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Resources -
LGBT Week 2007
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 When I'm Not Who They Say I Should Be
"Fences"
“Are you one of us or are you one of them?”
What if I’m neither?
What if I’m both?
They talk about fences
No fence
I don’t have one
Still they say: “get off of it girl!”
Uh-uh, it’s people, not genders
I just love
“A phase,” they say, “You’re just a lesbian pretending to like men.”
“Nah, she’s straight. Horny, greedy. It’ll pass.”
Wait!
Since when do you get to say who I am, what I feel?
I do not hand over my right to self-definition
It’s simple
I’m equal opportunity
That’s all
Yeah
Those criticisms
Those questions
It’s been a long time
Enter religion
Judgments and interrogations all over again
A party
Bible comes up
Questions fly
“Jesus?” ask the Jews
“God’s chosen?” protest the Christians
Friends and lovers
Resentments and ignorance
Rhetorical questions - un-thought-out responses
Me?
Quiet stranger amidst the din
Someone points to the seminarian
Inevitable
I plead the fifth
I plead lack of authority
I even plead UU!
Then it comes “so are you Christian or what?”
All eyes on me
No answer
Pressure mounts
Do I believe in Jesus, is he the son of God, did the resurrection happen, is he the Messiah, my personal Lord and savior?
I have Jesus sightings
He visits me
He’s a savior in my life
He was a man
He still exists - we’re still talking about him
He’s God’s son
I’m God’s daughter
Messiah?
Don’t know
And resurrection?
I’ve fallen in love with Jesus
His presence changes my life
Every day
Every night
I do the Rosary
My family and I, we got a Mary:
La Virgen de Belem
Do these make me Christian?
Is it necessary that I label this?
Maybe none fits
A song says: “the language is leaving me in silence - and changes are shifting outside the word.”
That could be it
No name
I’m cool with that
“No no no,
Are you one of us or one of them?”
Neither
Both
Are you Jesus enough to accept me Queer, Jesus loving, straight, not straight, gay, not gay, Christian, not Christian?
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