Here is my final reflection from walking in the 2009 Chicago Gay Pride Parade and interviewing a variety of people who were all a part of that day as well.

Much love.

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Short and to the point—this is officially the worst evangelism tool ever found on the face of the earth.

Sadness strikes me in great amounts hearing this gay man’s response.

Much love.www.themarinfoundation.org

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In this video I get yelled at and told I’m going to hell. The protestors thought I was gay. When I told them I wasn’t gay and went to a conservative seminary, I was still told I’m going to hell.

One thing to notice about half way through the video, the guy with the megaphone kept yelling:

“Sick, Sick, Sick”

Does that really work? Maybe it’s just me, but that does absolutely no good—for anyone.

Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/

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So. Many. People. In this video I offer a little prayer for bridge builders amidst the opportunity to be involved.

Much love.

www.themarinfoundation.org

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In this clip I interview Nathan, a straight man who is walking in the Parade. And funny enough, he goes to an evangelical seminary in Chicago as well! One of the things that Nathan says is that he sometimes feels as though he is more loved by the GLBT community than he is by his seminary community. It’s strange for me that others have had the same experience as myself. As I say in my book:

“I have never met a more loving community in my life than the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) community. Obviously, there are exceptions in any community, but in general I’ve found that GLBT people don’t care if you’re skinny, hairy, fat, pimpled, a millionaire or dead broke; there is room for everyone.”

Take out the GLBT part of that quote and you have the ideal definition of Christianity. Let this be a bold challenge.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

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Welcome to my neighborhood during it’s most famous hour. At the end of the clip I pray that I know the Lord loves this neighborhood. And he does. Many look upon Boystown and think God hates it in anger and judgment. I believe he loves it in broken compassion, yearning for those 1.2 million people and beyond at that Parade to come to know his love and transcending characteristics as the Creator he is; and all that is entailed with that relationship.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

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Many people (gay and straight) are confused by transgenders. Here’s our opportunity to learn from, and listen to a transgender female [defined as male to female] talk about her experiences growing up in the Catholic church. Towards the end she says something that I think we all need to hear:

I asked her if she thought the Church could have helped her out with her “demons” (as she put it), and her response was “no.” Experiences prove potent—especially with religion and personal demons. We’re losing thousands to the secular world because we’re not quite sure how to respond to a variety of topics.

So instead of trying to figure out how to respond, let’s figure out how to love—and the responses will be a natural outplay of our commitment to another.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

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In this video I interview a Mom and her son who are both walking in the Parade. I think the Mom says two very profound things:

1. Although she would group her own theological beliefs in a more liberal category, she said that she totally believes that someone can hold onto a conservative theological belief and still love in tangible ways that make a difference in GLBT peoples lives.

and

2. She thinks the problem in the culture war is not a theology “thing,” it’s a people “thing.”

My belief is that people’s actions are an outplay of their theology. In agreement with what the Mom said, no matter what the belief, the culture war can easily end because of what people do, not by convincing others of what they believe.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

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Here’s the back-story to this video:

This man was involved in a church and when he decided to tell leadership of his same-sex attractions they put him into therapy (not forcefully because he agreed to do so) and they put his works in the church on “probation” until he didn’t have same-sex attractions anymore. After trying and trying with no change in the attractions, he gladly left the church and now will not go anywhere unless the church, as he said, “are not concerned who he sleeps with.”

Another casualty we created because we didn’t know how to build Christ’s bridges in the right way.

His life now is on our heads for causing his current state. Why? Because he started with a traditional interpretation of Scripture and look where he’s at now because he “couldn’t succeed vs. his struggles”. Listen closely here for a second: if there is something we need to take from this interview, it’s that the Church needs to reorient its understanding of what a successful outcome looks like. If the only metric of success is to “be straight” then we’re not going to ever really be able to make a difference because what constitutes straight? Marriage? Children? What if the person is still gay and just wants an outside facade to blend in? Is that success then? Is success no more attractions to the same-sex, ever? What about unwanted fantasies that can’t be overcome? What about gay Christians? What about celibacy? What about the replacement for intimacy if celibate? Where does that come from?

Too many questions and too few answers because many of us have never invested the time, effort and relationships into figuring it out because the majority Church is just concerned with one label: S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T.

Think about this, if not success, then the only other option is failure. And if success/fail are the only two options we offer (all the while not clearly defining the different shades of one’s journey along the way), we’re not caring enough to authentically enter into someone’s life story with them, now are we? It seems that the Church thinks the ends (being straight) justify the means (don’t care how you get there, just get there—and get there quick. And if it takes too long or done in the fashion deemed appropriate then you’re a failure). When my understanding of what it is to build a Christlike bridge with the GLBT community is the exact opposite (see Love is an Orientation, specifically pages 146-160).

His life is another unfortunate example of us keeping the GLBT community at arm’s length in the most horrific way:

Telling them we love them and want to be there with them throughout everything, and in deception setting up a structure of success and failure that the majority of the time equates to failure. What happens when someone fails, then?! Do we just let them go and not give a second thought because they weren’t successful enough???—well, we did with him and the majority is ok with that.

But it’s not ok with me and I hope it’s not ok with you either.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

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This is the first interview I conducted at the Parade. As soon as I got there I saw a group of people wearing purple shirts with the transgender logo on them (you’ll see the logo in the video). None of the people in the shirts “looked” transgender, so I went up to them and asked what they were walking for. It turns out that they were parents who have transgender kids. Two of these parents were more than happy to be interviewed on camera, and here are their thoughts on two questions:

1. What would you like to say to the Church as a parent of a transgender kid

and

2. What can the Church do to tangibly serve your transgender kid?

Notice that when the dad is talking, he’s eyes are welling up because he’s fighting back some major tears. In talking to him off camera he got very emotional as this was his first parade—he’s just trying to learn to live and love amidst everything going on in his, and his child’s life.

Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org

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I recorded this video from my condo after the parade, as a real-time summary of what you are going to see, feel and hear over the next two weeks as I post the remaining ten videos from my participation in the 2009 Gay Pride Parade in Chicago.

As I said in the video, this is a time to reflect as we take everyone’s words during the interviews as a legitimate expression of what each person’s experience has been, and where they are currently. My favorite slogan—right from the gate you can’t relate—and this is a huge step forward as we are able to place the GLBT community’s metric upon ourselves to know the boundaries of what it is to make significant things happen for the Kingdom.

Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/

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