LGBTQ news and entertainment
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| Via TypewriterRodeo on Twitter |
“the four horsemen lay down their cards
and look up
through the jagged maw
through the steaming hellmouth
Hey, says War. You see that?
What? ask Pestilence. The Texas thing?
I saw it, says Famine. Who Cares
Seriously, says Death. Go fish.
and so they pick up their cards
resuming their game
not giving a flying fu ck
who gets married
to whom”
When I was young, bullies occupied my playgrounds, classrooms and walks home after school. Today, the landscape grows wider for bullies as the internet creates new places for “trolls” to hide and hurt.
Shane Koyczan was bullied as a child. He took the pain that haunted him for all these years and put it into an amazing video.
Excerpt:
We are stuck with you.
The same way you are stuck with you.
Your mind is glue and it keeps malice fastened their like cheap wallpaper.
We were once upon a time told that none of you exist.
We dismissed you as make-believe or myth.
Now, armed only with resolve, we can no longer afford to tell ourselves that you aren’t real.
We will not let you make your dinners out of the things we feel.
This poem – “Troll” – is taken from his collection titled Silence Is A Song I Know All The Words To.
Beautifully written by inaugural poet Richard Blanco, Freedom To Marry commissioned “Until We Could” to celebrate 10 years of marriage equality.
Shot in Austin, Texas, the short film features Blanco’s words are narrated by actors Robin Wright and Ben Foster.
From The Daily Beast:
The poem and video was the initial brainchild of Peter Spears an actor, director, and producer — and FTM volunteer — whose had the idea to approach Blanco. “We shot it in Austin’s film community, and Texas is on the precipice of marriage equality,” says Spears. “There are real couples in the film — like the male couples in their forties with kids — and also actors. Austin was off the charts, they put all their talent and time into making this happen.”
At this writing, 19 states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. Forty-four percent of Americans live in a state with marriage equality. Fifty-nine percent of Americans support the freedom to marry.
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| Steven Boyle reading his spoken-word poem “I Hit Send, or Modern Meltdown” |
Written for a poetry reading at Penn State earlier this year, Steven Boyle is ridiculously adorable and touching reading his work “I Hit Send, or Modern Meltdown” about the first time he told someone he loved them.
Follow him on YouTube or his website at IHitSend.com
Check the passion of the crowd response.
Elliot Darrow, performing for University of North Carolina during finals at the 2013 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational.
Rock it, Elliot!
TEXT OF POEM:
What if I told you God is gay?
Do you think belligerent bible-belters
Would still holler hate speech to the hilltops
In His name?
Or do you think they would reread the scriptures
They say they swear and survive by
See, I’ve been reading the Bible again lately
And I think I’ve taken a leaf from their holy book,
Picking passages for my purpose
Which is in short
To let you know it’s very possible God is gay.
I mean think about the book of Genesis
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
And it wasn’t just good, it was fabulous.
I mean what else is our planet but the pinnacle
Of exterior design, and I don’t mean to generalize
But it certainly seems like that the Garden of Eden
Was designed by queer, I mean divine eye for the straight guy
But some Christians would go as far as to call
God’s creations abominations
Heretics calling themselves faithful
When their faith is full of belief that only God may pass judgment
Matthew 7:1 Judge and you too shall be judged
Luke 6: 37 Condemn not and you shall not be condemned
Fred Phelps 2006: You’re going to hell! God hates fags!
A history lesson: A faggot is a bundle of sticks
Originally used as kindling for fires that engulfed gays
When they were burned at the stake, people were firewood
But Moses came across wood on fire and saw God in it,
What is a burning bush but bundles of branches
On fire, isn’t it funny how faggots and God can look the same sometimes?
Keep in mind Jesus had two dads and turned out just fine
In fact, Jesus had two dads and a surrogate mother
That never had sex with either of them,
Maybe Mary was a lesbian
And I remember the prayer going
“Hail Mary, full of grace”
Not full of sin,
“Pray for us sinners”
For we have become blinded by bigotry.
And forgotten that God gave us the rainbow
As a promise that we will never be flooded again
Either with rain or ignorance
And now all the homosexual Homo sapiens
Stand more united under God’s rainbow
Than all of his denominations do around the cross.
I was brought up believing that my Savior loved us all
And never had to specify “no homo”
But if you have hate in your heart
Say it don’t pray it
Don’t teach it and for the love of God don’t preach it
Because I am tired of these fire and brimstone sermons
Slinging slurs when they’re not firing brimstones
From voices that should be filled with love and praise
Instead of raised with hate and rage
I am a Christian, and I believe in saying the Christian thing.
Which used to sound like “Love thy neighbor as thyself”
But now sounds more like hate at the top of your picket signs
The closest thing to God being “Hell, is waiting for you”
They’re passing out damnation pamphlets
Filled with out-of-context Bible verses
Trying to define God
When his meaning is clear.
He is acceptance, He is pride, He is humility, He is just,
God is perfection, God is protection, God is love,
But most importantly
God is gay
Sierra DeMulder, finalist in the 2013 Women of the World Poetry Slam, during the one minute round in WOWPS prelims in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
DeMulder takes Michele Bachmann and husband to task for their clinic which offers “reparative therapy” to gay and lesbians.
Strictly business, indeed.
Transcript (via Towleroad):
“Your husband owns a clinic that offers to cure homosexuality for up to $10,000 a year. So when you, Representative Bachmann, refused to acknowledge the bullying of gay students in your district, this must have been strictly business.
“When another gay teenager commits suicide in Minnesota, you consider this free advertising. You buy a new necklace for every hanging, a bottle of Merlot for each overdose, your husband sends ‘thank you’ cards to their funeral, hand-signed, all referrals welcomed.
“How could we expect you to take a stand against bullying when it helps pay for your mortgage, when it puts food in your children’s belly? One day, your youngest daughter will ask you why her school supplies feel like they belong to someone else, her pencils write names that are not hers, Samantha, Nick, Aaron, Kevin. Tell her the truth Michele, that blood money is not a metaphor, that your wallet is heavy with those who have untied themselves. Tell your daughter that God is the bully with the biggest fist and you can only hope that he is on your side!”
Beat poetry by Denice Frohman.
I saw this last night and really liked it. I’d love to write like this 🙂
Powerful and brilliant. The first time I saw this I had to watch it something like five times in a row.