Saw the play/musical Southern Baptist Sissies today with Ian, Chris, James, and Layton. The Uptown Players put it on, and it’s showing for another week or so. I believe they still have tickets for a couple of shows. Catch it if you can!

It’s another work by Del Shores, the creator of the fantastic Sordid Lives. The two works have similar elements of being gay in a Southern Christian family and the obvious issues that come forth from such a situation. Still, the two plays each stand on their own merits quite easily.

While I think we all agreed the production of the play itself could have been a little better, the material was fantastic. I thought the actors did a great job with it though, and this exploration of what growing up in the Southern Baptist church is like for four gay men really touched my soul.

I grew up Southern Baptist. *Shudder*. There were some good-hearted people there. But oh my god, the preacher character in this play sent shivers down my spine. If any of you (probably just family) know of Shady Oaks Southern Baptist Church where I grew up, you know Dr. Bobo. And this preacher was so like him: fire and brimstone. At times he was supposed to be so over the top with vehement “god’s almighty wrath” that the audience was laughing. I had trouble though, I was surprised how much I felt like I was back in church and being lectured to. I kept whispering “amen” instinctively to his vitriolic speech. I’d forgotten how much I hated that approach to religion. It’s funny talking to everyone else though and how different their churches growing up were from that, I guess the “you’ll most assuredly burn in hell!” approach is a trademark of the Baptists.

While some of the characters seemed pointless (the two in the bar), there were times when the intensity reached a fever pitch between the preacher and the main character, Mark. I so strongly identified with Mark’s angst at the church. He asks at one point, rhetorically (or to god), what he is supposed to do with this anger he feels at the church that teaches such hate towards gays? It’s the focus of much of my Buddhist meditation. My only answer for him, were he to ask me, is that I have no answer yet. I have to strive to move on, make things better, take the high road, and try to change their (Christian fundamentalists) minds while not getting angry at them.

It made me realize how much I hate the Christian church. Now, before you get all upset, let me clarify and qualify as we do in these P.C. times of ours. No, I don’t hate all Christians and I don’t hate all Christian denominations and churches. For the most part Christians don’t care one way or the other about gays, and more and more churches and individuals are standing up for gay rights. And I don’t care what they discuss and preach and believe in general. I’m a huge supporter of philosophical and religious pluralism. That is, while I believe there are some basic rights and wrongs in this world, the belief system that works for you may be right for you, and the one that works for me is right for me.

But what I can’t stand for is that hateful anti-gay rhetoric the Christian church espouses. Even if it’s a sheep in wolf’s skin of “curing the sick gay”, which is bullshit. And I’m sorry, but in these times of ours, if you’re a good hearted Christian who is open-minded towards gays, feels we should have equal rights and be able to live our lives and you live yours, that’s great. But your fundamentalist, ignorant, hateful brethren have taken a stand. And if you do NOT fight back against them, if you do not speak out, if your church does not publicly make known it has a stance of acceptance, tolerance, and respect for gays, then you are with those crazy fucked up wackos. You can’t sit on the sidelines and tell me you’re not like them, but then just not do anything when politicians sign anti-gay laws for show at churches, when people make arguments against gay equality by using twisted Bible verse.

Gays will fight back. We will push back. You cannot just get out of the way or change the topic. If you do not stand up and say no when someone defends homophobia with Christian verse, if you do not stand up in the pew when your preacher speaks anti-gay rhetoric, then you better turn around and face us. Because you’re on their side, and we’re coming for you. Being against gay equality is not part of the Christian faith. It is a defilement on basic humanity.

So, this turned from a play review to a speech on gay rights. It’s the thoughts that were in my head when I heard Mark rail at the preacher. He wishes he could close his eyes and be in a perfect world, but for now all he has to do is settle for hope and work towards that perfect world. I feel that way too.