Queer Spirituality
Many gays and lesbians feel an overwhelming need to “fit in” --
to feel as if we are part of the whole. An often-heard saying
is “I’m just like straight people, except when I’m in bed.”
But adopting such an attitude robs both us and the world of the
inherent gifts that are ours as lesbians and gays.
Throughout the majority of our remembered history, gays and lesbian
held positions of honor and esteem in society. We were the
ambassadors, the ones who walked between worlds. We were teachers
of children, givers of names, sought out for our spiritual guidance
and wisdom. As lesbians and gays, we have a glorious and honored
history that is ours for the embracing.
Today, however, we have lost touch with these gifts and in the process
lost our sense of belonging, and our sacred heritage. With
this detachment, we have in a very real sense lost touch with who
we are.
In terms of our modern gay and lesbian civil rights movement, we
stand at an historic moment, faced with the choice of relying on
laws to ‘force’ society to accept us, or embracing and reviving
these sacred roles to help bless and heal not only ourselves, but
the world.
As important and vital as they are, laws will not bring us acceptance
into society that we seek. Instead, they set up yet another
hurdle for the forces of homophobia and hatred to jump in their
attempts to shape society in their unholy image. An important
lesson can be learned from the Civil Rights movement. Laws
were enacted to protect the civil rights of African-Americans, but
these laws did very little to actually change the views of individuals
in society. In fact, they were something like a shot-gun wedding,
where one party was forced into marriage, not out of love, but through
force and the threat of prosecution.
Our society needs to be healed. If as gays and lesbians we
are truly to become an integral part of society, we must embrace
the gifts and abilities that have been given to us. We can
go beyond re-orienting ourselves to the world, and can make a decision
to develop these gifts and abilities. The burden is on us
to reintroduce ourselves to the world. To say, this is who
we are and this is the role we are called to play in the healing
of the world.
Our world is in need of a radical revolution if it is to be healed
and saved. As lesbians and gays, our sense of belonging must
be rooted in who we are -- in all our glory and beauty -- if we
are to be effective in participating in and leading the revolution
that will lead to the healing, and saving, of the world.
Osireion partner Teyboti is a mystic living in South
Carolina, where he is currently pursuing studies on the sacred androgyne.
Contact Teyboti at teyboti@osireion.com
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