Good morning,
GAY NEWS
A few weeks ago, I shared some musical theatre links, including Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland singing a duet together. After that, I gay friend wrote to me that it was the “gayest Musing ever.” Thanks for the compliment! The stereotype for being gay means seems to be more culturally sophisticated, well-read, musically inclined, appreciative of design and architecture, and fashion forward than the rest of society, If that’s the case, I’m happy to be included. If there is any generalization I might have for the gay community, it is that, perhaps because of their historic persecution in society, they seem to live life with greater gratitude and with a greater appreciation of the beauties of life. Perhaps we all could learn from them.
THE POPE
While on the subject of gay news, I was pleased to see that, after centuries of exclusion from the church, the Pope finally has approved blessing gay couples. While this primarily affects Catholics, I think any pronouncement by the Pope is a cultural milestone. It might encourage other world religions to take notice and perhaps might move the world toward greater acceptance. While the pronouncement applies only to the blessing couples now, it hopefully eventually will lead to blessing their relationships and performing gay weddings in the future.
MEANWHILE, THE UNITED METHODISTS
America has been experiencing a decline in Church attendance across most major religions. Amidst all the bad news, the United Methodist Church has found new ways to shrink, beyond demographics and less observance. The church has been blowing up, as more and more congregations depart the denomination because of tensions around recognizing gay clergy and marriages. The second-largest United Methodist congregation, White’s Chapel in Southlake, Texas, was the most recent to announce it was leaving by the year-end date offered by the national church. It joins the nearly 25% of the roughly 30,000 Churches nationwide that have left the denomination.
The stated reason for the departures is “matters of conscience,” one of which is the administrative overhead of the national organization (a problem across many denominations). But the primary reason for the schism is that there are disputes between the more progressive and more conservative congregations of the church around whether the church should permit the ordination of gay ministers and marrying of gay couples.
AND ORTHODOX JEWS
Rabbi Shua Brick has become the first openly gay congregational rabbi in the Orthodox movement. As reported in the Forward, he has been embraced by his congregation. As a congregant reported to Louis Keene, the reporter of the story, it isn’t such a big deal: “He’s a rabbi, he went to YU [Yeshiva University] and he’s gay.” His life isn’t easy—it’s complicated—but he is pursuing his rabbinate in the best way he knows how and is, in his own way, changing the world.
BOOK AND MINISERIES
I just read the book Fellow Travelers, by Thomas Mallon. At its surface, it is the story of a relatively senior State Department official who falls in love with a Congressional aide. They are gay and, in the McCarthy Era of the 1950s, must keep their relationship secret (with the assistance of friends). The title of the book of course is a play on the phrase that described Communist sympathizers at the time. Being gay in the 1950s, particularly when involved in the foreign service, required one to keep one’s status secret, as it was seen as posing the risk of blackmail by foreign interests. The book is now a miniseries on Paramount+.
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
I have never really understood the aversion to acknowledging of gay rights. What, exactly, is the risk associated with acknowledging the natural and unthreatening rights of our gay friends? The fact that I prefer brunettes over blonds hardly distinguishes me from my fellow men. Why does it matter whether, in the privacy of one’s own personal life, others have different standards of preference?
I had thought we were well past the idea that gay couples somehow are less entitled to the full acknowledgment of their right to make choices over whom they choose as a mate. I suspect many of those objecting to gay rights may visualize the Village People and drag shows, rather than their friends and neighbors, living rather ordinary lives like the rest of us—raising families, plying trades, and trying to find meaning and fulfillment in their lives.
The failure of some to acknowledge gay rights is a manifestation of the disturbing trend in America not to acknowledge and support those different from us. That which we don’t understand seems to be a threat to some.
ACCEPTING ONESELF
In a completely different perspective on acceptance…
I’ve been listening lately to “Hand In My Pocket,” a lovely song by Alanis Morisette. WOW! It is a song of personal acceptance, warts and all, written during a dark time in Ms. Morisette’s life. It’s worth a listen. The new year is a good time to remind ourselves how personal acceptance (and the acceptance of others) will make our lives better:
Have a great day,
Glenn
About 40 years ago, my family went to a holiday party at my cousin's house where she lived with her partner - a Jewish woman and a Greek Orthodox woman, both big personalities, long before gay marriage was law and long before gay people could be very open about it. It was a lovely party complete with over the top appetizers and Broadway Show Tunes on the stereo.
In the car coming home, my 8-year-old daughter had a question about cousin E. My late ex-husband interrupted to say "When 2 people love each other, " and my daughter interrupted him to say "Not that, daddy. We know cousin E is gay. But her girlfriend isn't Jewish - how do they celebrate Chanukah?"
My daughter's generation, at least my own kids, were raised to be more open to others than I was raised. My generation has had to unlearn, consciously choose to unlearn, prejudices some of which we didn't know we had. My generation had to consciously teach our children differently than we were taught. Not everyone made that choice, but I am glad I did. I look at my grandchildren and see them unburdened by the prejudices of their great grandparents and their grandparents.
Thanks for the topic, Glenn.
Thank you Glenn for your always insightful message!