Over the next several issues my hope is to point out several opportunities for community engagement. I also want to acknowledge the ways in which our community is engaged as a model for the greater community. One of the issues I have as both a priest and member of our larger community is that we seem to talk a lot and act less. That is the way it seems. It is no different … [Read more...] about Community Engagement
Opinions
Power and Abuse
Employer, priest, pastor, director, manager and teacherall are positions of power. There are other powerful positions as well. Abuse of that power is what much of the conversation revolves around today. Here are just some of the less sensational charges: • Substitute teacher accused of bedding teen allegedly sent him nudes on Snapchat • High school girls’ softball coach … [Read more...] about Power and Abuse
The Real Cheese
Prologue I can honestly say Rip Naquin was a man that either liked you or didn’t and that was usually the case vice versa. I didn’t like him, I loved him, although it was not an emotion felt at first site. Having been an established entertainer in Texas , I knew of Rip and Marsha through Ambush for years, their reputation was renown all over the LGBT community of the entire … [Read more...] about The Real Cheese
The Problem With Republicans
Trump has been in office almost a year now and in that short time, he has managed to confirm his critics’ worst fears. His greed and corruption, his racism and bigotry, his incompetence and ignorance, and his pride and ego are greater than even his harshest critics could have imagined. Many of his voters have seen through his demagoguery and abandoned him. Nevertheless, he … [Read more...] about The Problem With Republicans
Rip Naquin
I cannot say when I first met Rip. But, I do know that I was quite aware that he was important to our community. I believe that Rip was involved in one of our more prominent funerals, Marcy Marcell. I remember him clearly standing near the center aisle dressed in white and joyously singing our songs. I remember Rip as one who embraced and enjoyed life. Rip and I got to know … [Read more...] about Rip Naquin
Fighting Trump and the Alt-Right: Queer Lessons from the 90s
Fighting Trump and the Alt-Right: Queer Lessons from the 90s The Newcomb College Institute at Tulane University will host a panel discussion on Friday, March 2, entitled “Fighting Trump and the Alt-Right: Queer Lessons from the 90s.” Billed as “an intersectional, intergenerational activist conversation about resistance and building community with LGBTQ activists,” the event … [Read more...] about Fighting Trump and the Alt-Right: Queer Lessons from the 90s
ZERO SUM GAME
ZERO SUM GAME “If you are not with me you are against me” Zero Sum Game. “If you do not accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior you cannot have salvation” Zero Sum Game. “If you are for gun control you want to take away all guns and destroy the Second Amendment” Zero Sum Game. “If I am right you must be wrong” Zero Sum Game. Zero Sum Game leaves no room for middle ground and has … [Read more...] about ZERO SUM GAME
Still No Arrest in Gay Bar Firebombing
Still No Arrest in Gay Bar Firebombing It has been four months since Circo, a popular gay bar in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was firebombed in what was apparently a vicious hate crime. No arrests have been made and the investigation appears to be at a standstill. On Saturday, October 28, 2017, a group of masked persons dressed in all black attacked the gay club by throwing … [Read more...] about Still No Arrest in Gay Bar Firebombing
Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Robert Frost
Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Robert Frost When candidate Trump first proposed building a wall along the Mexican border, the old English Professor in me immediately thought of Robert Frost’s poem, “Mending Wall.” Then the old political observer in me thought of Ronald Reagan’s famous line at the Berlin Wall: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Frost opens his poem with … [Read more...] about Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan, and Robert Frost
Republicans & Pedophilia
I have always been bamboozled by the fact that Southern voters consistently vote republican, against their own best interests. As a historian, I understand why the South turned red: white voters were pissed off when Democratic President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Johnson thought the Democrats had lost the South for a generation, but 53 years later, … [Read more...] about Republicans & Pedophilia
