Gay Soul, an excerpt om an extraordary book. | Big Joy

Contents:

• IS THERE A ‘GAY ATHETIC’ TO POP MIC?
• GAY SOUL : FDG THE HEART OF GAY SPIR AND NATURE WH SIXTEEN WRERS, HEALERS, TEACHERS, AND VISNARI
• HOW GAY SOULS GET RERNATED
• GAY SOUL, AN EXCERPT OM AN EXTRAORDARY BOOK.
• THE GAY SOUL: STARTG THE JOURNEY TO HEALG
• CHICKEN CAAR SALAD FOR THE GAY SOUL PAPERBACK – JUNE 28, 2015
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

IS THERE A ‘GAY ATHETIC’ TO POP MIC?

In recent years, we’ve seen micians talk openly about their gay inty and same-sex relatnships.

Fans may openly embrace a gay Elton John, Melissa Etheridge or Ricky Mart now, but over the past 50 years or more ’s been a stggle for most queer artists to live their liv openly and whout shame and persecutn.

His theatril scream-sgg, macho stage prence, and all-around badassery (bt showsed on inic rerds like 1980’s Brish Steel and 1982’s Screamg for Vengeance) prompted many fans to ll him “Metal God:” a tradnally mascule trope Halford boldly upend Febary 1998, when he me out as gay an MTV News terview. As the earlit show of queer solidary om a proment metal mician, Halford’s admissn proved val rhapg the public perceptn of heavy metal, repostg an earspltg, heteronormative boys’ club as a safe space where headbangers of all typ uld be themselv, sheltered the flailg arms of not jt a benevolent (and openly gay) God, but the scene wr large.

GAY SOUL : FDG THE HEART OF GAY SPIR AND NATURE WH SIXTEEN WRERS, HEALERS, TEACHERS, AND VISNARI

” The fact that he did all while beg pletely open about his sexualy – llg himself “rock’s tt fairy” – is astoundg and, for a brief, shg moment 1974, Jobriath beme the most visible gay man popular mic. While the “Queen of Dis” is a tle most monly btowed upon Donna Summer, also appli to Sylvter, who was a fixture of the dis scene and an in of the gay liberatn movement that spawned out of San Francis. The tle track even clus the lyric: “Tell her that I’m happy, tell her that I’m gay.

HOW GAY SOULS GET RERNATED

It wasn’t until after hostg var episos of the show for a uple years – which all centered on LGBT issu – that she spoke openly about her partner of over two s and the stggl of beg gay the mic dtry. “I thk the rerd dtry – by and large what’s left of – is still totally homophobic, ” she said, notg that she me out her twenti and never went to “lengths” to nceal .

GAY SOUL, AN EXCERPT OM AN EXTRAORDARY BOOK.

Brish punk rocker Tom Robson achieved chart succs wh h songs “2-4-6-8 Motorway”, “Up Agast the Wall” and “Don’t Take No for an Answer, ” but he’ll always be immortalized for his sgalong prott anthem, “Glad to be Gay.

” Origally wrten for a 1976 London gay pri march, the song was nearly banned by the BBC 1978 – although DJ John Peel fied the stricture. Swappg out punk moralist clichés for LGBT issu, the them unrlg the group’s mic give voice to both fury and hope for gay punks.

THE GAY SOUL: STARTG THE JOURNEY TO HEALG

Homosexualy and spirualy do not seem, at first sight, particularly patible.

Gay people are still routely nmned by proment relig figur.

Many Jewish and Christian anizatns see homophobia as proof of orthodoxy, while fundamentalists generally believe that the more you love J, the more you should hate faggots.

CHICKEN CAAR SALAD FOR THE GAY SOUL PAPERBACK – JUNE 28, 2015

Some relig groups have gradually adopted more liberal views-but their acceptance of queers is often hedged wh qualifitns, such as refg to acknowledge gay marriag. Beg lbian, gay or bisexual be a way of life self, fulfillg many of the rol tradnally played by relign.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

Or, for the more earntly cled, when there’s equaly to w, a health crisis to survive, and homoculture to nsume? And yet, spe of this mutual hostily, and spe of the virtual taboo around spirualy most queer ntexts, there are many lbian, gay and bisexual people for whom both spirualy and sexualy are sourc of strength and joy. Some of the people practice predomantly heterosexual anizatns; others jo lbian and gay synagogu and church, or groups dited to gay spirualy, like the Radil Faeri.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

I put the qutns to a large number of lbian, gay and bisexual people, om a variety of different spirual tradns, while I was rearchg my book From Queer to Eterny (Cassell, 1997). ” Chris Fergon, a gay man and Buddhist, mak a siar distctn: “Relign is tryg to make you what you’re not.

Chris, Elizabeth and many other gay people emphasize the ner life over external dogma. Turng wards is more than a fensive rponse, however; is an evable part of realizg you are lbian, gay or bisexual. “Bee we’re told that we’re not meant to be here, ” says Jason Oliver, a Pagan, “gay people go out of their way to fd out what they are really here for.

Another Buddhist, Fernando Guasch, agre: “This radil form of dislotn is fundamentally the re of the gay experience. Beg gay allows you to `read the world differently, ’ as the native Amerin say.