Out Loud: LGBT Stories of Faith

Our Spring Finale! We’ll return with new episodes this Fall.

Raised Catholic and a native to Nashville, TN, Alan now has a home in the United Methodist Church. He works at Cumberland Heights, an alcohol and drug treatment center in Nashville, where he specializes in substance abuse.

My conversation with Alan is a journey of finding self-worth that I know so many of us go through. After coming out, Alan struggled with his faith to the point that he turned to drugs and alcohol. He went into recovery and will celebrate seven years of sobriety next month. He has since found a home in Glendale United Methodist Church which has put meaning and ministry back into his life.

Find Alan on Facebook and Instagram.

For Reflection: 1.) Recall a time when you felt like you were at your lowest. Where did you turn? How did you get back up? 2.) How does religion inform your view or yourself? Do you view yourself positively or negatively? Has that shifted recently or in recent years? If so, how?

Episode Sponsor: Glendale United Methodist Church - Glendale UMC is inclusive, affirming, and reconciling, a community that shares God's love for all people. Glendale UMC is a faith community that includes people of many diverse backgrounds and faith journeys – old and young, raised in the church, new to church, those from other denominations and faith traditions, and some who question it all. Come as you are to worship on Sundays at 10:00 AM in-person (when it is healthy to do so) or online at GlendaleUMC.org/Live. And be sure to find them on Facebook and Instagram.

Resources: Based on this conversation, Greg recommends reading: People of a Compassionate God, edited by Janet F. Fishburn, which tells several accounts of churches becoming more open and affirming to various populations. Also check out, Cumberland Heights (Website) and Hot Mess Sports (Website), which were both mentioned in the episode.

Out Loud is a podcast by and for queer people of faith in the South. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and join our mailing list for updates. Support the show financially by becoming a Patreon member and receive exclusive content and merchandise. Or leave a one-time donation on our website. Editing by Cariad Harmon. Theme music by JP Rugierri. Special Thanks on this episode to Will Potter, and again to Cariad Harmon, for sound consulting as we record from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our Season 3 Premiere! Lindsey Dye is a Case Worker at the Mental Health Cooperative here in Nashville. Growing up Baptist, she struggled to find a church after coming out, eventually finding one in the United Methodist Church. Lindsey is from Mt. Juliet, TN, where it was difficult to find the resources she needed for support in coming out. Today, her focus is on guiding LGBTQIA+ youth through coming out and the journey beyond. She identifies as lesbian or gay, with the gender pronouns she/her/hers. Find Lindsey on Instagram, @lindseygayle.

For Discussion: When have you been told you had to be/act a certain way by your church, and how did that affect your view of yourself and your sexuality?

Full episode transcript available at outloudstories.com.

Episode Sponsor: Edgehill United Methodist Church - Worship times are Sundays at 8:15 AM (for a smaller contemplative service) and 10:45 AM (for a larger service with their choir). To learn more, visit edgehill.org.

Books:

• Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays-vs.-Christians Debate by Justin Lee
  
• Unclobber: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality by Colby Martin
  

Organizations in Nashville:

• Edgehill UMC
  
• Glendale Baptist
  
• Nashville in Harmony
  
• Out Crowd Nashville
  
• Oasis Center
  
• Mental Health Cooperative
  

Mental Health Resources, recommended by Lindsey:

• Psychology Today
  
• Centerstone
  
• Health Connect America
  

Out Loud is a podcast by and for queer people of faith in the South. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and join our mailing list for updates. Support the show financially by becoming a Patreon member and receive exclusive content and merchandise. Or leave a one-time donation on our website. Editing by Cariad Harmon. Music by JP Rugierri. Recorded at We Own This Town in Nashville, TN.

Our Season 2 Finale! Emily Joy is a poet, writer, and yoga teacher here in Nashville. She identifies as an embodied justice enthusiast which she describes as helping others make peace with their bodies. With an extensive online following, Emily co-founded the #churchtoo hashtag alongside Hannah Paasch, to address sexual abuse in church settings. Emily was raised in the fundamentalist evangelical church and identifies as gay with the gender pronouns she/her/hers.

Together, we discuss the fluidity of understanding her faith and sexuality and not sticking to just one category, as well as the impact purity culture has had in her life, her work to give voice to issues of sexual abuse in church settings, and the healing that has come from telling her own story to her followers.

We talk a lot about impurity culture on this episode. I'll let Emily Joy explain that as, "abstinence until heterosexual, monogamous marriage — or else. ... Secondary characteristics of purity culture often include an emphasis on male leadership, modesty in clothing for women, and eschewing common ways of dating." (Source: Scarleteen.com)

Connect with Emily at emilyjoypoetry.com and on Instagram @emilyjoypoetry. Also, check out the Twitter thread where she shared her own story that sparked the #churchtoo hashtag. You can also learn more about how #churchtoo came into being on her website. And follow her latest work, "Impurity Culture" on Twitter @impurityculture.

Out Loud is a podcast by and for queer people of faith in the South. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and join our mailing list for updates. Support the show financially by becoming a Patreon member and receive exclusive content and merchandise.

Music: Acoustic Meditation 2 by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/

This concludes Season 2! Look for more episodes soon, and thanks to everyone who has helped support the production of the show. Got questions or other ideas while we're on break? Let us know at [email protected].

Amber Cantorna is a national speaker and author dedicated to supporting LGBTQ people throughout their coming-out process. In her new book Unashamed: A Coming Out Guide for LGBTQ Christians, Amber tackles topics like finding an affirming faith community, deciding when and how to come out, and how to re-establish a relationship with God. She uses her platform to inspire others and works to dissolve shame, foster self-acceptance, and generate a message of love and inclusion for all.

Our conversation covers resources for coming out, understanding how loss and grief are incorporated in the coming out process, and a new-self care tip that you probably haven't heard of before.

Learn more about Amber at ambercantorna.com and follow her on Instagram at @amberncantorna.

Resources

• Books: Unashamed: A Coming Out Guide for LGBTQ Christians by Amber Cantorna, Unclobber by Colby Martin, Changing Our Mind by David Gushee
  
• Term: "Clobber Passages" are passages in the Bible that refer to homosexuality and have become the subject for debate between Christians for many years.
  
• Organization: Q Christian Fellowship (QCF) is a great place to get connected with LGBTQIA+ Christians online and in person. Visit qchristian.org.

Out Loud is a podcast by and for queer people of faith in the South. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and join our mailing list for updates. Support the show financially by becoming a Patreon member and receive exclusive content and merchandise.

Music: Acoustic Meditation 2 by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Rj discuss their journey finding an affirming home church. Communities that seem to be inclusive and loving, sometimes do not live up to those statements. But Rj demonstrates for us a resilience, and an ongoing curiosity about how to honor trans lives in our churches. They identify as queer and transgender with the gender pronouns they/them/theirs.

Find Rj on Facebook. International Transgender Day of Visibility is March 31. Learn more.

Terms:

• Queer - A term people often use to express fluid identities and orientations. Often used interchangeably with "LGBTQ."
• Genderqueer - Genderqueer people typically reject notions of static categories of gender and embrace a fluidity of gender identity and often, though not always, sexual orientation. People who identify as "genderqueer" may see themselves as being both male and female, neither male nor female or as falling completely outside these categories.
• Pansexual - Describes someone who has the potential for emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree.

Courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign.

Faith Denominations Mentioned: Morelight Presbyterians, New Covenant Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) (Nashville, TN)

Trans Resources Mentioned in Nashville: Middle TN Transgender Support Group (TVALS), Southerners on New Ground (SONG), Transbuddy at Vanderbilt Medical Center

Out Loud is a podcast by and for queer people of faith in the South. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and join our mailing list for updates. Support the show financially by becoming a Patreon member and receive exclusive content and merchandise.

Music: Acoustic Meditation 2 by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/