Skip to main content

Doin' Time at NOMAS

I head off to Mahwah, New Jersey for the annual conference of NOMAS, The National Organization for Men Against Sexism. I will perform Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House tonight.

The conference should be awesome, but sadly I have to leave right after my show so that I can go to Bryant University (used to be a college but it grew up I guess) in Smithfield, Rhode Island for the New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker).

With my Quaker folk I will participate as a resource person for the Young Friends (high school) program again like I have done for the past few years. Lots of laughter, worship, games, theater, and the coolest business meetings you could ever imagine. These young people inspire me deeply with their commitment to silent worship, social justice and love for one another. I actually credit the NEYM Young Friends in large part for helping me to open up once again to a community of faith. Three years ago, seeing their sincere faith and evident love, my hurt and hard heart experienced healing and opened up to the idea of belonging to a group of religious folks again.

I will perform Homo No Mo on Tuesday evening for the whole of yearly meeting. Big deal in some ways and a great honor. AND I get to see LOADS of dear Friends. I will have Internet access, so hopefully I will blog from NEYM.

If you are near New Jersey tonight and want to check out the show, here are the details:

Thursday, August , 2006 7:30 PM
National Organization for Men Against Sexism
31st National Conference on Men & Masculinity
Creating Connections for Gender Justice
Ramapo College of New Jersey
505 Ramapo Valley Road
Mahwah, NJ

Comments

CrackerLilo said…
Hope it goes great! Sounds busy, but educational and fun.
Sounds wonderful - hope its a refreshing and inspiring time.

CA
Anonymous said…
Tampa sounds nicer. You should try Tampa. It's cooler, temperature-wise, for sure!

Tom D.

Popular posts from this blog

My Gay Husband--A Spouse Speaks Out

The other day I received the following e-mail from Susanne, a woman who found out her some years ago that her husband has same-sex attractions. I felt so moved by her words that I asked her permission to share them with you on the blog. I (recently) saw your Doin Time... and I was the one who asked about your wife during the discussion period that followed. I just read your thoughts on What About the Spouse ....and I can say, most women who find out their husbands are gay feel ALL of those things you wondered about....some in more degrees than others... When my husband was dragged out of the closet because of his irreverent, immoral, and amoral behavior that our, then, 14 and 16 year old sons had to find on our home computer, I went into the closet. I didn't know what to pray for.... Do I pray that this will go away? Do I pray that he could go back to the way things were in our family before we knew about him,? Do I pray that I could go back to the way things were? After all ,...

The False Image of LIA

John Smid and me-Graduation 1998 (above) & John Smid today (left) By now many have heard that Tennessee's Department of Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities determined that the "ex-gay" program, Love in Action, is operating two “unlicensed mental health supportive living facilities”. LIA has until Friday, September 23 to respond. If LIA statements in Eartha Jane Melzer's article are indicative to how the "change" program might respond, we may see LIA change right before our eyes from a clinical mental health compound into a house of praise and worship. Gerard Wellman, business administrator for Love in Action, and a former Love in Action client, said Sept. 13 that the organization has been in contact with the state but would not comment further. “As a church, we operate under a different set of rules,” Wellman said. Curious, and what rules might these be? What is even more curious is that according to LIA's site only one staff member ...

Puzzled

Last night I performed Transfigurations-Transgressing Gender in the Bible at Imago Dei Metropolitan Community Church in Glen Mills, PA (about 15 miles outside of Philly). I had a diverse audience of about 45 people -- college students, Quakers, straight, bi, trans and lesbian, young and old. I took my time with the piece maintaining a gentle meditative pace. For the ending when I reveal the identity of the narrator, I had instructed the light tech to dim the lights. Then as the closing music swelled, I asked her to raise the lights to their brigthest intensity. With the music playing, I exited. Always (up until last night) at this point the audience applauds, I wait 5 seconds then come out to take a bow. Last night I exited and then nothing. No one clapped. They sat quietly as the music played. I stood back stage puzzled, baffled. Now what do I do? Wait? Go out anyway? And I wondered for a moment, Did they hate it? Did I confuse them? Offend them? Bore them into a coma? After what ...