A True WOW Experience: A Dialogue

by Rev. Eric H. F. Law

When I was invited to contribute to this issue of Open Hands addressing the relation between racism and the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community, I struggled to give voice to the different perspectives that reside within me. Obviously there are complex issues involved and therefore, to write about them in such a short form without trivializing the different perceptions is a difficult task. I have chosen to address these issues in the form of dialogue between a GLBT person of European background and a GLBT person of color (in italic.) My purpose is to raise some of the issues through the voices of these two fictional characters. The context of this conversation takes place at an ecumenical conference for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Christians. To understand the full dynamics of this dialogue, read it with another person, each taking a part, like reading a play. Be sure to continue this dialogue by sharing your reflections with each other afterward.


Wow! Isn't it wonderful to see so many queer people in one place?

I suppose.

And we are all Christians! They can't really ignore us, can they?

I guess.

Hey, are you okay?

I don't want to talk about it.

Come on, you can talk about anything here. This is the most accepting and welcoming community I have ever been in.

How can you say that?

I thought it was a very good evening. In fact, I thought the whole conference so far has been so well put together. (Silence.) Okay, tell me what's wrong.

What's the use?

I want to know because I am on the planning committee.

Oh, God!

I'm supposed to find out how people are feeling about this conference and report back to the committee every night. (Silence.) How are we going to improve ourselves if you won't tell me what we did wrong?

Did you see what went on in there now?

What? Which part?

When the facilitator asked people of color to stand up, to be recognized I guess, a few people in the back yelled, "What color!"

I thought they were trying to be funny.

Apparently, quite a few people thought that it was funny too.

I guess it wasn't for you.

It was very offensive. And the facilitator didn't do anything or say anything.

I didn't think they meant any harm. I guess they felt that since we are in this welcoming and accepting community, we don't need to make distinctions between color and race. You know, in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, male or female.

But in this community, even though we are all GLBT, as we now say, there is still white and people of color. You can't get away from it.

We are gathered here as GLBT people, to support and encourage each other. Why focus on things that divide us?

But we are supposed to be a welcoming community and I don't think the people of color here felt welcomed by what went on in there. Out of over a thousand people in there, how many people of color did you see?

I don't know, about 50?

That's less than 5 percent. There must be more people of color who are GLBT.

I know. We really tried to recruit people of color to come. We sent out brochures to Christian communities of color. We even made sure we had people of color in the planning committee. I guess we can do better. Hey, you came.

I guess I am one of the naive ones.

Naive?

The rest of the people of color knew better.

What do you mean?

I thought coming here and being with all the gay and lesbian Christians, I would feel accepted. But judging from what I see, this so-called welcoming community is the same as any white community. Doesn't matter whether they are gay or straight.

I'm confused. I saw people of color as our speakers. Every time anybody up front spoke, they always included people of color in their remarks.

It's not what you say. It's a look here, a whisper there. And supposing funny remarks like "What color" that indicated to me that this community is just as racist as any.

Wait a minute. I wouldn't go as far as saying we are racist.

What would you call it?

We might be little insensitive but . . .

If you don't believe me, talk to other people of color in this conference.

Don't you think you're a little too sensitive? I thought the whole racism issue is over with in this country.

I don't believe what I'm hearing.

Hey, at least the government has laws against discrimination based on race.

So, you think having these laws and policies, we have gotten over racism.

Yes, . . . No. I mean, there is of course work to be done to make them enforce these laws. My point is that we, as GLBT people, we don't have the same civil rights yet as people of color in this country. People can say awful things about gays and lesbians, not to mention bisexual and transgender people, and there is no law to stop them. No one will dare to make the same kind of remarks about race in public anymore. That's why we must stand together to work for justice for the GLBT community just like we did in the civil rights movement in the sixties.

Yes, we must stand together and work together. But when we are standing together, we have to know and admit that there is racism even among us good-hearted welcoming folks.

Why are you buying into what the conservatives want us to do?

And what is that?

Every time, the gay and lesbian movement tried to push a policy through in one of the mainline denominations, the conservative always argued that if we accept gay and lesbian as NORMAL people in the church, than we are rejecting the cultures of our ethnic Christian communities. They are saying that homosexuality is against their cultures. So, if we accept gays and lesbians, we must be racist.

May be they are right.

They can't be right. To be gay does not mean I am a racist.

But the gay and lesbian movement basically was a white movement from the start.

Wait a minute.

Yes, the whole concept of coming out is a privileged white concept.

What?

All this talk about being courageous, being yourself, telling the truth and to hell with your family, your friends or anybody who can't accept you, are but ideas from very privileged people.

You lost me.

In order to come out, you have to believe that you do have some rights as an individual to start with, am I right? And these rights are protected by society.

Right.

To believe that you have these basic rights is a privilege that is not shared by many people of color in this country.

You have as much rights as I do. The civil rights movement changed that.

We might have changed some laws, but people of color sure get checked at the airport more, still get stopped by police for wearing the wrong clothes in the wrong neighborhood.

I guess there is something to that.

Since most of us don't have the basic rights to start with, we rely on our ethnic communities to support us. We don't have the luxury to come out and risk losing what little security we had. That's why in many communities of color, we don't talk about who is gay or lesbian, we just know and we accept it. If we come out in public, that would give the racist system another excuse to take another beating on us.

That's more the reason why we have to work together.

But as long as you want people to be out as the only way to be a good gay person, as long as there are TV cameras in this conference, as long as your mailing has your conference title on it, many people of color will not come.

With all due respect, won't that be homophobic on the part of the communities of color?

No, that is your perspective. To us, the white gay and lesbian movement is not sensitive to our situations, our cultures and our needs.

So, what do you suggest that we do? Affirm the conservative position and let them divide us again and again?

No, work with communities of color on their terms. Support the GLBT persons of color with full appreciation of our contexts.

Okay, I can buy that. But this thing about making the distinction between whites and people of color, I still have a problem with that. While we are here, isn't there something we can do together?

I don't know.

You have to know that even though we are mostly white here, we do care about dismantling racism.

Yes, I don't question that. But again it's not what you say, it's how you behave that counts.

So, what do we do?

I don't know. That's for you to figure out.

(Silence.) Liberation theology!

What?

Like the speaker said in the last session, as GLBT people, we are an oppressed people, but God is on our side. God will liberate us and empower us to bring justice to our people. Surely, we can work together on that!

That was another thing I had trouble with in the last session.

Oh, no. That too.

I'm not sure it's appropriate for a group of mostly white people in this context to talk about liberation theology.

We might be mostly white but we are still oppressed as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Okay, I agree that in the bigger scheme of things, the GLBT community should live and practice liberation theology. But in the context of this conference, when we are together as the GLBT community, who are the powerful and who are the powerless?

We are all powerless.

No, I mean, in these three days we are together, who are the majority, who are the ones with influence and power?

I guess the majority here is white.

Yes, so, for the powerful majority to practice liberation theology is inappropriate.

But you can also say the same for gay men and lesbians who are the powerful majority in relation to the bisexuals and transgender people.

I would agree with you on that too.

So, it is not appropriate for gay men and lesbians to practice liberation theology too?

When they are working with bisexual and transgender people here.

If liberation theology is not the theology that most of us should practice here, what theology should be use?

(Silence.) What does Jesus say to the powerful and rich in the Bible?

To sell what they had and give to the poor.

Take up the cross and follow Jesus.

How do we do that?

By letting go of control and power and listen.

Listen to GLBT of color.

Yes.

Listen to the experiences of the bisexual and transgender folks.

Yes.

I have a proposal.

What?

I am the speaker for tomorrow's worship. I would like to invite you to speak instead.

What?

I want you to address the whole conference.

In front of a thousand people? Are you mad? What am I going to say?

Say what you just said to me in the last conversation. I think everybody in the conference should hear that.

What will the organizers of this conference say?

They'll just be surprised, won't they?

Are you sure?

Yes. I am sure.

(Silence.) I have a proposal.

I really want you to do this.

Why don't we do it together?

No, as you said, they don't need to hear from me, a white person.

Yes they do. They need to know how we came to this, how you arrived at giving up your power so that someone like me can have a voice.

Wow. This is what liberation is about, isn't it?

Wow.