I’m baaaack!

Life gets in the way, ya know?

At any rate, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading. Always dangerous.

And in a fit of masochism (not that there’s anything wrong with masochism…I’m just describing my state of mind), I began looking into doctoral programs recently. It’s going to be close to two years before I can begin such a program, assuming I decide to go with it. But I thought I’d start taking a look at what I could do—or rather, where I might be able to work on what I want to study.

My thought is to work on this theory of mine, to do with images of God, bisexuality (or pansexuality, more accurately) and transgender. The problem is, most “gender studies” programs turn out to be about women, which is limiting to say the least. Moreover, they seem to be certificate programs within other programs. So I could get a PhD in Women’s Studies and English, with a certificate in Gender Studies; but is that really appropriate, given what I want to study? My answer is no!

So I decided to try the other angle—the theology side—and look into programs at seminary and school of theology. Here the issue is that most doctoral programs at seminaries are DMin., the Doctor of Ministry, intended more for congregational work than abstract theological work. A couple programs do have PhDs available, or flexible DMin programs. So then the question becomes, can they handle my area of study? How accepting are they, really, of GLBT people?

There seem to be a three or four options out there for me to explore…early days yet.

Because, you see, there’s another issue, not theoretical or ideological this time. The language requirement. A reading knowledge of two languages besides English—so that I can access sources in another language. Now, I think this is a good idea in theory. But it’s a hard one to work with. I studied German, and lived in Germany for several years, so German won’t be a problem (and it’s considered a scholarly language, and will be very useful for theology). But. A second language? Sigh. I’ve been thinking (off and on, mostly off) that Spanish would be a useful language to know. On the other hand, since I’m living in Canada, French would come in mighty handy. Problem is IT’S A WHOLE OTHER LANGUAGE! I’m not sure I’m up for that. But the programs that require two languages are also the ones that seem to have the most focus on theology, which is what I want.

Sigh. Maybe I’ll look into that “Rosetta Stone” language software I see advertised in the New Yorker. Or find a Spanish girlfriend. On the other hand, it will be easier, here in Canada, to find a Francophone girlfriend. Or boyfriend. Just as long as s/he speaks a foreign language and will teach it to me! Oh, and DP might object.

Clearly, this whole enterprise is going to take some serious Thought.

And why a doctorate, you ask? Well, I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while, and what I’ve come to realize is how much I don’t know, and how much I need to know if I’m going to explore these questions and issues properly and in depth. Each question’s answer leads to more questions. I need guidance and teaching and some suggestions and a whole lot of all of those. And probably a foreign language too. That adds up, pretty much, to a PhD.

Which scares the socks off me.

Hearing Voices

A group of my friends were decrying the lack of involvement on the part of so many people in community events—kids soccer, the block party, bowling league, our local Pride celebrations, even church—although they want those events to be available for them. They’re not willing to show up for the organizational meetings, or take care of any of the details, but they sure want that soccer league or black party to happen! They are consumers, not doers.

Now I know people work, but all those events are put together by volunteers (or mostly volunteers), who also have jobs, and families. So don’t tell me you don’t have time because you’re too busy, but you want someone else to do it for you. Other people have found ways to make time, and so can you.

When my son was small, the church nursery went co-op in the summer time. The parents signed up for a Sunday each (per family) and took care of the babies that showed up that Sunday. That way, everyone, even the people with babies, were able to come to church in the summertime (when the usual nursery worker took vacation). They babysat one Sunday; they had the rest of them off. You put something in; you got something out.

In the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community, the same thing often happens--a few people do all the work, get burned out and quit, and then everyone else complains because something doesn't happen or isn't up to their standards. If you want something to happen, the best way to be sure it does is to organizae it yourself. Now, there’s often fear of being involved in the meetings or the organizations because of exposure. Some people are terrified of being “outed,” and many of them with good reason. For some, it’s a matter of age—it was a great deal worse to be outed twenty or thirty years ago than it is today, and the older folks still carry that fear. Therefore, the active people are the ones who are totally “out,” are self-employed, or students, or, like me, out as part of their work!.

But—and this is the big thing—organization, planning, cannot be done by the few for the many. I don’t mean just on the basis of energy and time--and this is important. If the group of folks that I know best in the local GLBT community got together and created what we imagine as the perfect GLBT community centre, for example, we would leave out huge chunks of the community, because we don’t know them, or we don’t know they exist, or we don’t know what they want. We may try, but we cannot get into their minds and find out what they need. So we’d cover the 30 -50 year-old lesbian, bisexual, gay, some-with-kids-of-various-ages and a variety of spiritual paths crowd, but that’s all. While I know some people who are, for example, into the bear or leather crowd, I don’t know enough about those folks to know what they might want/need in a community centre—a meeting space? A rap group? A literature rack? How are the needs of GLBT Muslims different from those of GLBT First Nations? Got me. I know some places to go to for information, but my point is that people have to get involved on their own. No one else can read your mind and know what you want/need, much less provide it.

We need everyone’s voices. In order for a community centre to be truly a community centre, we need to hear what everyone wants and needs.

And so it begins....

With Pride in full swing, I've been in many conversations with others in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, two-spirited, intersexed, queer, questioning, pansexual and affirming community about our specific community here in River City (AKA Windsor) and where we need to go, what we need to be doing, and so on. It's made me think and do some writing, which I plan to share here.

Ideally, I'd like this to be a forum for the exchange of ideas beyond River City, to other small cities with GLBT communities in the process of growing and becoming. We have a lot to discuss here in River City, but as much as I like the place, I don't think we're unique--a lot of our issues and challenges exist in other places as well.

So pull up a chair, grab a beverage of your choice, and let's get started!