The Cathedral of Hope — an LGBTQ+-affirming United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas — has made a concerted effort to defend the queer community from “persecution,” as the state government targets drag queens and transgender people.
The church recently held a service where they blessed drag queens and pledged to “stand for justice, proclaim love, and protect the rights of all people.”
While about three dozen protestors stood outside of the church hurling slurs and threats, approximately 850 people attended the service.
“Anyone check the weather today?!” one protester screamed. “’Cause it might rain fire and brimstone on this church and burn every homo inside!”
But for the ugliness on display outside, the congregation filled the building with love and “radical inclusivity.”
“We recognize that all people are made in the loving image of God, no matter who they are, how they dress, express themselves, or who they love,” the pastor intoned during the service. “We celebrate this divine diversity and commit to lifting up the voices of the LGBTQ+ community and creating spaces where everyone can thrive.”
As one worship leader noted as the pastor gave communion, “Drag queens are often targets of hate and violence.” The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, in particular, were singled out for particular honor due to their lifesaving work during the AIDS epidemic.
“These Sisters were at the bedsides of men dying of AIDS,” Rev. Dr. Neil G. Thomas said. “They bring humor, they bring activism, they provide and bring a level of spirituality that many of us have had taken away from us. Despite the humor, they take their spiritual work very seriously.”
The service was a response to recently passed legislation meant to make a drag a crime. The law, passed by Republicans, has been challenged in court by civil rights groups and blocked repeatedly by federal courts.
The law punishes drag performers and venues with a $10,000 fine if they allow a minor to see a “sexually explicit” performance. Such a performance is defined as one in which “a male performer [is] exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience.”
Lawyers from the Texas Attorney General’s office argued that because the law didn’t specifically mention drag, it wasn’t discriminatory to drag performances. However, in June, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) shared a story about the law’s passage that contained the headline, “Texas Governor Signs Law Banning Drag Performances in Public,” and added the comment, “That’s right.” Many state politicians who supported the law also publicly stated that it was meant to target drag, specifically.
But would the law apply to churches? That’s unclear.
“My kid was here,” the lead pastor said. “I don’t have the right to choose to bring my kid to church when there are drag queens?”
So, basically theater?
Strange that sexually explicit does not seem to encompass sexual. I guess live sex shows are on?
I mean, look at Boebert, clearly the Republicans are a-okay with performing public sex shows for kids. Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't heard a single one condemn her behavior.
It’s one of those things they’re choosing to ignore since it’s impossible to defend. Better for them, in their minds, to just ignore it and discuss something else, like how when a major story breaks that’s bad for republicans, Fox will be discussing some irrelevant nonsense like Hunter Biden all night.
I checked and Mrs Doubtfire doesn’t have any dates in Texas on their calendar.
Jagged Little Pill will be in Dallas in January though. That show is…a bit, what they would call, “woke”. And there’s a character who was originally non-binary but now I think she was rewritten as lesbian.
Oh, wasn’t Roxie Hart played by a transgender black woman for a bit?
I never imagined that drag would become such a battleground. Of all the things. Conservatives really drive these culture war issues because they energize their reactionary base, and distract from core issues where they know their platform is against the public majority. If we’re talking about drag queens, we’re not talking about school debt forgiveness or climate change. It puts the left in a hard position because we don’t want to just let trans people be attacked, but the process does distract from more existential crises like climate change and wealth inequality. Both of which hurt the vulnerable most.
The “drag queens are pedophiles” and “trans people are groomers” is one of the most tucked up and evil things they’ve come up with, which is a high bar.
“Drag queens are pedophiles” is the wrong reading of drag queen story hour, but speaking as an LGBT male who has always enjoyed drag and drag shows, I really think that drag queen story hour at the library is something we could have gotten along without. The amount of shit it stirred up is not a good trade for the intrinsic value it has. And of course now we have well-meaning liberals scheduling more drag queen story hours than ever, just as a fuck-off to conservatives. It is so much sound and fury from both sides with an absolutely empty center.
Which is super gay and therefore a sin. Now you got it!
No more screenings of White Christmas or The Magic Flute or the great many other films with cross-dressing at movie theaters either.
I guess this means Trump can't go stumping in Texas?
As long as you don't run a production of Orlando, you're fine.