Posts Tagged ‘Family’
Easter Through The Years: My Trans Resurrection Story
Growing up in an evangelical Christian home, my family was invested in maintaining certain Judeo-Christian holiday traditions. Easter Sunday was no exception; it was a day rooted in chocolate pastels, family dinner, and most notably for me: new accessories. Regardless of my gender assigned at birth, I’ve always loved accessories. I went through a time…
Read MorePainting Grief: Remembering My Fallen Ally
Trigger warning: description of addiction and substance abuse I’ll never forget telling my younger brother that I’m gay. He asked if I was dating anyone. Since he’d recently met the person I was dating, I simply told him who she was. He responded, “Damn, I was planning to ask her out. Well done, Ang.” From…
Read MoreA Mormon Father’s Journey To Affirm His Gay Sons
There is, perhaps, no stronger feeling of love than the love a parent feels for his or her newborn child. As the child grows into their own unique self, inevitably pushing against the protective bounds the parent has set, that love is often put to the test. But there is nothing quite like the unconditional…
Read MoreQueering Mary, Queering Christmas
It’s no secret that the holidays are often a difficult time for queer people. Disproportionately estranged from family means we often must create our own family. While these chosen families can be tremendously life-giving, it’s tough not to long for our families of origin during Christmas time. Many still in relationship with family are forced…
Read MoreHow This Queer Christian Is Choosing Joy
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let Earth receive her King!” It’s everywhere this time of year—in storefront windows, in the faces of little children as they write detailed letters to Santa, in the elderly couple on our street celebrating the holiday with their host of children and grandchildren, in the eyes of…
Read MoreMight This Be Joy? A Witness To Audacious Love
I struggled to write this reflection. The central focus of Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, is the joyful anticipation of Christ’s birth, but how to write convincingly about joy when it eludes me as I wrestle as a single, gay Catholic away from home with the pain of loneliness? The long stretches of…
Read MoreQueering Advent: Reflections On Courage
“Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 As Christians, we know our hope is in the coming of Christ. We hope for God among us. But we do not often consider whether we are ready. How can we prepare…
Read MoreThe Courage To Be
Last week I wrote on hope, and the reason I wrote on hope was that I needed a bit of hope. I needed to be reminded that even my body carries the story of hope. And as we near the end of 2016 and stand in the liturgical season of Advent where we wait for…
Read MoreQueering Advent: Reflections On Hope
During the season of Advent, when Christians around the world prepare for the coming of Christ, our families and communities come together to reflect on our spirituality and our beliefs. This year at Believe Out Loud, we’re queering the season of Advent, considering traditional Advent themes as we reflect on our work ahead toward justice…
Read MoreChristians Vote For Immigration Justice
Growing up in the Haitian immigrant community in Philadelphia, PA, I saw so many of my vulnerable neighbors living in fear. They worried, because at any moment their undocumented status might be revealed. For a time, my own family also lived with these anxieties. My mother often worried about her physical safety because she was…
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