Another Queer Jewish Buddhist

Queer Jubu Heroes: Soulforce Equality Riders in NYC!

Okay, they aren't Jewish or Buddhist (well one of them described himself as a Budeo-Christian and more on that later) but they are all my heroes. Their bus rode into town today and they were feted at G Bar where I spent time thanking as many of them as possible for their work.

If you haven't been following the story, these college students gave up this semester to ride around the country confronting institutionalized homophobia on Christian fundamentalist college campuses. They were met with phalanxes of police outnumbering them 2 to 1 at times. They were arrested in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi...and the outstanding fines and bail are expensive so you should head on over the Equality Ride site and donate some money right now!

Greg (on the left) was arrested in Oklahoma. Trespassing. Step on to a campus where students want to engage and the administration shuts it down. Greg is our "Budeo-Christian" since his mom is Jewish and his dad is the choir director at the church he grew up in. He rejected it at age 8 when they told him his mom was going to hell.  A philosophy major, he spent a semester in Taiwan learning about Buddhist monasticism by living in a monastery.

Amy, on the right, was arrested in Mississippi, spending the night in jail. These kids are the freedom riders of our day.

On the left are the Vincents. Both are named Vince. And what's more, they are a couple, and they are married. So on the left is Vincent Pancucci-Cervantes, and on the right is Vincent Pancucci-Cervantes. Don't you just love it?

They were both at the same Christian college, met and fell in love. Came out together and were given the choice of recanting, leaving voluntarily or being expelled. Vincent (the one on the left) actually went through reparative therapy for a year — and then he came out with Vincent on National Coming Out Day. Vincent (left) plans to be a doctor. Vincent (right) plans to teach. Both are a life of service to community, but they've already started by serving the glbt community with strength and courage.

Josh was also arrested in the south. Talk about courage. A film major right here in New York City at Hunter, he was surrounded by friends from school just bathing him in love. He just radiates goodness. It was sad to hear how his family relationships have suffered since coming out. But he has discovered the strength that can be gained from chosen family.

All these students still have another two months to go, with many more colleges — and probably arrests — ahead. And they need sponsorship. Click on any name and you can donate to their fund raising goal.
Blessings on them all.

Queer Jubu Heroes: Mark Thompson

Okay, to start Mark Thompson isn't a Jubu, but that doesn't mean he can't be a Queer Jubu Hero! Because he is a pioneering voice in the world of Gay Spirituality. And this month at the LGBT Community Center in NYC, he has an exhibit of photographic portraits of many other queer heroes of mine, including Harry Hay and Ram Dass.

The show is called Fellow Travelers, which given Hay's communist connections has at least two layers of meaning. It's in room 310. I wandered in one day, recently, since I spend a good deal of time at the center every week, and was thrilled to see the leading spiritual lights of our community, honored with this exhibit. And if you haven't seen it, it will be up until April 26th, 2007.

It's co-sponsored by White Crane Institute, which publishes a magazine that explores gay men's spirituality in depth — and has published many articles with the men whose faces grace these walls. Stop by, and say a prayer of thanks that these men do the work they do.

Queer Jubu Heroes

I was watching the Alan Burke show — sort of a primeval O'Reilly circa 1968 — late one night and there was a guest on the show the likes of whom I'd never seen before. He had long hair and a beard, not so unusual in those days certainly. But he was far from stylish.  And he was speaking about his husband, Peter Orlovsky. It was the first time I saw or heard Allen Ginsberg. It was electrifying. Here was a proud queer man on television. A poet. An activist. A mystic. The host, who usually made mincemeat of his guests, couldn't land a punch. Ginsberg danced around him lightly with his words, a fairy Old Testament prophet speaking the truth of love to media power. I was 16 years old, and my life changed. I knew there was no reason to be afraid of being openly gay — that there was no reason to be ashamed, or to accept shaming from others. I was lucky enough to meet him a few times. The last time I saw him, he autographed a volume of collected poems, signing it: "From one queer Jewish Buddhist to another." And that's the story of the name of this blog.