The 17-Year-Old & the Gay Bar by Danez Smh

Contents:

• J AT THE GAY BAR
• J AT THE GAY BAR
• HOW J WOULD ACT A GAY BAR?
• THE 17-YEAR-OLD & THE GAY BAR
• HOW THE IMAGE OF J AT A GAY BAR HELPED ATRALIAN BAND CUB SPORT TELL THEIR STORY

J AT THE GAY BAR

After ‘The Backwater Sermons’ me out, this poem om , ‘J at the Gay Bar’, went a b viral, so I thought I’d share some of the basic theology behd poem que obvly riffs off of the below sectn of Mark 5, drawg a parallel between the unnamed woman the passage, and queer people - more particularly, the "boy" the poem, a young LGBT man stgglg wh his queerns, and, is suggted, stgglg wh how that rencil wh his fah. [POEM] J at the Gay Bar by Jay Hulme. J at the Gay BarBy Jay Hulme.

J AT THE GAY BAR

No matter what others tell you that you should be, remember, you are who you are bee God created you that way, whether that is gay or straight, cisgenr or transgenr, male or female, or any of the lors of the rabow, God created you that way. It happens to be one of my favore morn gay art piec.

J at the Gay Bar (by Jay Hulme)He’s here the midst of –right at the centre of the dance floor, rob hched up to His kneto make easy to some pot the evenga boy will touch the hem of His robeand beg to be healed, beg to beanythg other than this’And He will reach His arm out, sweat-damp, weary om ’ll cup this boy’s face His handand say, my betiful childthere is nothg this heart of yoursthat ever needs to be healed. Image J on the dance floor a gay bar, as this poem scrib.

HOW J WOULD ACT A GAY BAR?

I love the poignant way that the poet Jay Hulme brg out this theme J at the Gay Bar (om his poetry llectn The Backwater Sermons).

We know that if we have been hurt, meaned or exclud bee we are gay, trans, bee of disabily, race, social class, mental health, tn, fanc, nrodiversy or awkward personali… We stand wh J. I’m paraphrasg: “As an ally, I want the Gay Village to glow so brightly wh rabows that n be seen om space.

As I prayed about this I started to wonr, what if the Gay Village beme our place to be rooted? Everyone I spoke to got exced about the ia of Inclive Gatherg beg rooted the Gay Village, but we had no ia how would practilly happen. After a particularly enuragg chat wh a lear Southsi, I emailed The Loft – a brilliant bar and rtrant wh meetg rooms the heart of the Gay Village – to see if we uld perhaps e one of their rooms to host a few nversatns about our next steps.

THE 17-YEAR-OLD & THE GAY BAR

It’s important to say, I thk, that jt bee we are lotg ourselv the Gay Village, this do not mean that our church is only for LGBTQIA+ people. But wh what I know about J, I would say, the Gay Village is exactly where J would want to be.

So let’s be like J, dancg gay bars wh our skirts hiked up, drippg wh sweat, cheeks flhed wh joy and wh love for the betiful people around . —Genis 1:27J at the Gay BarBy Jay HulmeHe’s here the midst of –right at the centre of the dance floor, rob hched up to His kneto make easy to some pot the evenga boy will touch the hem of His robeand beg to be healed, beg to beanythg other than this;and He will reach His arms out, sweat-damped, and weary om ’ll cup the boy’s face His handand say, my betiful childthere is nothg this heart of yoursthat ever needs to be the PoemI saw this posted on Wilson Cz’s Instagram (@wcz73), and jt grabbed my heart and nearly brought tears to my ey.

HOW THE IMAGE OF J AT A GAY BAR HELPED ATRALIAN BAND CUB SPORT TELL THEIR STORY

No matter what others tell you that you should be, remember, you are who you are bee God created you that way, whether that is gay or straight, cisgenr or transgenr, male or female, or any of the lors of the rabow, God created you that the PoetJay Hulme is an award-wng transgenr performance poet, speaker, and tor.

This is one of the most monly asked qutns that I get lately: How do I evangelize homosexuals?