The Cathedral of Hope — an LGBTQ±affirming United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas — has made a concerted effort to defend the queer community from “persecution,” as the state government targets drag queens and transgender people.
The church recently held a service where they blessed drag queens and pledged to “stand for justice, proclaim love, and protect the rights of all people.”
While about three dozen protestors stood outside of the church hurling slurs and threats, approximately 850 people attended the service.
“Anyone check the weather today?!” one protester screamed. “’Cause it might rain fire and brimstone on this church and burn every homo inside!”
But for the ugliness on display outside, the congregation filled the building with love and “radical inclusivity.”
“We recognize that all people are made in the loving image of God, no matter who they are, how they dress, express themselves, or who they love,” the pastor intoned during the service. “We celebrate this divine diversity and commit to lifting up the voices of the LGBTQ+ community and creating spaces where everyone can thrive.”
As one worship leader noted as the pastor gave communion, “Drag queens are often targets of hate and violence.” The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, in particular, were singled out for particular honor due to their lifesaving work during the AIDS epidemic.
“These Sisters were at the bedsides of men dying of AIDS,” Rev. Dr. Neil G. Thomas said. “They bring humor, they bring activism, they provide and bring a level of spirituality that many of us have had taken away from us. Despite the humor, they take their spiritual work very seriously.”
The service was a response to recently passed legislation meant to make a drag a crime. The law, passed by Republicans, has been challenged in court by civil rights groups and blocked repeatedly by federal courts.
The law punishes drag performers and venues with a $10,000 fine if they allow a minor to see a “sexually explicit” performance. Such a performance is defined as one in which “a male performer [is] exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience.”
Lawyers from the Texas Attorney General’s office argued that because the law didn’t specifically mention drag, it wasn’t discriminatory to drag performances. However, in June, Gov. Greg Abbott ® shared a story about the law’s passage that contained the headline, “Texas Governor Signs Law Banning Drag Performances in Public,” and added the comment, “That’s right.” Many state politicians who supported the law also publicly stated that it was meant to target drag, specifically.
But would the law apply to churches? That’s unclear.
“My kid was here,” the lead pastor said. “I don’t have the right to choose to bring my kid to church when there are drag queens?”
My sense of Texan pride is basically on life support, but shit like this is a ray of light in the dark, blighted void that is my hopescape.
Speaking as a California native and blatant leftie, I’m very proud of the Texas liberals I have met. They are actually better liberals than most people In CA, because they aren’t just inculcated into it, and they maintain their liberalism against adversity. Texas the state is fucked up, but I have a lot of respect for Texans. You just have a slightly larger asshole block than we do.
Yesterday, I saw an article about a church (shockingly in Fort Worth) that was raising money and giving grants for those needing to travel to different states for abortions.
Shit like that really yees my haw
Yes, many people are raised to have pride in the town, city, state, country or planet they are from. It’s so common and cross-cultural that I am extremely surprised you would need an explanation by the time you’re capable of writing comments on the Fediverse.
Now that we have the pedantry out of the way, how is your comment meant to be helpful or move us forward? If it’s neither of those things, why are you doing it? All of this is rhetorical, of course. Just food for thought for us both.
I like the places I have lived, but I don’t feel like where I happened to be born is a personal achievement for myself. The rivalry between states and regions in the US is basically like nationalism. It’s not a good influence and it doesn’t come from a position of emotional maturity.
I made no value judgement on this. I just pointed out this is common and it is surprising if someone doesn’t understand it.
You may not agree with it, but you understand it exists and that it is often tied to how someone is raised.
Sure, of course I acknowledge it exists. I understand why, i guess. I was forced to move around a lot as a kid, first from school to school and then from state to state, which probably gives me a different perspective. I just also resent it from things like, I drove 5 minutes across the bridge to Wisconsin to eat mexican food at this crappy bar, then guys in the parking lot acted like they wanted to kill me for not having a Wisconsin license plate, as they muttered something about football.
Since it seems we are covering personal opinions, I think this is like all pride: sometimes it can be good and sometimes it can be toxic, often depending on who the person feeling prideful is.
Lol not in Sacramento
Usually there’s an aspect of embodying the good things associated with your place and culture. I wasn’t allowed a sense of pride as a child and never grew to understand it. But if I did have a normal sense of pride, one might say that my love of southern food and country music and disdain for shoes was a form of southern pride. Hell, I am getting the hang of being proud to represent those things without bringing the usual baggages of southern culture. See, being born in a place or of a race isn’t just a thing that happens to you. It’s a life you live. It’s a culture that is built into your foundation. There is no going back or starting over. It’s part of you forever. And you can take inherent pride in who you are, in the things you do, in the mark you leave on the world and people around you. You can be self satisfied to have created a good life and a stable person from the culture and community in which you were raised.