Those Who Left The Church
April 9, 2005
To the Editor:
Gay City News reported reactions to the passing of Pope John Paul II and thoughts about his possible successor from several members of Dignity (“Gay Catholics Reflect on John Paul II,” Apr. 7-13).
There are, however, at least two other groups of gay baptized Roman Catholics whose perspectives on these events should not go unreported. One sizable group, who are rightly outraged and disgusted by the papacy’s ignorant and erroneous gay-hating bigotry, have simply walked away from organized religion and no longer attend any church. A second group—often after spending many years or decades in the first group—have come to the realization that our religion is Christianity, not a particular denomination.
We have found a spiritual home at Metropolitan Community Church, a denomination founded specifically to serve all gay Christians, including Catholics, whose original denominations tell nothing but evil lies about us. In MCC we do not depend upon the whims of a pope or cardinal for the use of worship space in “their” churches because we, empowered and liberated, own our own churches. We have our own world-class theologians and our own preachers with charisma to proclaim what God’s Word really says about us—and it’s all good! MCC is a faith community where one doesn’t have to be an exiled dissident to practice the true, loving, inclusive Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There are many baptized Catholics in MCC’s congregations – including the Pastor of MCC New York, Rev. Pat Bumgardner, who graduated from a Roman Catholic seminary. Gay Christians are assured of a church where we can pray, receive God’s love and hear the truth—and, as the Bible says, no one and nothing can take that away from us.
Joe Kennedy
Manhattan
A Welcome New Voice on Music
March 26, 2005
To the Editor:
Thank you for your recent piece by Joe Birdsong about the poly-sexual rapper Houston Bernard. (“Not in Kansas, or Fire Island, Anymore,” Mar. 23-30). Too much of our discussion about sexuality in the U.S. caters to the rather ridiculous myth of “necessary inverse.” If Sam likes boys, he can’t by definition, like girls.
Certainly many people decidedly prefer one gender over the other—about ten percent of the population is, for practical purposes, exclusively gay, by all five major sexuality studies that focus on actual sexual desire and conduct. But many more people—about 16 percnet, by the same studies, and more men than women—feel genuine love and sexual attraction for both genders. The idea that these people are any more “confused” or “unsafe” or “incapable of monogamy” than someone who could love both blonds and redheads is too ridiculous to address, and yet that very notion pervades both gay and straight culture of late.
So thanks for publishing Birdsong’s piece, which refuses to play into that phobic—and, well, idiotic—myth, and just lets the singer tell it as he feels it, in his own artsy way, without hiding half of his sexual-artistic urges just to belong on a “team.”
Karen Moulding
Manhattan
March 26, 2005
To the Editor:
The article on Houston Bernard was concise, and really captured the spirit of the evening. He is hot. Please keep them coming. The interviewer was good and I hope you use him again. He really gets to the point and his questions were intelligent and extremely funny.
Thank you.
Rick Staula
Park Slope
March 25, 2005
To the Editor:
Nice to have writers who can tell it like it is, keep the reader hot without over-analysis, and make us want to be there too. I like your paper best when you have top writers like this new guy. Keep up the good work.
Eugenio Ricci
New York City
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