Vincent Cervantes: Blog

Launch of New Blog on Queer Chican@ Theology

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 02:49:00 +0000

Over the past few years I have been shifting my work to have a more theological focus, as my way of approaching how I engage LGBT and Queer activism. It was during my time at Harvard Divinity School that I began to tease out my interests and begin honing in on what I wanted to focus my energy and time toward. I have wrestled with developing a queer theology that moves beyond homonormative thinking, while affirming the multicultural make-up of queers. I've been trying to liberate myself from a liberation theology that does not foreground my queerness as something that deserves to be liberated from the structures in place that oppress me. And I have arrived at a space where I find it necessary to begin having those conversations.

With the rise of jotería studies, an emerging field engaging queerness and Chicana/o studies, I am interested in how using this new language in conversation with my background in theology will open doors to begin looking at how we talk about same-sex desire in Latin American and Chicana/o contexts. What I'm basically getting at is, I started a new blog! One that will be receiving more attention than this, as that's where I feel my heart is at right now.

JOT(E)LOGÍA is an experimental conversation about understanding same-sex desire and queerness on a postcolonial, theological level. In other words, how representations of the sexualized body function as religious and spiritual practice. I endeavor to use an intersectional, intertextual, and intersexual approach to looking into what this new area looks like, making use of texts, images, videos, art, etc. So please make you're way over there to bookmark it and join in on the conversation! I really do look forward to seeing what comes of this project.

While my energy will focused on moving into this next chapter of my writing and thinking, I am still committed to speaking out against the ex-gay movement and affirming safe-spaces within the church and religious institutions for LGBTQ individuals. I look forward to still traveling the country to share my story and the stories of others on how we have found a place of reconciliation within ourselves. For information on booking me to speak at your school, church, or event, please email booking@vincentcervantes.com for more information.

I'm Proud to be _____sexual!

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:58:00 +0000

Pride season is well underway across the country. With the recently passed festivals and parades in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many more, LGBTQs are proudly taking to the streets to celebrate. Every year I think about what it is that I'm proud of and how that is related to our queer history that we celebrating in the streets. In other words, what's the point of Pride?

Tonight is the 43rd anniversary of the Stonewall raid and protest, which would carry on through the morning of June 28th. As many of us will recall, Pride parades are a reminder of the Stonewall actions. After standing up the police raid at the Stonewall Inn groups of queers protested up and down the streets in solidarity to put a face to the issue of queerness and to remind the rest of the world that we're not going anywhere. In many ways, our contemporary Pride parades and festivals renew that reminder of our queer presence and pay homage to our brave LGBTQ predecessors, but I can't help but wonder if we're losing the spirit of the initial queer liberation movement.

Four years ago I posted a YouTube video in which I shared my thoughts on how pride for me was a personal journey and process of learning to accept who I was a queer individual and finding that identity to be in reconciliation with my Christian heritage:

After four years, the process and journey does not stop. But I am learning to be proud of different aspects of my life and my process of understanding of what pride continues to evolve. As I look at these parades and festivals there is such a huge focus on advancing marriage equality and the growing number of churches that are opening their doors to affirm LGBTQ individuals and their partnerships. While I find these both to be very important things, I can't help but to feel that there is something more fundamental that I should be striving to be proud of.

Lately I've been reading a lot of radical queer manifestos and rants from the early queer liberation movement—one in particular being Queers Read This! As I read these pieces I reflect on the ways their messages can impact and inform my own identity politics and understandings of being queer and liberated. So what am I proud of this Pride season? I'm proud to be sexual.

I've written before that I believe that freedom of sexual expression is at the heart of LGBTQ liberation, and I continue to expand how I feel about that. I feel that being proud of sexual expression is more universal and cross-cultural than just the umbrella idea of "gay rights." In many other global contexts, especially Latin American, 'homosexuality' remains to be an invisible institution; conversations remain to be about gender deviance and sexual identities are just out of the conversation. I am proud of the fact that I can claim sexual experiences and identity on my own terms, which I believe extends beyond just a gay or lesbian identity. At the basic level, the claiming and coining of sexual expression and admitting that sexuality exists as a category in and of itself, enables and encourages us to be proud of the identities that we claim today. Stonewall was more than just claiming to be gay or lesbian, it was about fighting for the freedom to express our sexuality in a way that affirms and values ourselves and our community.

As I continue to celebrate Pride this summer I carry with me the legacy of sexual liberation that was inaugurated for queers over forty years ago. It is my own hope and prayer that we let their brave proclamations of sexual freedom continue to inform our liberation movements today.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

New Chapter: Endings and Beginnings

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:20:00 +0000

I know that it has been about six month since my last post and even before then I was not keeping up a regular posting schedule as I used to in the past. But I figured at this juncture in the my life an update was appropriately due.

To repeat all the expected cliches of someone ending a life-changing event and about to embark on a new one, I wanted to express that I do look forward to what is to come and that the past few years have been the some of the most formative and influential years in my life thus far, and that when I look back I will remember how much I grew as a person and how much my work I will continue will be forever changed.

After two years, I am graduating from my master's program in theology at Harvard Divinity School. As I said, I am grateful for the opportunities I've had to be influenced and changed by this interesting, problematic, yet exciting and thought-provoking place. I have met so many wonderful and exciting people that have challenged me in all the right ways in my own personal growth and in the ways I approach my work as a scholar, storyteller, and activist. Professors like Susan Abraham and Mayra Rivera Rivera have managed to turn my brain into a puddle of decolonized thoughts and musings. Yet they make me proud of the work that I do and the questions I ask about the world around me. I leave HDS ready for the next adventures that lay ahead.

In the fall I will be starting my doctoral program at the University of Southern California in Spanish and Latin American Literature. My interests remain to fall into examining the relationships between religion, theology, and sexuality with Latin American contexts. I'm excited to be moving back to California and being closer to family and old friends.

This summer, however, I am dedicated to finishing a number of writing projects that remain incomplete. One of which is my book Outspoken, which I like to describe as less of a book and more of an individualized and group resource. This piece speaks to the importance of storytelling in activism and in life in general, while sharing the strategies and tools I have looked to in my own work to make that happen. Next, is my book project that theologically interrogates the relationship between exorcisms, ex-gay ministries and homosexuality. This has been a two year project in the making that I hope to be close to finishing by the end of the year.

And finally, I hope to return to posting regularly as I think about new things and wrestle with new moments in my life and in the world. So please stay tuned to my newest posts. I ask for your blessings and positive energies as I move forward with what's to come.

Response to Rapper T.I.'s Claim of Un-American Gays

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 20:06:00 +0000

In his recent interview with Vibe Magazine, rapper T.I. offered his insights and opinions on a number of topics, including his thoughts on the response of the gay community toward anti-gay slip-ups and slurs from rappers and other celebrities. We have seen responses to the comments of 50 Cent, Eminem, and the incident T.I. is responding to, Tracy Morgan—an incident for which he is still trying recover from the backlash.

To over simplify T.I.'s remarks, he essentially argues that gays are becoming oversensitive about homophobia and that responses to these incidents of anti-gay outbreaks are un-American. I am personally a fan of rap, hip-hop, and T.I. However, this cover interview with Vibe really begs the simple question: "Really, T.I.!?"

T.I. stands in opposition to some of his fellow rappers, that have taken very public pro-gay stances to support an end to violence against LGBTQ individuals in music and popular culture, such as Nicki Minaj and Fat Joe. But according T.I., anti-homophobia responses and support are un-American. In his December interview for Vibe he states,

"Man, I will say this, the funniest joke I ever heard Tracy say during a stand-up was, 'C'mon man, I think gay people are too sensitive. If you can take a dick, you can take a joke.' [Cracks up laughing.] That shit was funny to me. And it’s kind of true." While T.I. makes clear that he supports anyone’s sexual preference, he then connects, in his opinion, a current oversensitivity among gay people with a consequential and ironic offense of the First Amendment. "They’re like, 'If you have an opinion against us, we're gonna shut you down.' ... That's not American. If you're gay you should have the right to be gay in peace, and if you're against it you should have the right to be against it in peace."

Clearly T.I. has a very different understanding of what it means to be an American. But first, by advocating for gays having "the right to be gay in peace"he is re-closeting the LGBTQ community. In no way should queer individuals have to hide their sexuality, sexual culture, or be intimidated into the closet. If T.I. gets to rap about, "Yea late night sex, so wet, it's so tight... Let me put this big boy in yo life. Thang, get so wet, ya hit so right, Let me put this big boy in yo life," then we as queer people get to equally be explicit and public about our sex lives and our sexuality. To be frank, some men have sex with one another, and they take it up the butt. I believe that anal sex is one of the most blissful experiences a man can have, and if you haven't experienced it, then I'm afraid you're missing out T.I., but we will not remain "only in peace" with it.

As for what is American and what is not. My understanding of what it means to be an American is that every individual has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Speaking out against death-dealing lyrics for the sake of ending violence, bullying, and marginalization is an American act. If enabling young people to feel safe in their skin as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals means that we as a community are oversensitive, then I'll take it. I support freedom expression and I think censorship is equally death-dealing, but take ownership of the fact that hate speech in mainstream music comes with painful consequences for its listeners.

Walking with the Deathly Queer

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 20:04:00 +0000

More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish conquistadors arrived in what they perceived to be the “New World” (México), they encountered the indigenous peoples practicing a ritual that appeared, to them at least, to be creating a mockery out of death. They would keep skulls as trophies that symbolized not only death, but also rebirth. It was a ritual the indigenous people had practiced at for thousands of years. A ritual the Spaniards would try to unsuccessfully to eradicate. A ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

November 2 is celebrated as el Día de los Muertos in México and various parts of the United States. It is a day that is very close to my heart as I reflect on the lives and legacies of my own deceased loved ones.

We remember our dead, not as gone and lost forever, but a commemorate a day when they can cross into our plane of existence and be in fellowship and memorial with us. Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death, they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they become truly awake. And that is what we celebrate today. What a way of queering the dead—and the living.

As a Chicano, I think about the ways in which I turn to my Mesoamerican past as a ceremonial center of knowledge to reintroduce these rituals in a new way today. But also, as a queer person, I think about the ways I can draw on the myth and ritual of the Day of the Dead to also reflect on our queer.

Last week I participated in a Queer Día de los Muertos ritual that opened a space to reflect on our queer dead. I thus offer some of our reflections in conversation with my own thoughts to think about how we are remembering our queer in relation to death today in light of the this historic religious ordeal.

As I reflect on the ordeal of Day of the Dead, I think about it within the context of the borderlands. In our celebrations and the telling of the historical myth of el Día de los Muertos, we emphasize how our dead cross the borders that separate the living and dead through our representations of the calacas, calaveras, altars, etc. But I am reminded, however, of how our queer are forced to cross these same mythological borders of life and death every day. Queers certainly cross borders in the metaphorical sense, but we need to also remember how they cross them in the physical sense.

This past January I spent time with a group of my colleagues at the U.S./México border in Nogales, right along the Sonoran desert. We were constantly reminded of the high number of deaths that occur in the desert because of the treacherous and harsh conditions of the terrain and climate. The entire idea of border crossing begs the question: “Why did you cross?” As I’ve reflected on this trip before the answer becomes para sobrevivir. Survival becomes the factor by people are motivated to cross. Survival is a term very close our queer experience. I think about the number of LGBTQ individuals that are crossing to escape violence, persecution, condemnation—that are crossing out of necessity in order to survive. But many of them don’t survive. And they go unnamed. Unremembered.

I think about the queer dead that have lost their lives in the pursuit of survival. I think about the queer youth that join the dead as a result of bullying. And I also think about how each of us cross that border of life and death in our own lives and in our own communities. I stand in remembrance of those that are forced to carry the marker of death in the closet, in their churches, in their homes, and in their schools. I think about our HIV-positive brothers and sisters that are stigmatized and overlooked: How are we giving them a death-dealing category? Being queer we sometimes carry that part of us that is dead, even though our bodies are alive. Queer becomes a death-dealing category.

Day of the Dead is not meant to be a solemn ritual. Although, admittedly it is an emotional ordeal as we recall our loved ones, many of whom their deaths were tragic moments in our lives. But we celebrate the living through this ritual—death as a living category. I raise as reflection the question of how we do make queer a living category? How we keep those queer people that couldn't physically survive as living bodies and memories?

Loving Promiscuously: A Queer Theology of Doing It

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:00:00 +0000

The Anarchist Reverend, in conjunction with the Sanctuary Collective Empowerment Project, has called upon bloggers and writers to share in a synchroblog on queer theology. Thinking about how I wanted to begin to creatively reflect on such a task of writing a queer theology, I was immediately taken back to when I was planning a queer chapel service at Harvard Divinity School.

My queer friends and I gathered to plan a chapel service that would be hosted by the LGBTQ student group. As we thought about how we would order the service, what message, songs, and 'scripture' we wanted to share during this time of worship and fellowship, we were left with one question: What is queer worship?

After moments of sitting in silence while we all tried to think of some sophisticated and thoughtful way of responding, we all, almost unison, all blurted out: SEX! This response couldn’t be more appropriate and it’s the theme I wish to reflect on in this queer theology synchroblog.

It’s all about sex. Even when it’s not, it’s still about sex. Conversations about queerness are almost always about whom we are having sex with. Discussions about homosexuality and the Bible are inevitably about sexual behavior, whether we be debating over whether men should lay with men, or if God struck down Sodom because the men wanted to gang rape other men (even though they were angels), or if Paul witnessed men and women engage in ‘unnatural’ sexual acts. And to stir the pot even more, the mass media often overtly sexualizes representations of queer life—portraying a culture of sex, partying, drugs, and more sex.

There is an entire sexual culture that is imposed upon LGBT/Queer individuals. It’s quite a diverse culture of sexualities. I would argue that it’s a culture of promiscuity that is placed on the image and representations of queerness. In constructing a queer theology, rather than attempt to counter or reject this sexualized culture that’s attributed to being LGBT/Queer, I seek to theologically embrace it.

Promiscuity: Excess and Indiscriminate Love

By theologically embracing queer sexual culture, and sex in general for that matter, I move toward developing a promiscuous theology that can be synonymously used for queer theology. A promiscuous/queer theology that engages sexuality and sex speaks to an intimate relationship between the flesh/body and divine.

I draw on Laurel Schneider’s suggestive concept of “promiscuous incarnation” (from The Embrace of Eros: Bodies, Desires, and Sexuality in Christianity) to flesh out this intimate relationship that I believe is exemplified through queer sexual culture. Schneider writes,

“Promiscuous incarnation” links two terms that normally operate at a remove from one another. The adjective commonly refers today to “sexual indiscrimination.” The noun refers to “a body, person, or form in which a soul, or deity is embodied,” which in Christian-dominated English usage is virtually synonymous with “God in Christ.”

“Promiscuous” here functions as a modifier to “incarnation.” While “promiscuous,” with its contemporary meaning of sexual excess, may in this sense, “sex” the divinity of Christ, Schneider, acknowledges the multiplicity of meaning in the term as she pairs it with “incarnation,” in which “it’s more primary meaning of ‘mixture’ and even its rare occurrence as a ‘third gender’ are allowed to come into play, ‘promiscuous’ offers more to the concept of incarnation than sex alone.”

The provocative term of “promiscuous” represents the refusal of divine exclusivity in God’s choice for fleshly intimacy with humanity. Further developing the concept of promiscuous incarnation, Schneider writes,

Promiscuity—whether it refers to mixture or to sexual openness, or to a third gender between male and female—suggests intercourse and multiplicity, a posture of generosity toward change and of ambiguity toward identity, any of which goes a long way actually to describing the character of Jesus’ interactions in the narratives of his life.

She continues by arguing, “Promiscuous incarnation suggests excess and indiscrimination in divine love.” If we turn to the Gospel of John we come across the very memorable line that describes how “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life,” making incarnation not only a distinctive feature of Christian faith, but an unveiling of intimate and passionate divine love. This begs the question, then, does this expression of divine love stop at Christ?

It is through a theological celebration of our sexuality and sexual cultures—the revelation of the divine in people's sexual experiences—that may help facilitate the liberation of the sexually oppressed (queers) and thus disrupt the normative trajectories of 'straight' rhetoric and language in dominating theologies. Marcella Althaus-Reid argues that all theology is a sexual act: an act of desiring a relationship with the divine, a desire to experience the flesh.

Doing It: Loving Promiscuously

Reflecting on the incarnation, Schneider states that its purpose is "radical, compassionate, promiscuous love of the world to such an extent that suffering in any person, any body, is a wound in God's flesh, a diminishment of God's own beloved, a gravitational pull God to come, again. And again." This understanding of promiscuous incarnation, the excessive sharing of the divine, is the defining factor of what it means to do queer theology.

A queer theology based on the very nature of a sexualized culture and promiscuity is ultimately characterized by an excess and indiscriminate practice and expression of divine love—an experience of divine love that does not stop at just Christ. But rather is experienced and shared through the multiplicity of the flesh or through multiple bodies.

By practicing—by doing—this indiscriminate and excess expression of divine love through the body, we build community: one body. Sex is a shared experience. Everyone becomes participatory in one form or another, and thus, they all become one flesh. So why not sex as a community experience?

I remember Googling "gay sex" a while back, and the image results providing me with many photos of gay orgies. It's interesting though, if I think about an indiscriminate practice of sexual behavior an orgy does come to mind. So what do orgies teach us about developing a queer theology? Well, as the Apostle Paul writes, "We who are many form one body."

Through the participatory sexual act of an orgy, we dissolve lines of separation in flesh and bodies. There is truly an indiscriminate expression of desire and love. There is a level of cooperation on the part of the people in the orgy. They humble themselves to one another. Everyone serves a role. Everyone wants to help each other experience the pleasures of the flesh. It is a communal, shared expression of love and desire. So again: “In Christ, we who are many form one body,” Paul explains. If this is so, then we share the same divine flesh as Christ. We can experience the divine through the practice of excess and indiscriminate love.

God’s love for the world simply cannot stop in its manifestation of the body of Christ. Rather, Christ’s body is broken so we can all share in the multiplicity of God’s divine love. It is a promiscuous understanding of love. A promiscuity called upon by the sexual nature of queer culture. A new reading of queer theology in terms of a “loving promiscuously” can undo a history of trying to explain oursevles as queers, and instead allows us to live a holy life through the expression sexual freedom. Our desire to experience the flesh can come from submitting ourselves to each other. After all, if God created things, and if God is in all things, then we too can share the expression of an excess and indiscriminate divine love with the world.

Announcing New Book: Outspoken

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:08:00 +0000

Over the years I have blogged and written about the importance of storytelling. I’ve described storytelling as social protest. I continue to make the argument that stories serve as a critical witness to empower people to forge a path toward social change.

It’s been almost five years since I began using my own stories of coming out at a Christian college, surviving a gay exorcism, and discovering a way to reconcile my faith with my sexuality; all in hopes of instilling a sense of hope and encouragement in the lives of other LGBTQs.

Less than a year ago, I began to think: I should tell a story about storytelling.

Among the many things I do, I am often invited to lead workshops and trainings on how to share our stories in our work as activists, ministers, worship leaders, and doers of justice. About two years I was approached by a participant in one of my workshops that suggested I write a book about my life as an activist and storyteller, sharing strategies and how I use my past to make a difference in the present and future.

I didn’t immediately jump on the idea. I had no idea how to go about writing such a book, because of part of me didn’t understand how I myself manage to do the work that I do. I didn’t know how to tell a story about storytelling.

Well, a few months ago, a fire was re-lit under me to make a book happen—credit to works by my friends: An Imperceptible Spark by Steven Rice and Entrepreneurship As An Act of Resistance by Brian Murphy). I began to reflect on how stories work within the realm of social justice making, and what it means for a story to transform the life of another individual. Realizing that my workshops and trainings are not widely available and are usually catered to a specific cause and audience, I wanted to create a book that served as resource for multiple audiences, individuals with many different purposes and diverse backgrounds.

I’m excited to announce that all my reflecting and ideas have paid off.... this fall I will be releasing, Outspoken: Empowering Our Stories of Hope and Survival.

Through this book I want to spark conversations about the diverse ways stories have the power to transform and heal lives and communities. In this book, I share strategies on how to use stories in effective and proactive ways so as to produce a critical witness. I draw on my own personal experiences as an activist and storyteller.

Outspoken will be published through Ruca Press. Print copies will be available for purchase through Amazon, and electronic formats will include Kindle, Nook, and iBook.

In the meantime follow Outspoken on Facebook to stay up-to-date on the new book. Watch for more updates, the website launch, and more!

Introducing a New Chapter in My Life!

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:23:00 +0000

Over the past few years I've been giving thought to how I want to advance the art and power of storytelling. Not just the work that comes from telling my own story and experiences, but finding a way to support the stories we all tell. The things we all write about. And the subjects we're all concerned with.

The past couple of years I've been working on major book projects. One is complete and others are forthcoming. Through the process of writing my own work and finding ways for my essays and larger projects to get published, I realize there are not too many opportunities for emerging writers to get their ideas and work out there in published form. And frankly, that's unacceptable. These voices of young emerging writers offer a refreshing and critical outlook on society that's invaluable for our movement and culture at large. That being so, I've envisioned for a while creating a way for young writers to have the opportunity to get their work published. Well, my dreams have come into fruition!

This month I launched Ruca Press, an independent publisher of serious works of non-fiction and fiction that engage the intersectionality of race, gender, sexuality, religion, and society—with an emphasis projects from young adults, LGBT/Queers, and people of color.

My vision for Ruca Press is to empower emerging writers that are engaging about very relevant and critical subjects in their writing. I'm definitely very excited about this new venture. It's been rewarding already with getting everything together and running. To support Ruca Press: follow us on Twitter and "Like" us on Facebook.

An anthology is already in the works that will focus on sexual and sexuality as a form of queer resistance and space. Here is the call for submissions:

REJECTING THE BEDROOM:

Sex and Sexuality as a Site of Queer Resistance and Space

• CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS •

“It’s all about sex.” — The opening line and closing remarks to the North American television series Queer As Folk. But really, what is sex? Through an interdisciplinary approach this project explores sex and sexuality as tropes and markers of queerness. This work responds to the hegemonic cultural gaze on queer sexual behavior by reclaiming sex and disrupting/blurring the lines of the limiting constructions of the private space: rejecting the bedroom.

The bedroom has, essentially, become a new closet for queers. The hegemonic heteronormative culture echos that it’s okay for queer people to fuck each other, so as long as they keep it in the bedroom—"we just don’t want to see it." Anti-gay legislation and the acceptance of the nuclear model of relationships has forced queers into bedroom, silenced, to have to sex like our heterosexual counterparts. This work thus gives a voice to queer sex and, essentially, allows sexuality to define the essence of queerness; because even when it’s not about sex, it isstill about sex.

We do consider, however, that while this project works to ‘reject’ the bedroom, it also raises the question of whether or not (and how) we can reclaim the bedroom and queer that space on our own terms.

We are especially interested in serious critically engaging essays about queer sexual politics, public sexual cultures, cruising, polyamory, sex and spiritual/religious identity, HIV/AIDS, sexual consumerism, porn, conceptualizations of sex as space, sexualities outside of the U.S., and sexual and gender transgression. We are looking for essays that question the social and political hierarchies of sex and sexuality, that engage different sexual cultures based on race, class, gender, body type, ability, and sexual identity.

The basics:

We are accepting well-written, sophisticated essays for the Rejecting the Bedroom anthology until November 1, 2011.

Successful submission packets will include a cover page that provides the writer's contact information and a brief bio (150-300 words). All submissions should be double-spaced, in Times New Roman (12pt) font.

As a small press, Ruca Press is unable to provide monetary compensation for submissions. Contributors will receive 2 contributor copies of the book and will be able to purchase additional copies of the book at-cost.

Send submissions to:

Please email all submissions to submissions@rucapress.com in a single Word (.doc or .docx) or Rich Text Format (.rtf) attachment. Be sure to include the following in the subject line: "Bedroom Submission: YourLastName."

Please direct all questions and concerns regarding Submission Guidelines to info@rucapress.com.

The "Ex-Gay Friend" in Our Lives

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:26:00 +0000

Last week a New York Times article shared the personal story of a gay friend turned "ex-gay." As a young man, Michael Glatze seemed very happy and at peace with who he was as a gay-identified individual. Until after some life changing events, he no longer felt that homosexuality was a natural disposition, nor an acceptable identity.

As I read through the article I could see myself in Michael's story. As an ex-gay survivor I once felt and believed the same things he explains as to why he chose to go ex-gay.

Sadly, our stories are not unique and isolated experiences. However, the reasons why Michael chose to go ex-gay and my own reasons do differ quite a bit. But again, even his reasons for going ex-gay is not unique. While religion and theology may play a role in convincing some that homosexuality is a sin and in need of repair, there is usually more at work in the decision to put oneself through reparative therapy.

Prior to going ex-gay, Michael lived his life as openly gay man, well versed in queer theologies and theories. Many would said he had the ideal life. But what changed? Why give all that up to go to Bible college and become a poster child for the ex-gay movement? For Michael, his journey begins after a near death experience due to heart complications. Soon after, his "perfect world" began to fall around him. Yet he could not figure out why everything in life was seemingly going wrong. So why not blame the gay?

Often with these experiences, as many of us have experienced in our own lives, we feel lonely and isolated. Many try to fill this void with different things: God, food, alcohol, drugs, sex, etc. It sounds like Michael was able to call out how he was filling certain voids in his life. While Michael recites many of the common ex-gay spiel about masculinity and unnatural attractions, I was drawn to following statements by him:

“God loves you more than any dude will ever love you.... Don’t put your faith in some man, some flesh. That’s what we do when we’re stuck in the gay identity, when we’re stuck in that cave. We go from guy to guy, looking for someone to love us and make us feel O.K., but God is so much better than all the other masters out there.”

“Homosexuality is a cage in which you are trapped in an endless cycle of constantly wanting more — sexually — that you can never actually receive, constantly full of emptiness, trying to justify your twisted actions by politics and ‘feel good’ language.”

While this is also common ex-gay rhetoric, it seems to be the most powerful thing in his story. And it's something I think many of us can identify with: a feeling of loneliness and desperation. While many ex-gay Christians use scripture and faith to explain why they chose to "de-gayify" themselves, I find that for myself, I used religion as a distraction from the real reasons why I was trying to make myself straight. It was only when I was able to confront that issue, that I was able to love and accept myself as a gay man. Peterson Toscano, wrote a blog post a while back that lists The MANY reasons I went ex-gay. I also recall my own reasons I went ex-gay in a YouTube video:

Somewhere in our lives, we all have a friend like Michael. As loving people, I believe we are called to reach out to them and try to encourage them to find the happiness already within them. Last month I wrote an article sharing Encouraging Bible Verses for Gays and Lesbians that can help us to share a message of hope and reconciliation to our LGBTQ kin that are hurting inside. My hope for Michael, and others like Michael, is that they do find the peace and love within them to love themselves just as God fearfully and wonderfully made them to be.

I think Benoit Denizet-Lewis did an excellent job sharing his friend's story. It was interesting, and honestly, through-provoking. It definitely raises questions about the artificiality and 'flimsiness' of sex and sexuality. But at the same time, Michael's story re-emphasizes how the ex-gay movement plays on those themes to instruct that LGBTQ people need to change.

Photo Credit: Michael Schmelling/The New York Times

Encouraging Bible Verses for LGBTs and Other Writings

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 05:08:00 +0000

In the past weeks, I've been doing some writing away from my blog, so I thought it'd be useful to at least share the links to said writings. First, I've been thinking about my coming out experience lately, and how I felt confused and very vulnerable as a Christian trying to understand my same-sex attractions. Through this reflection on my long and difficult journey out of the closet, I wrote an article on encouraging Bible verses for LGBTQ folk working their way out of the closet.

Recently I've also written a poem reflecting on religion and power as a queer person. This is the very first time I've ever publicly shared one of my poems. As I work more within the genre of creative writing (poetry, short stories, etc.) I thought sharing this piece would be a step in the right direction.

A lastly, I wrote an article on some of the changes ahead for LGBTQ life at Harvard through my own perceptions as a queer Harvard student.

Affirming the Gays at Christian Colleges

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:49:00 +0000

On Monday, the New York Times published an article on the rising presence of pro-LGBT or queer-affirming groups on Christian college campuses. The article recalls the efforts of the Soulforce Equality Ride, a grassroots campaign that brings young adults to Christian colleges and universities across the country to engage in open and honest conversations about faith and sexuality, and how the presence of the Riders has really stirred up student involvement in talking about homosexuality on their campuses. However, as expected, these groups of students are met with resistance at their colleges.

As a past Equality Rider (2007) and a former student at an Evangelical university—that came out as openly gay while I was still a student—I find this conversation in the NY Times to be long overdue, yet still very relevant today. Through my own experiences as an out gay student at Christian college and an activist that has engaged in hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations with Christian college students about this very subject, I offer my thoughts and reflections on the subject presented in the article.

It is absolutely imperative that students at these colleges are talking about their sexuality in a sex-positive atmosphere. It opens a space for LGBTQ students to at least hear that they are not alone in the conversations they are having with themselves about their sexuality. Through reflecting on this subject in a welcoming, or at least less-condemning environment, queer students are less likely to take drastic measures of trying to 'cure' their homosexuality through ex-gay therapies—they are given the opportunity to consider the fact that they are not sinful and inherently disordered.

I remember that feeling of loneliness I had when I began to recognize my own same-sex attractions, while I was still a student at Azusa Pacific University, one of the largest Evangelical universities in the country. My options for talking about it on campus seemed very limited. I could go to the campus pastors office and perhaps hear that I'm a sinner in need of spiritual repair. I could go to the counseling center and perhaps hear that I'm disordered and in need of psychological repair. But neither one really seemed like a viable option, since the university had a policy that clearly stated that "homosexual acts or behaviors" were prohibited—so I feared being kicked out by disclosing to any university office that I was a homosexual. I was overcome by a feeling that made me feel alone, isolated, and scared.

These groups needs to be more visual. While they will be met with resistance, it is still vital that LGBTQ students know there are safe spaces, and allies, that are willing to affirm them and to remind them that they are not alone. We can decrease the number of LGBTQ-related suicides if we remember to reach out to our brothers, sisters, and other kin that are hurting in the closet.

The article almost suggests about these groups like they are a new phenomenon, or that they are unique to these particular schools they discuss. I want to emphasize that they are not new. I guarantee that at almost every Christian college and university there is an underground group of students that are working to challenge the obsolete history, theologies, and practices of their institutions, in order to affirm LGBTQ individuals. While I was at APU, a group of students and myself formed and underground, secret gay-straight alliance. When I was on the Equality Ride, I constantly met students that were doing or had done the same thing. I want to empower students to keep this up!

The church is changing. Younger voices are rising up in the church and it is these younger voices that will carry us into the future. I want to believe that as young people we are not part of an ignorant generation. That we will not repeat the mistakes of church fathers. Stop sending young people to the grave because they think they are not loved just as they are! I hope this NY Times article serves as an encouragement resource. We are not alone. And nobody in the closet should feel like they are too.

Pensar: Rethinking Ourselves as Neighbors

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:40:00 +0000

As I continue to think about the time I spent at the U.S./México border this past January, I am also searching for new ways to articulate how my experiences and conversations about immigration and the border have affected my way of thinking about these issues that, to some (including myself), are very sensitive and serious matters to be addressed.

I now move into the next part of my blogging series about my border trip: pensar. I've been struggling to write this section because I've been expecting myself to have fully processed the stories I heard and the things I saw and took in during my trip. Then I remembered, we will never be done thinking about borders, movement, migration—the conversations, if anything, have just begun and are far from ending.

In my previous post about the border trip, I reflected on what I saw and heard during my visit. Those conversations and sights have inciting within me many thoughts and questions about this thing we call a "border." Furthermore, within my own research of LGBT and queer studies, it's pushed me think more about how we're understanding movement from one space to another.

I can't get passed the idea that a "border" exists—what I perceive to be a human constructed idea that separates people from one another. A question that was raised during one of our conversations during the trip was, how are we acting as good neighbors? The concept of "neighbor" has stuck with me as I've continued thinking about how we interact with our migrant communities here in the U.S. and at the border. What is our role as neighbors? This question certainly raises theological concerns for the ways we think about immigration.

But even though scripture calls us to "love your neighbor as yourself," the performance of that calling certainly gets complicated. Does it need to be complicated though? I think we want to imagine that love is a simple idea. And in many cases it is. But does it need to be complicated when we think about immigration. I would argue that the way we respond to immigration is absent of love. As I witnessed migrants being deported without their shoes, their clothes, or even the rest of their loved ones that were traveling with them, I failed to see love in that moment. The sight was the antithesis of Christ's description of hospitality and love in Matthew 25:

'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

I think about this call to be a good neighbor also in terms of how we interact with our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer neighbors. Thinking about a culture of movement and crossing borders, I read the experiences of LGBTQs and migrants alongside one another. Both step into communities where they are unwanted and outnumbered. As a queer Chicano individual, I think I am more aware of these similarities, especially through my own personal experiences. When I step out my door, I enter in a hetero-dominated world. When I walk through the doors of my classrooms, I step into a White-dominated space. Within conversations I faced with questions about my sexual orientations, paired with, "You speak English pretty well."

"Where did you come from?" and "Go back where you came from!" Two statements I've only grown to loathe even more as I began thinking more about the connections and overlaps of immigration, borders, and queerness. We take a lot of concern with this notion of origin and home. We believe we're protecting our "home" from the migrants and demand they go back to their own "home." But if we return back to the understanding of migration as a means of survival, what and where is home? As a queer person, that word "home" is sometimes a scary place to go. I close with reflecting on the lines of Gloria Anzaldúa:

In a New England college where I taught, the presence of a few lesbian threw the more conservative heterosexual students and faculty into a panic. The two lesbian students and we two lesbian instructors met with them to discuss their fears. One of the students said, "I thought homophobia meant fear of going home after a residency."

And I thought, how apt. Fear of going home. And of not being taken in. We're afraid of being abandoned by the mother, the culture, la Raza, for being unacceptable, faulty, damaged. Most of us unconsciously believe that if we reveal this unacceptable aspect of the self our mother/culture/race will totally reject us. To avoid rejection, some of us conform to the values of the culture, push the unacceptable parts into the shows. Which leaves only one fear—that we will be found out and that the Shadow-Beast will break out its cage.*

The fear of going home. The journey para sobrevivir. As we continue to think about how we're performing our roles as neighbors, let us ask ourselves if "home" is even an option. Or better, how are we allow this to be a new home, a sanctuary, and chance for hope and survival.

References:
* From Borderlands/La Frontera, pp. 19-20

Fighting Our Battles

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:32:00 +0000

I am asked all the time how I keep up the work I do with with responding to and dealing with constant forms of religious abuse, bullying, homophobia, etc. The truth of the matter is, there isn't really one answer. The way I respond to the surge of emails I get with Leviticus verses changes all the time. The type of conversations I have with my adversaries differ person-to-person, situation-to-situation.

I've spoken at a number of schools and churches to offering training workshops on responding to our adversaries. And in those trainings we explore a variety of ways we can counter arguments and work towards actions that induce change. But as I continue my work, I have to keep rethinking the way I approach social justice work. Thus I offer a meditation on how we fight our battles, from where my mind is right now. How do we go forth and "keep fighting the good fight" — as my cellmates told me while I was in jail in Waco, Texas.

How do we fight our battles? I used to be a firm believer in the whole kill them with kindness approach. But lately, I've been thinking, wouldn't a knife be more effective? At least it is according to my chola mother. I recall the day she taught me how to fight when I was younger. She simply said, "Mijo, you only need two things to win a fight: a beer bottle and a knife in your ponytail. Just throw your purse in the tree y sas!" Now let me just add a disclaimer and say that I am in no way condoning going out and stabbing someone. But does mom have a point? Turn the other cheek — with your other fist.

As a person that has served many years as an activist committed to the philosophies of non-violence put forth by leaders like Bayard Rustin, Dr. King, and Gandhi, I know this can and does seem very extreme, but how can we pull something away from this?

I've realized, at least as far as theological debates are concerned, that most of the time, the person I'm debating with and I are not going to get through to each other and we'll just be going back and forth with Bible verses, like an Evangelical version of Mortal Kombat. And I've got to the point now, where I'm tired of having the same arguments over and over again. If someone wants to believe that I'm going to go to hell because I'm queer, that's fine. If you believe homosexuality is the sin above all sins, that's fine too. I believe we're entitled to hold our own theological arguments as personal truths. However, I have a problem when somebody else's personal truths turn into actions that bully queer people and lead them to death. That much I have no tolerance for. And in that case, I don't think I can turn the other cheek anymore and take the high road.

In response to the non-violent leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X said, "Concerning nonviolence, it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks." Does X raise an important point for those of us that are the constant target of hateful behavior?

I can help but remember what my mother said during our instructional conversation about fighting. She told me to never let anyone get away with trying to hurt me. I think that advice rings true for our movement. We should not let anyone get away with trying to hurt us. Whether our responses be non-violent or not, we should not tolerate the obvious violence and mistreatment that takes place. So how we fight our battles? With a beer bottle and a knife in our ponytails! Or with a pen and paper. Or with one-on-one conversations. Or whatever you think works for you. The point is, we have to recklessly abandon our fears and reservations if we hope to combat violence and oppression in our communities.

Ver: At the Border of Divided Communites, Lives, and Experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 21:14:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I blogged about an upcoming trip to the US/Mexico border. Alas, I have returned from my visit to Tucson, AZ and Nogales, Sonora (México), with a lot on my mind and a lot to still process. The topic of immigration and the borderlands conjures up many emotions for a lot of us, and my experiences of hearing stories in the region has definitely challenged and reaffirmed many of the feelings I went into the trip having. In short, the trip was a very transformative experience. I had some tough and emotional experiences while in México and in the border region; but the experience was also rewarding and inspiring.

Our trip was hosted by an organization called BorderLinks. The BorderLinks' educational philosophy to these type of trips that they hope will incite delegations to forge a path towards dialogue and social change is simple: ver, pensar, y actuar. See, Think, and Act. Which is the way I will present my experiences of visiting the border. In this post, I will focus on what I saw, what I heard, and the type of experiences I took in. In two following posts, I will address my thoughts and what I'm still thinking about; and what I hope to do with the stories I heard and that really hit me hard with a plethora of emotions and feelings.

Prior to 1994, a wall never separated the cities of Nogales, Arizona (US) and Nogales, Sonora (MX); however, today a wall nearly 10-feet tall separates both cities in a region embedded in a history of movement and migration from the South to the North. This wall has changed the culture of the area and the lives of families and individuals. If the wall isn't an obstacle enough for migrants coming into the United States, then lets consider the vast Sonoran desert that they must cross by foot. The journey is about 5 days, and the sad and painful reality is, most don't make it. Many are arrested and deported in the process, but even more lose their lives in the process of enduring the extreme conditions of the Sonoran desert.

In a region, where migration is enrooted and embedded in the cultural history of the land, the enforcement of the border and the wall has affected the lives of everyone living in this area. One of the recurring themes I heard as to why migrants still cross into the U.S. is for work. But I heard this put a different way while hearing the story of a young mother who once while pregnant and again with her young daughters. She explained that migrants cross over the wall para sobrevivir. To survive. I realize that survival is such a complex concept to describe and talk. But as heard more stories from migrants, the concept of survival became an emotional concept to wrap my head around.

I spoke with a young man by the name of Victor, he was recently deported back to México, but had crossed into the U.S. when he was 15 years old (he was now 24). I heard how he crossed via Tíjuana and stowed away on a train from San Diego to Los Angeles. During his first year in L.A., at the age of 15, he slept in the cargo trains. Everyday, he'd try to find work, collecting cans in the meantime to cash in for change and food. He eventually landed a job cleaning house, but the pay still wasn't enough to find an affordable apartment. His second year, he moved from the trains to sleeping in Echo Park, following the same daily routine of going to work and then back to park just to sleep. Eventually his sister joined him in East L.A. and together they were able to find a small place. Survival. Is this survival? Back in Puebla, his hometown in México, he had escaped an equal amount of poverty, family abuse, and what perceived to be a dead-end life. He came to the U.S. para sobrevivir.

On my flight from Boston to Tucson, I did some reading about gay Mexican migrants. The topic of political asylum came up in my readings. The United States does not grant political asylum on the basis of state-sanctioned homophobia. I read stories about men that had been violently handled by their neighbors, raped by the local police, beaten and left to die without any legal intervention on the part of the local government or law enforcement. As I think I about survival, I think about surviving as queer person. For many, the United States is the promised land. We certainly have our own issues to work out here in the U.S., but how are we being a good neighbor to those that truly do need sanctuary; that truly need a place where they survive. We talk about how things will get better for some, but what are we actually doing to make it better now for our neighbors that need our support.

Photos by John Coggin and myself.

Finding Freedom and Coming Out of a Christian College

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 20:09:00 +0000

In 2007 I had the unique, but rewarding, opportunity to be a Rider on the Soulforce Equality Ride. We visited various Christian colleges and university across the country that have policies and/or environments that discriminate against LGBTQ students, faculty, and staff. Part of my interest in the Ride came from my own personal connection with Christian colleges. Prior to my involvement with Soulforce I was a student at Azusa Pacific University, one of the largest evangelical Christian universities in the country. However, after coming out as openly gay to the entire university, I was forced to make a very difficult decision: to leave the university.

When I talk about my coming out experiences, I am often asked, "What was it like to be gay at a Christian college?" And as I think about my own story and the stories I encountered from queer students on the Equality Ride, I feel inclined to reply by just simply saying, "It sucked." But if I'm going to really think about what it was like to be a gay student at a Christian college, I need to elaborate just a bit more. Granted, I can only speak from my own experiences and the stories I've heard from other LGBTQ students.

The other night I was watching the fantastic film, Little Ashes. The film tells the story of the intimate relationship between the great 20th-century Spanish poet and playwright, Federico García Lorca and surrealist Salvador Dalí. The complex love affair between the two forced them to be private and secretive about their same-sex romance under Franco's regime, which made homosexuality illegal in Spain. The film follows their secret relationship as they maneuver being intimately involved with one another, while not be caught. Federico García Lorca, however, was executed on August 19, 1936. After his death, his work was censored and many of his writings were destroyed.

As I watched the film, I was reminded of my experiences of being a closeted gay student at a Christian college. There was a sense of feeling trapped that entered my mind when I was aware of my same-sex attractions in college. My entire life suddenly had to become private. That included the feelings I had towards other men. Part of this sense of feeling trapped and having to hide my homosexuality lead me to making the decision to go through ex-gay therapy, in hopes of trying to fix myself so nobody would ever find out that I was gay.

A policy that prohibits students from engaging in any "homosexual acts or behaviors" forces students to police themselves and each other. It traps them behind their doors of their dorm rooms so that they won't be discovered. These policies prohibit young people from coming into full self-realization. They disable our hearts, minds, and souls from maturing. Furthermore, they instill fear. The same fear and confusion we see in García Lorca's life.

Federico García Lorca was able to come to understand himself through his passion and love for Salvador Dalí. I know this is especially true for my life too. I came to understand myself as a gay person through experiencing real love and intimacy with another man. That love roused a sense of courage within me to be open about my homosexuality and to challenge the institution that caused me to walk with fear every single day. As we also learn from García Lorca, standing up to the institution comes with consequences. Being honest with yourself also comes with consequences.

It breaks my heart that like García Lorca, many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individual's lives are short-lived. Death is a reality for many closeted LGBTQ students at Christian colleges. We're witnessing the media finally drawing attention to the high-rate of queer-related suicides that plague our young person population. We have a responsibility as individuals that are witnessing this travesty. García Lorca spoke of freedom before his death and called us to push for that freedom against the institution of discrimination.

I feel connected to García Lorca's story as I reflect on what it was like for me to be a gay student at a Christian college. It's not easy and I won't claim that it gets better. Because for many it doesn't get better. Rather, I call us to make it better, so that death doesn't have to be an option anymore for our LGBTQ young people.

I close with a line from one of García Lorca's plays. In his play Mariana Pineda, García Lorca portrays the heroine as a martyr to liberty and love: "Yo soy la libertad porque el amor lo quiso. / ¡Pedro!, la libertad por la cual me dejaste. / Yo soy la libertad herida por los hombres. / Amor, amor y amor y eternas soledades" ("I am freedom because love wanted it so; / Pedro! the freedom for which you left me. / I am freedom stricken by men / Love, love, love and eternal solitudes").

For me I found freedom from the prison that I allowed the policy to create for me. I freed myself from the self-imposed hate and shame. But most importantly I found freedom from a community and policy that wasn't safe for me as a gay student. Finding freedom means creating liberating and safe spaces that allows us to simply exist. To be alive. To celebrate that we are given the gift of life. And to live freely as God created and affirms us to be.

Border Crosser: Into the Wilderness

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:04:00 +0000

In a little less than two weeks I will be joining a group from school to visit the US/Mexico border by way of the Arizona border. Our objective as a study group is to examine the border in a theological perspective (if the task can be done at all). We will be spend a week in the Tucson, Arizona (US) and Nogales, Sonora (MX) areas having conversations with local organizations, churches, and community members. I'm definitely looking forward to blogging about my experiences when I return from my trip.

As I prepare myself logistically for our trip, I'm also spending time preparing myself mentally and spiritually. When I think about borderlands and the idea of borderland theories, liminality, and all that academic jargon, I can't help but wonder if any of it is relevant. Can I expect to put a label on the experiences of border crossers? Why does that space need to be labeled?

Above my desk is a copy of Frida Kahlo's painting "Girl with Death Mask," and as I reflect on my upcoming trip to the US/Mexico border, I am drawn to the little girl.

In the painting the young girl (probably around four or five years old) is wearing a skull mask, traditionally worn at "Día de los Muertos" festivals in Mexico, where death is not mourned but instead celebrated. The girl is holding a yellow flower that looks like the tagete flower that Mexican@s place on graves during the "Día de los Muertos." She stands all alone on a vast empty plain under a stormy sky. At her feet is a carved wooden tiger mask that resembles the one that hangs in the dining room of Frida's home. However, neither mask seems appropriate for this tiny little girl; they accentuate her innocence but hint at the cruelty of her fate.

I read this painting as how I'm looking at my upcoming trip. We have this space, occupied by an embodied ambivalent reality. The young girl blends both innocence and terror. She puts on her drag clothes to go into the wilderness, but why? I think of the border crosser putting on their death masks, their drag clothes, as they enter the space of the wilderness. Whatever their story, we can see their humanity and their innocence, but we label that space dangerous and they are forced to carry their death masks as they wander through the wilderness.

I'm looking forward to spending time in Nogales and Arizona. As I continue preparing, I am remembering that I must check and be aware of my class and privilege, even as a Chicano and son of a Mexicano immigrant. Ultimately though, I feel blessed to be welcomed into their space and to allow our conversations to be meaningful in whatever form they take.

2011: Time For Change

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 23:59:00 +0000

As I reflect on 2010, I am thankful for the many opportunities that were presented to me. I am thankful for the experiences I had. I graduated from the University of California, Riverside, moved clear across the country to Boston and here I am.

Moving to Boston has been a time of rebirth and new-birth for me in many ways. I find myself passionate about different things, writing about different things, talking about different things. My resolution for 2011 is to embrace the changes in my life. That begins with changing the look and feel of my websites. Both my blog and personal site have taken on new looks and new objectives.

Personal Site

My personal site, www.vincentcervantes.com, will no longer be used as my main blogging space. Instead, this will serve as most personal sites do, to provide information about myself and to be used as networking tool.

Blog

My blog can now be found here, at blog.vincentcervantes.com or you can remain a subscriber via email (if you're not a subscriber, you can sign up for blog updates via email in the sidebar). As I work my way through divinity school I find myself asking different questions about the world around me. I find myself interested in many of the same things, but offering new readings of them. I will use my blog to flesh out some of those thoughts, while still offering my commentary on current events.

Season's Greetings from California!

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 19:09:00 +0000

I'm in California as I'm writing this blog post. I have finished my first semester as a grad student at Harvard Divinity School. I'm glad to be done and out of the cold for a little bit. As 2010 comes to a close I will reflect on my year and how I've seen the movement grow and not. But that will have to wait until I return from my vacation. In the meantime, enjoy this photo of the blue skies in San Diego. Happy Holidays!!

Queer Youth Speaking Up: Reteaching Gender and Sexuality

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:29:00 +0000

Check out this video I came across yesterday. It's been the repost of the day on Facebook by queers and trans folk across the interwebs. Young people in Seattle from the Put This On The Map project put together this fantastic short video. I think it's vitally important that we allow young people to speak for themselves and define their own queerness and their own spaces; as opposed to just telling them, "It Gets Better" — which these young people also critique in this video.

My favorite line: "We need to move past safe spaces ...how about liberating spaces?"

Reteaching Gender and Sexuality is a message about queer youth action and resilience. The video was generated to contribute additional queer/trans youth voices to the national conversations about queer/trans youth lives. Reteaching Gender and Sexuality intends to steer the conversation beyond the symptom of bullying, to consider systemic issues and deeper beliefs about gender and sexuality that impact queer youth. We invite you to share the video with your friends, family and networks; we invite you to share with us what THIS issue means to you! (via Vimeo description)

For more info go to putthisonthemap.org.

Exodus International Targets Young People for 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 21:25:00 +0000

Despite the substantial scientific, and even theological, evidence that debunks the myth that homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender variance are not embodied ‘disorders’, ex-gay organizations, like Exodus International, have refused to close their doors and rescind their claims that LGBTQ folk are morally flawed and in need of fixing.

Instead, for 2011 Exodus International has refocused their mission and their strategic vision planning has developed into the following manifesto for the upcoming year: Simplify, Amplify, and Intensify.

In an open letter to their supporters, Alan Chambers elaborates on these concepts as they move forward to refocus their mission (simplify), refocus their target audiences (amplify), and refocus the cultural impact their message carries in the world (intensify).

As expected, I have many contentions with Chambers’ message. I find his argument within these categories to be theologically problematic. However, despite my best efforts to disagree with Chambers and Exodus, their organization continues to exist and their message continues to reach the lives of many individuals every day.

In 2011, Exodus endeavors to get back to the heart of their mission: mobilizing the Body of Christ to minister grace and truth to a world impacted by homosexuality. Their primary mission is reaching out to the Church to “help them engage people inside and outside the Body of Christ who are impacted by homosexuality.”

The Body of Christ. Paul reminds us that we are all members of the Body of Christ.* Therefore, are not all of our stories relevant in ministering grace and truth to the world? What does ‘grace’ and ‘truth’ actually look like? Can any of us actually claim to know ‘truth’? To do this we could have to claim the authority to know God’s will and intent; which I wholeheartedly believe is beyond our comprehension. So when Chambers speaks to ministering ‘truth’, whose ‘truth’ does he speak of? The ‘truth’ we do know is that we are all members of the Body of Christ. Thus to practice ‘grace’ means to welcome all of us at the table as equal members in the Body.

One of the biggest controversies around Exodus International has been their involvement with converting young people into ex-gays. This past year they discontinued their support of “National Day of Truth” and in in the recent past, discontinued their program “Refuge”. However, their involvement with young people has yet to come to an end. In his letter Chambers writes,

“In 2011 we will turn up the volume on our simplified message and begin providing increased and focused resources for individuals, families, schools and churches. For instance, the greatest area of need in our culture is outreach to young people. We will be changing the name of Exodus Youth to Exodus Student Ministries in order to encompass middle school thru college age students. We have listened to youth pastors, parents and especially students and we want to amplify our message in a way that they will best receive it: via web communication, YouTube, podcasts and short to the point booklets. We are also in the process of creating an App for iPhone users.”

As a counter movement, we need to be disturbed. Given Exodus’s appalling record with young people, this organization has no business in schools or around anyone under the age of 21. Their message is hateful, intolerant, scientifically bankrupt, and will continue to lead to young people harming themselves — including the potential for depression, abusive behaviors, and even suicide. The stories from ex-gay survivors are the greatest testament to the ways that these programs are harmful and destructive of all individuals, but especially to young people.

Chambers continues by writing, “Staggering numbers of young people are abandoning their faith because they cannot reconcile their homosexuality with their Christianity. The temporary but instant satisfaction of this world is far more appealing to them than the eternal benefits of a progressive journey of discipleship.”

I concur that the number of young people leaving the church based on issues of sexuality is quite high. But that high number exists because of organizations like Exodus. The reality is, Exodus is not in business for the spiritual welfare of young people. If they were, they would be offering a message that relentlessly reminds young people that they are loved by God without reservation.

But instead, Exodus prides themselves on being a $10 million a year organization, that operates on an international level. I struggle to see how they are business for the spiritual welfare of the people. Chambers even addresses the letter to 'partners', making use of very obvious corporate language; making a call for groups to include Exodus in their planned giving through budgets and missions giving. And they call this ministry?

Ministry is, as Gregory the Great reminds, caring for the souls of people. Caring for the souls of people requires that we practice love towards one another. To reference Paul again, love is kind and love protects.** We as a counter movement, though we are not all Christians or identify with a religious tradition, are called to practice radically inclusive love. Love is a universal practice. Furthermore, we called to share our stories that speak against the harm produced by organizations like Exodus. Young people should have access to safe and liberating spaces as they come to understand their sexuality in a world impacted by Christianity and oppression.

* Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12
** 1 Corinthians 13

Staying connected!

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 02:55:00 +0000

This has been a long overdue post. I wanted to take some time to reintroduce the many ways that folks can get in contact with or even just stay connected with me online. There are several ways to do this:

Subscribe to my blog via email! This way you won't have to visit my site every day to look for new posts. Instead they'll be delivered directly to your inbox.
Tweet me! You can follow my Twitter account to read my latest updates, interesting thoughts about events, news, etc. I tweet very often when I'm traveling and at conferences.
Add me as a friend on Facebook. We all learned from The Social Network, that Facebook really is the one thing online that connects us all to one another.
Watch and subscribe to my videos on YouTube. Over the past couple of years I have vlogged about my coming out experience, 'ex-gay' experience, and my stint with an exorcism. Check out my channel!
Say hello! I invite emails and inquiries anytime. You can fill out the contact form by click on the 'Contact' tab, and those messages go directly to my inbox.

Queer Youth and Religious Debates Over Sexuality

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 22:43:00 +0000

Last month, Harvard Divinity School hosted, "Queer Youth and Religious Debates Over Sexuality," a panel that discussed, as the titled suggests, queer youth in the United States and their relationship to religion and the church. The panel consisted of leading voices on the subject, including Dr. Mark Jordan, a prolific author on the role of homosexuality in American religion.

The video of the event is finally available on the HDS website, but I thought I would repost the video here to facilitate further discussion on the subject of youth, religion, theology, and sexuality.

Video after the jump.

Photo Credit: Harvard Gazette

Where's Our Queer Fairy Tale?

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 03:27:00 +0000

Glee, as it does every week, has everyone talking. This past episode definitely had queer folk across the country smiling, yet crying. Feeling joy, while also feeling anguish and anger even. Last night's episode of Glee had Kurt spying on a nearby all-boy private school. While Kurt pretends to go undercover, he meets another gay teenager, and viewers finally see Kurt engaged in the beginnings of a queer romance. The all-boy Glee club performed Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" and it is definitely the buzz of Tweets and Facebook statuses (video after the jump).

This performance left me smiling, and thinking that this is the beginning our queer fairy tale -- finally available for young queer people struggling to understand their same-sex attractions and/or gender variance. The queering of Katy Perry's song brings me back to the times in my life when I felt attractions and crushes towards other men, but 1) didn't have a language to talk about said feelings; and 2) didn't think it was acceptable to feel that way.

The mainstream media has a long history of portraying homosexuality as a comical device. Misrepresentations of homosexuality in the media has certainly contributed to misunderstandings and oppression against lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. Essentially, the media has created a cultural optic that has controlled the image of homosexuality. Furthermore, the mainstream media has also de-sexualized the homosexual.

The fact that gay folk are able to engage in sexual activity without the intent or possibility of procreating is somehow threatening to the dominant majority. For that reason, we've mostly only seen flaming, flamboyant effeminate faggots parading around on TV, not having sex. This is the image of queerness fed through the mainstream media. Apparently watching straight folk have sex on television isn't at all threatening -- while also not teaching safe-sex practices, so what's the real threat here?

What Glee has done is reclaim queer sexuality through Kurt. This episode shows that we feel, we romanticize, we crush, we're sexual beings. This can very well be our fairy tale, boy meets boy, and boy sings to boy in a way that makes our heart melt. But our fairy tale doesn't come without hardship. Glee also shows the violence that still takes place against LGBTQ folk, even when we have the courage to be out in our communities. I'm interested in our this relationship between Kurt and Blaine develops. It is about time that young queer people can turn on the TV and see someone that they can relate to; that they can see a queer-positive relationship they can look too as their fairy tale.

An Indictment Against the Violence and Harm of the 'Ex-Gay' Movement

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 14:24:00 +0000

The Soulforce Symposium on "The Truth About Faith, Love, Science, and Reparative Therapy" created a space for some of the leading voices working on 'ex-gay'-related research and work to come together in hopes exposing the violence and harm produced by the 'ex-gay' movement.

I mentioned yesterday that I had the opportunity to present a paper on the intersectionality panel, titled "Critical Witnessing and Multilingualism: Building the Counter Movement," which is available for download on the Soulforce website.

After the Symposium I took time to reflect on my experiences and to process the information and arguments I heard over the weekend. I wrote an article titled, "An Indictment Against the Violence and Harm of the 'Ex-Gay' Movement," to respond to the Symposium which is available through The Bilerico Project.

As I stress in the article and in my paper, it is crucial that we talk about the violence produced in the 'ex-gay' movement in order to build an inclusive radical counter movement. I hope my words and reflection can help inspire us to get to that point.

Soulforce Symposium: Paper on Building the Counter Movement

noreply@blogger.com (Vincent Cervantes) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:27:00 +0000

Over this past weekend, I had the privilege of attending the Soulforce Symposium on "The Truth About Faith, Love, Science, and Reparative Therapy" as a presenter. I was asked to present a paper on the intersectionality panel on building an inclusive movement centered on intersectional justice. The Symposium was a great time for folks to come together and have deeper conversions through multiple lenses about the violence and harm produced by the 'ex-gay' movement.

Download my paper titled "Critical Witnessing and Multilingualism: Building the Counter Movement" at from the Soulforce website.

Lately in my work on the 'ex-gay' movement, I have been responding to the theologies, ideologies, and practices of reparative therapy by turning to post-colonial and post-structuralist convictions as a way to denaturalize the ways homosexuality and gender variance gets termed 'disordered' and in need of treatment. Essentially what this does to the 'ex-gay' movement is label it as a violent, colonial project that annihilates a specific population. The Symposium worked well to help me flesh out some of these ideas and arguments. The ideas and arguments presented at the conference all centered around this theme of exposing the pain and violence inflicted by reparative therapy.

My paper examined how do build a counter movement. Drawing on post-colonial, post-strucuralist queer Chicana/o feminist ideologies, I produced a response to the idea of building an inclusive movement. My paper is titled, "Critical Witnessing and Multilingualism: Building the Counter Movement" and is available for download on the Soulforce website. To provide background, the panelists were asked to respond to the following passage from Read My Lips by Rikki Wilchins:

"Our contradictions and differences are more than political obstacles; they are reminders of our boundlessness, confirmations that we can never be fully captured or circumscribed, that no label or movement can ever hope to encompass all we are or have to be. And that diversity is our strength in the face of the familiar, tyrannical Western project to impose the monolithic, all-enveloping truths that marginalized, suppressed and erased us in the first place…we need an inclusive movement that is committed to making connections across the boundaries for our common good…but for that we need to trust each other, we need to refuse to marginalize our own minorities" (Wilchins, 1997)