gays Don't Just Shut Up About It

Frank Bruni on why those of us who are gay just don't shut up about it already:

NBA Player Jason Collins Comes Out, and Chris Broussard Spouts Bible Verses: Bible-Based Anti-Gay Bullying Ramping Up

It's interesting, isn't it, that the immediate and instinctual response of men like Chris Broussard to NBA player Jason Collins's choice to come out of the closet is to issue a blaring pronouncement that Collins is a sinner in "open rebellion" against God? The response of some people to the increasing openness of gay people in many cultures around the world is, in short, to ramp up the bullying. Using the choicest bullying weapons available to them as they engage in this campaign--which is to say, God, Jesus, the bible, etc. . . .

Jamie Manson on the "Dark Side" of Proposals to End Mandatory Celibacy: Whither Gay Priests?

To my mind, the operative paragraph in Jamie Manson's recent wise warning to Catholics in favor of the option of married clergy to consider a possible "dark side" of revising the mandatory celibacy requirement is this one:

Headlines I Never Expected: "Congrats to Jim Nabors and His Husband!"

This is a headline I don't think I ever expected to live long enough to see:

Texas Says It's Going to Get Better

A well-done and moving video from LGBT officers of the Austin, Texas, police department, uploaded to the It Gets Better project.  Hat tip to Abby Zimet of Common Dreams for the link to the video.

Book Notes: James Matthew Green's Northern Lights

And since I'm writing today about themes of remembrance, about our search for meaning in the lives of those who have gone before us, when those lives often seem superseded by what post-Enlightenment thinkers have taught us to see as progress, I'd like to recommend to readers a book recently published by a friend of mine.  This is a novel that deals with themes of remembrance and, quite specifically, with the challenge of bringing to light lives that haven't been remembered by history because they have not been honored by those who write history.

The Importance of Anderson Cooper's Coming Out Statement

Chad Griffin, Human Rights Campaign, and the Arkansas Connection

Here's one reason I'm happy that the Human Rights Campaign has chosen Arkansas native Chad Griffin to be its new head: when you grow up gay in places like Arkansas and come home to visit family and friends, you can't avoid having conversations like this as you travel back home (or when you reach home):

Peter Cameron's Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You: A Brief Review

I'm not entirely sure why I don't blog more often about novels I happen to be reading.  I do read far more than the dry and frequently brittle political and religious analysis about which I seem to be perpetually babbling on here.  In fact, throughout my entire reading life (that is, from the time I was six years old), it has been stories--fiction, novels, fables, myths, plays, short stories--that have formed the backdrop to my thinking, to my entire being, far more than anything I've ever read in an academic context.

Steve Kornacki's Coming-Out Story: Required Reading for Those Seeking Understanding

For inspiration, Steve Kornacki's painful, humorous, insightful coming-out story at Salon yesterday is a must-read.  And for understanding of the numerous concrete challenges most folks in the U.S. who come out of the closet still face as they do so.  Even in big urban centers commonly considered gay-friendly and gay-inclusive.