MA HEIGHT/WEIGHT ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BILL HEARING NEXT TUES. 7/21!

HEARING ON MASSACHUSETTS HEIGHT/WEIGHT ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BILL NEXT TUESDAY JULY 21ST AT 12:30 P.M. AT THE STATE HOUSE! PLEASE NOTE THAT EVERYONE CAN SUBMIT WRITTEN TESTIMONY -- I will be doing so, as I've done for the past few sessions; I've also testified in person twice. Just got this e-mail; will put more info on my blog and post that:

Hi All,

As past supporters of Representative Rushing’s legislation regarding height and weight discrimination, I am writing to let you know that the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development has scheduled a hearing for the bill (H. 1764,An Act Making Discrimination on the Basis of Height and Weight Unlawful) on Tuesday, July 21, which begins at  12:30 p.m. in Gardner Auditorium in the State House.  I apologize for the short notice; I just found out about the hearing.

This bill would amend the state’s anti-discrimination laws to add height and weight to the list of protected categories, which currently include race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, or ancestry.  It would provide a legal remedy to those who have experienced discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on their weight or height. 

As you may remember, this bill was approved by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development last session but did not come up for a vote before the House of Representatives and had to be re-filed for the current legislative session, which began in January 2015.  Also, please note that the House has a new Chair of the Committee this session who is likely unfamiliar with the issue.

As you may know, many legislative committees limit spoken testimony to approximately 3 minutes per person.  However, you can submit both written and verbal testimony, and are encouraged to do so, if you are worried about conveying your full message within the three-minute timeframe.  If you would like to submit testimony but are unable to be in attendance, you can submit testimony via email to Daniel.Wolf@masenate.gov orJohn.Scibak@mahouse.gov, or via the mail to the following addresses:

Senator Daniel A. Wolf

Senate Chair, Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development

State House, Room 405

Boston, MA 02133

Representative John W. Scibak

House Chair, Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development

State House, Room 43

Boston, MA 02133

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Best,

Dave

Dave VanderWoude

Office of Majority Whip Byron Rushing

State House, Room 235

Boston, MA 02133

(617) 722-2783

david.vanderwoude@mahouse.gov

Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2015 4:07 PM
To: HOU-DL - HOUSE STAFF; HOU-DL - HOUSE AIDES; HOU-DL - HOUSE REPS; SEN-DL-ALLSTAFF; SEN-DL-SENATORS
Subject: Notice of Public Hearing (With Changes): Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development hearing on Workplace Discrimination and Workplace Safety -7/21 in Gardner Auditorium from 12:30-5

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts JOINT COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT STATE HOUSE, BOSTON 02133

Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development

Rep. John W. Scibak	Sen. Daniel A. Wolf
House Chairman	Senate Chairman

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

Date of Hearing: Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Time: 12:30 PM-5:00 PM

Location: GARDNER AUDITORIUM

Workplace Discrimination and Workplace Safety

Bill No.	Sponsor	Title
H1682	Benson, Jennifer E. (HOU)	An Act relative to discrimination in the workplace
H1687	Brady, Michael D. (HOU)	An Act requiring health care employees to develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence
H1689	Calter, Thomas J. (HOU)	An Act relative to needle stick injuries suffered by first responders
H1728	Kocot, Peter V. (HOU)	An Act prohibiting the bullying of public school employees
H1733	Livingstone, Jay D. (HOU)	An Act to establish pay equity
H1736	Malia, Elizabeth A. (HOU)	An Act regulating the use of credit reports by employers
H1756	O'Day, James J. (HOU)	An Act to further define standards of employee safety
H1757	Orrall, Keiko M. (HOU)	An Act relative to non discrimination training in the workplace
H1764	Rushing, Byron (HOU)	An Act making discrimination on the basis of height and weight unlawful
H1769	Story, Ellen (HOU)	An Act establishing the Massachusetts pregnant workers fairness act
H1771	Story, Ellen (HOU)	An Act addressing workplace bullying, mobbing, and harassment, without regard to protected class status
H1781	Zlotnik, Jonathan (HOU)	An Act Relative to Non Discrimination Training in the Workplace
H1783	Zlotnik, Jonathan (HOU)	An Act Relative to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
S123	Barrett, Michael J. (SEN)	An Act regulating the use of credit reports by employers
S954	Barrett, Michael J. (SEN)	An Act providing fair chances for employment
S956	Brownsberger, William N. (SEN)	An Act establishing the refusal to provide certain records as an unfair labor practice
S960	Chang-Diaz, Sonia (SEN)	An Act ensuring uniformity in education discrimination complaint procedures
S970	Donnelly, Kenneth J. (SEN)	An Act requiring recordkeeping at public construction worksites in order to protect first responders
S983	Jehlen, Patricia D. (SEN)	An Act to establish pay equity
S984	Joyce, Brian A. (SEN)	An Act preventing discrimination based on veteran's status
S986	Joyce, Brian A. (SEN)	An Act relative to health and safety on public construction projects
S988	Keenan, John F. (SEN)	An Act relative to electrical panels and workplace safety
S989	L'Italien, Barbara (SEN)	An Act relative to nondiscrimination regional advisory boards
S991	Montigny, Mark C. (SEN)	An Act relative to fair hiring practices
S999	Pacheco, Marc R. (SEN)	An Act to further define standards of employee safety
S1007	Spilka, Karen E. (SEN)	Resolutions to encourage equitable and diverse gender representation on the boards of companies in the Commonwealth
S1020	Timilty, James E. (SEN)	An Act relative to equity in the workplace

Please be advised that the schedule and agenda are subject to change at the discretion of the chair per committee rules. Due to the expected number of attendants, testimony will be strictly limited to 3 minutes. Panels will be limited to a size of four individuals or fewer, and each panel will be ask to keep their testimony limited to ten minutes.

DMV Fat-Friendly Community field trip to Curve Appeal

Sadly, we missed the DMV Fat-Friendly Community field trip today to Curve Appeal Full Figured Consignment Boutique (Millersville MD), and lunch – and thus we missed Curve Appeal altogether, because that was actually their last day in business, alas. But we are hearing good things, about them and the trip.

And it reminded me to tell / remind you that if you’re looking for fat-friendly community in the DMV (DC / MD / VA), come on down. Or up, or over, or whatever, depending upon where you live, ha ha. We have a clothing swap scheduled for next month, and some other things being planned, and are always open to suggestions, members, etc. My Julia founded it just a few years ago, and we have almost 90 members in the Facebook Group now! And we do have a good amount who actively participate online and off – but again, the more the merrier.

Ramadan 2015

Tonight we went to one of the American Turkish Friendship Association (ATFA)’s Iftar dinners for the second year in a row; last year we were invited by Episcopal Church of the Ascension and went to one at ATFA’s Rockville space, this time Ascension hosted one and we went to that.

A few of our ATFA hosts spoke, as well as our rector Rev. Randy Lord-Wilkinson, Rev. Mansfield “Kasey” Kaseman, and one of U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski’s staffers – the senator couldn’t attend, but sent quite a letter. Randy is also the convener of the Gaithersburg Interfaith Alliance, and Rev. Kaseman is the Interfaith Community Liaison of the Office of Community Partnerships. And we had a pretty large and diverse group of guests, from Ascension and elsewhere.

We watched Terry Spencer Hesser’s documentary Love Is A Verb, about Turkish Muslim leader Fethullah Gülen and the Gulen movement / Hizmet / Cemaat; narrated by Ashley Judd. And then The Islamic Institute’s “The Journey Of Fasting”, an 8-minute film about Ramadan.

Pictured:
+ One of Ascension’s signs – I especially like the font choice, which I would have made too
+ Apricot nectar and water
+ Soup with chicken, rice, spices…?
+ Rice; ground meat / potato / eggplant / tomato / ?; bread; salad; falafelish thingies?
+ ? with pine nuts; cookies topped with walnuts; cookies topped with with cinnamon / powdered sugar; rice custard squares topped with cinnamon

I didn’t get a picture of my outfit, oops, but I did a post about it anyway.

P.s. If you use the hashtags ‪#‎Ramadan‬, ‪#‎Iftar‬, ‪#‎EidMubarak‬ and/or ‪#‎Eid‬ on Twitter, it automatically adds an icon to each, also known as a hashflag.
‪#‎RamadanMubarak‬ ‪#‎RamadanKareem‬

P.p.s.

Back And Fourth Of July

Tomorrow is my 6th anniversary with Julia, and I have to give GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders) credit for making an e-card that also works for that. They have three others, too – they don’t really do it for me, but they have their points, and you can see and send them here.

Much more importantly, Byron Rushing reminds us that and why the the Episcopal Church's Collect for July 4th isn’t right – primarily, it forgets slavery – and gives us two better options.

Byron is the Vice President of the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies, and a MA state Representative. I first met him when I was a high schooler in the early 90s and he was advocating for the Gay & Lesbian Student Rights Law (yes, it’s been updated since!). He has continued to be an amazing LGBT ally, including with the Trans Equal Rights Law and current trans rights bill – see more at Freedom Massachusetts. And he has been advocating for the bill to include height and weight in MA’s anti-discrimination law for years as well!  #fatjustice

I saw it this via his Facebook post.

"My annual 4th of July collect e-mail:

Let me take this opportunity to remind Episcopalians in the United States that many of us do not consider the words--"the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us"--in the Independence Day collect
to be accurate. Look around your congregations and reflect if all the ancestors of the "us" got their liberty then.

Listen to the words of Collect (BCP, p.242) for Independence Day July 4th

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This phrase is only possible because slavery was forgotten—or the “us” was not meant to include me.
A better and approved BCP collect for the 4th is "For the Nation" (p.258 or 207):

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Also the Canadians’ Canada Day collect (July 1) also works for us in the USA and all the other countries in which TEC is.

Almighty God,
whose wisdom and whose love are over all,
accept the prayers we offer for our nation.
Give integrity to its citizens and wisdom to those in authority,
that harmony and justice may be secured in obedience to your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

--Byron"

I Do...And I Don't

(...Or, I Do(n't); "if you want to do it the academic way", as J says.)

Julia McCrossin and I at the end of our first in-person visit – September 15th, 2009; our 6th anniversary is July 5th.

Long story short, for now….

Not a fan of legal marriage, or much of the “marriage equality” movement, and their roles in oppression, in this country and the rest of the world. But that’s the thing – legal marriage is a necessary evil for many, including us -- especially as we live and are the primary caregivers with my mother-in-sin -- and probably will be for years, and I’m glad that we can now legally marry in all the States instead of just our home ones (MA and MD).

Big fan of faith-based and other non-legal / other-legal marriage/partnership rituals, including those involving more than two consenting adults.

I’ve always wanted to have an engagement, wedding and marriage, and Julia is my Bashert in that way as well. We don't fully qualify for marriage in either of my faiths -- Judaism or the Episcopal Church – and that may not change in time, but we plan to have some sort of Trewscopalian and otherwise interfaith wedding anyway. And then again, queer/trans/fatphobic discrimination in employment needs to change enough for us to afford even the thriftiest wedding.

Thanks to the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts’s “E-News for June 2015”, I saw and found very helpful this interview with Rev. Cameron Partridge about his membership in The Episcopal Church’s Task Force on the Study of Marriage -- "Why the church cares so much about marriage: A General Convention interview with Cameron Partridge".

Cameron is also a fellow member of TransEpiscopal, and part of TE's team at the Episcopal Church's 78th General Convention. And he’s one of the faith leaders we want to be part of our wedding ceremony.

My favorite answer:

“I would love for more people to think about marriage as a vocation, one among several--not the only relational vocation there is, by any stretch, but one to be discerned carefully, and when discerned as your vocation, to be lived into joyfully.

As I’ve interacted with some of the provincial meetings, I’ve had some questions bubble up around the role of procreation and marriage. There are lots of really interesting angles on that. I really emphasize the rubric of adoption. That is the mechanism of our baptismal incorporation into Christ’s body. It’s adoption--choosing God and being chosen by God and choosing one another--through which we create family as Christians. When you look at family, and you look at marriage, and you look at having children through that lens, it’s all adoptive. And if it happens to be biological as well, wonderful, fabulous—and it’s adoptive. We have to choose one another again and again and again over the course of our lifetime. I notice that has come out in some of the questions where people have wondered if somehow marriage equality would undermine a place for procreation in our understanding of marriage, and my answer is, not at all. In fact, it really underscores the adoptive mechanism through which we choose one another, whether we discern a call to have children or not.”

And thanks to TransEpiscopal, I also saw and deeply appreciated Iain Stanford’s “A Crack in Our Current Practice: A ‪‎Trans‬ Angle on ‪‎Marriage Equality‬ in The ‪Episcopal‬ Church."

Iain too is a fellow member and leader of TE and part of our team at #GC78‬.

My favorite part:

“The shift here is not a theological one. It is not about Augustine’s theology of the goods of marriage or even Elizabeth Stuarts’ theology of gay and lesbian relationships as “just friends.” The shift is my physical body. My negotiation of gender has shifted from the outward and visible sign of a woman to that of a man, more specifically a trans man. My own sense of gender exceeds binary definition. I own my full gender history. My story, while common in trans communities, is not as well known outside of those circles. I am proud of the ways I participated in breaking down barriers for women in the 1980s, even if only in small ways. I was one of the few women who studied engineering in those years, and the first to be elected president of my university’s engineering honorary. Today, I live and move mostly as just another short white guy. To know me is to understand that I am the sum of all my years.”

Ample awesome news from Adipositivity!

Look at all this awesome 8th-anniversary (?!) news from Adipositivity! And Julia's and my photo is this gallery, just saying: "The #1 most often viewed gallery at Zenfolio (the photography web host I use) is the Adipositivity Valentine gallery, with over a million visitors in the last year."

"The Adipositivity Project turns eight years old this week! If you’d like a long-ass update on the past year and the pending, read on.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE HALF PRICE

We passed the 10 million visitors mark this past year.

The #1 most often viewed gallery at Zenfolio (the photography web host I use) is the Adipositivity Valentine gallery, with over a million visitors in the last year. Several other Adipositivity galleries are in the top 20.

The Body Image video channel I curate for Waywire.com is now their most viewed.

The project has gotten a lot more international press this year than it ever has before. (“You’re famous in Brazil!”) And some awfully lovely coverage in the US, as well.

I’ve had some very gratifying experiences speaking at colleges this past year. I dig you! Hope you dig me back.

The project has come closer than ever to paying for itself. Gonna continue to work on that in year nine. If we can surpass that goal, there’ll be more stability, more shoots, and better locations. Biggerbetterfastermore everything!

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS THANKS TO YOU. Thus the curtsy. And as always, thank you to the Adiposers who’ve dropped trou for my camera. I’m not sure which of us is the wind and which is/are the wings, but you’re the bee’s knees. Of that, I am certain.

Next week there’ll be a nude public bodypainting Adipositivity group shoot with artist Andy Golub at the New York Public Library. It’s the Adipositivity Project’s first collaboration with NYC Bodypainting Day, and I’m pretty damn stoked about it. Come by on your lunch break and watch fat art happen while you eat your tunafish sandwich. (Between the lions, Friday 6/26 11-4, rain date Saturday.) Wanna get naked and painted right between your Patience and Fortitude? Hit me up for the deets. There’s one Adiposer slot left.
I’ve been shooting fat folks (mostly clothed this time) for a grrrrreat new tumblr which you’ll see in the next month(ish), to which y’all’re invited to contribute. Long as you’re fat and at least occasionally angry. Stay tuned.

I’m jolly well committed to getting the Adipositivity photo book out by the end of the year. Yes, I know I’ve said that before. But this time I mean it. Serious. Why are you laughing?

Watch for “Adipositivity Across America” (though I hope to come up with a better name) sometime in 2016 or ‘17. I’m taking this bitch on the road, hoping to get my camera on as many of you as possible. It’s the reason I’ve never done a Kickstarter campaign. Savin’ it for a trip that’ll allow me to photograph some of the folks who write to me wanting to be Adiposers, but aren’t able to get to NYC. If this works, there will be subsequent trips to other parts of this big ol’ goofy world.

On a more sad trombone note, the Anti-Adipositivity League has infiltrated the “I wanna be an Adiposer” process, succeeding in wasting a lot of my time and money, and increasing the risk level of what I do (meeting up with strangers in private places). So watch for a tighter application process in the future. Participation will remain open for everyone who’s fat and can get to me in NYC, but you’ll now be required to provide proof of identity, and if you stand me up or send me to a false address, there won’t be a second chance. Sorry, but this is the only way to make the project manageable and safe(ish) for me.
So there ya have it. The state of the project address. I’d hug you, at this point, if I were there in person. Just g’head and consider yourself hugged.

Wanna help The Adipositivity Project stay alive? There’s a carefully hidden donate link at adipositivity.com. So satisfying to successfully hunt it down! Or buy prints, why don’t ya? Here’s an anniversary half-off code, so’s ya can snag twice as many. And Santa makes a note of those who share it. Santa don’t play.
PRINTS: http://theadipositivityproject.zenfolio.com/prints"

Philadelphia Transgender Health Conference 2015

This week-end -- this Thursday through today, Saturday -- I went to the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, which I mean to do every year, but had only done in 2012.  I actually arrived on Wednesday so that I could attend and facilitate at TransFaith’s 6th annual Pre-Event for PTHC – I’m a Community Engagement Adviser at TransFaith, and this year’s Event was particularly amazing because it included our first public conversation about fatphobia.

There were some workshops that I wanted to go to, but not as many as I would expect.  And what with everything, I actually ended up going to only one.  “Gender, Self & Spiritual Community: How Personal and Religious Narratives Can Intersect” had been through some miscommunication, and potential co-facilitator Teo Drake couldn’t be at PTHC at all – but dozens of people showed up in the Spirituality Room ready for it, so it’s good that the other facilitator Bobbi Taylor was available.  I think I could and possibly should have co-facilitated with her, but she was more than capable of doing it alone, and did so well – and she invited me to do a little shpiel about TransFaith etc. at the end.

The workshop was described thus:  “How does our gender and/or sexuality impact our experience of spirituality and spiritual community? How does a spiritual community that is truly inclusive of us express itself? This workshop will be a facilitated conversation led by people from a wide diversity of spiritual beliefs and religious traditions. Participants will get to hear how gender/sexuality impact faith, and vice versa, for all kinds of people. Break-out groups by particular traditions may be utilized, plus cross-tradition/path conversations. Explore in a multi-faith space the meaning in our different experiences of spirituality, faith, and religion as trans people and larger trans community.”

And Bobbi's bio was “Bobbi Taylor is genderqueer and has formal training in Zen Buddhism, evangelical Christianity, and British Traditional Wicca. The intersection of gender diversity and interfaith work is a subject near and dear to Bobbi's heart. Bobbi serves as Vice Chair of the Steering Committee of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition and is an LGBT representative on the MA State Commission for Homeless Youth, among other roles and responsibilities. Part of Bobbi's work has been to help LGBT individuals reconnect with their spirituality and to make religious groups more inclusive and affirming.”

Friday night I went to the Shabbat dinner and service.  I helped organize it in 2012, as part of co-chairing the Con’s Jewish committee that year, which was the first time dinner was added to the event, and it’s good to see it continuing to go from strength to strength.

I spent most of the rest of my time at the TransFaith table, and at the house I stayed at with some of the TransFaith leadership -- an AirBnB home they’ve used for some years, which was a good home and family experience for we renters as well.  And one night we went out to dinner, and another we hosted an unofficial and informal party, based around gumbo and primarily attended by people of color.  In some ways I wish I had spent more / different time at the Con, or perhaps even elsewhere – but mostly I think it was for the best.  I also toured the other tables, and made it out to the Reading Terminal Market once – I wanted to spend more time there, but it is overwhelming and overcrowded, and since moving to Montgomery County MD (from Boston MA last January) I have Amish markets near me.  And I took the local public transit for the first time, and the whole time.  I didn’t see much else of Philly, and I never have, but I would like to one day.

I am sorry I’ve missed so much of PTHC, and glad I returned, and hopeful that I can return again next year and beyond.

TransFaith Pre-Event at Philadelphia Trans Health Conference

Today was TransFaith’s 6th annual Pre-Event at Philadelphia Trans Health Conference.  As usual, we gathered the day before the con began, and at the William Way LGBT Community Center (also as usual, it's hard to not to enjoy their website is WayGay.org).

I’m a Community Engagement Adviser at TransFaith, and was especially happy – and anxious -- about this year’s Event because it included our first public conversation about fatphobia.  As a trans faith leader called to fat justice, I’ve been very unpleasantly surprised, to put it very mildly, by my attempts to have this conversation with trans, faith and social justice communities – and very pleasantly surprised with the conversation at TransFaith.  Talking and taking action towards fat justice is vital and long overdue, and it is so good to have a trans faith home, centered in social justice, that is on this road.  And we are talking about how to continue this public conversation this year, so stay tuned.
 
This year’s Pre-Event theme was “Growing Beyond”.  As our PR put it:  “We will gather and discuss how we might grow our intentionality in support of aspects of marginalization that are less frequently discussed within our community. Holiday Simmons will facilitate overall, with several small group leaders focusing conversation in specific topic areas. We will explore each of our relationships with issues related of age, nationality / immigration and fat-phobia/body image.”

We gathered informally for a short time, and then Holiday led us in an opening exercise, and we went around and did introductions – the opening question was to share a place we feel safe.  We also wrote about who we wish could be with, and shared some of that with the group.  Then we had attendees count themselves off into three groups, go to separate spaces, and rotate once an hour – so that each group experienced each topic.  Facilitators included Ovid Amorson, Janis Stacy, Gee Imaan Semmalar and his sisters; I co-facilitated the fatphobia conversation with TF’s Director of Community Engagement Louis Mitchell.

Our workshops and the rest of the day were definitely both a learning experience and a success – and that was especially surprising and relieving considering the logistical issues; everything from immigration issues with our immigration facilitators to snack snafus.  Longish story short, more of us were believers in Mercury retrograde by the end of the day.  But we improvised well, and most things were sorted out by dinner – which was from Maoz Vegetarian, sponsored by Lambda Legal.

We had about thirty people, with some coming and going all throughout the event.  Our biggest group by far was from Equality Pennsylvania – here is their photo at the event, taken by Equality PA’s Faith Organizer Ammon Ripple.



I also attended the rest of PTHC, which I hadn’t done since 2012 – more about that in my next post.

Trewscopalian Pride ; > ))

Happy Pride!!

If you're looking to see and/or submit Jewish LGBTQ Pride Month stuff, visit Keshet's page at http://www.keshetonline.org/pride/. Here's a collage I made of my favorite images (yes, that's a Jewish Bear flag, squee!).

Boston Pride is the top story in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts "E-News for May 2015" of May 20th, and the story's on their site here (EDOM was my diocese from birth until January 2014 when I moved to MD).  But we of TEC need to work on making "I think we're ready for a big fat celebration" a much...bigger double entendre.  #fatjustice

There’s also a Pride month piece in the June issue of Episcopal Church of the Ascension’s newsletter The Ascendant -- which I might have had something to do with (Ascension is our home church).

"June is LGBT Pride Month!

Among its many other meanings, June is LGBT Pride Month; locally, nationally and internationally. Though lesbian / gay / bisexual / transgender / queer et al (LGBTQ) history is as long as human history, in June of 1969, LGBTQ people at New York City’s Stonewall Inn fought back against a police raid. Every June since, there have been more Pride observances in more secular and faith communities -- marches, festivals, worship services and much more -- including here in the DMV.

And the LGBTQ community calendar has grown to include other special days, such as the international Transgender Day of Remembrance each November, where we remember all those who have lost their lives to transphobia – especially trans women of color. And for the first time, Montgomery County is presenting a trans-focused event this month too – more about that soon!

The Episcopal Church has long been a leader in the journey towards LGBT social justice, especially since the 1970s, within the larger Church and faith community as well as in the secular world. And we of TEC are blessed with our own LGBT and allied organizations, including Integrity USA and its transgender-focused partner TransEpiscopal, The Consultation and the Chicago Consultation. And all of these will be continuing their good work at the Church's 78th General Convention, this month and next in Salt Lake City.

Part of Integrity’s ministry is inviting Episcopal communities to become Believe Out Loud congregations, who publicly welcome and affirm LGBT people and have completed a six-step process -- Ascension is proud to be a BOL church; see http://www.ascensionmd.org/about-us/believe-out-loud/. One way we believe out loud is our conversation series Experiencing Diversity At Ascension, which includes LGBTQ issues along with race, class, gender, ability, health, age and more. Stay tuned to this and our other communications for the next part of this process.

For more information about LGBT issues in the Church, we invite you to visit http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/lgbt-church. Happy Pride!!”

Nehirim East 2015 / 5775 -- the last NE!

Today was day two of three of, and my only day at, Nehirim East – and this is actually the last NE; Nehirim announced on Monday the 4th that they can’t continue as an organization beyond this year, and #NehirimEast isn’t one of the programs that they can find a new home for.  Bittersweet, though many people at the retreat and elsewhere hadn’t yet heard the news, and it looks like that will take a while to change.  I was thinking that this would be a good thing to add to my annual work calendar, at least when it was in the DMV, but.    

Due to the financial forecast that led to Nehirim’s end as an organization, even teachers could only attend a half day without paying – normally we’d have the option of doing more pro bono work at the retreat, but due to the low registration for NE – about half of the hope -- that wasn’t possible.  My workshop being this afternoon, I planned on arriving after lunch and staying through dinner and perhaps for the duration.

As it turned out, I was lucky to make it to the retreat, or out of the house, at all, as I had a sciatica attack this morning and almost had to cancel altogether.  (And I didn’t even have it for ‘sexy’ reasons, in any sense – while looking at my face in the bathroom mirror, I leant in a little further (as I do every morning), and my back went berserk.)  But thankfully my pain and mobility improved enough for Julia to schlep me the hour from our home to Pearlstone in time for my workshop with fifteen minutes to spare.  I remained in some pain and somewhat stiff, but with ibuprofen and my mother-in-sin’s walker and special back cushion (she is disabled by arthritis and issues), it was okay.  And more importantly, it was worthwhile.  

My workshop was “Conceal?  Reveal?  Honor?  Claim?  Navigating Interfaith Experiences & Identities”, which I described thus:  Our retreat theme, ‘Concealed and Revealed: Honoring our Depths and Claiming our Wholeness’, seems made to include conversation about our interfaith experiences.  What does it mean to be a Jewish and/or interfaith person /  couple / family, community member / worker / leader?  How do these faith / religion / spirituality experiences and identities relate to our LGBTQIA+ ones?  How do they affect our process around disclosure, often known as “out”ness?  What do we do with questions about whether we’re too interfaithful to be Jewish? How is the faith community responding to these “new” challenges?  Your teacher will share some thoughts from hir personal and professional Jewscopalian / Trewscopalian journey and facilitate a group discussion.”

In addition to Julia I only had two attendees, but they were quite the bashert attendees, and we had a great conversation.  And in quite the setting – we sat in the end of a large room in a windowed area that was like a small solarium, and looked out over one of the natural landscapes (Pearlstone includes a farm and much more) – especially interesting when the edge of a thunderstorm storm passed through.    

Then on to dinner with everyone, where I got to catch up with retreat co-chair and fellow recent transplant to the DMV Rabbi Julia Watts Belser, and meet a trans person who lives very near to us (my Julia and I).  Then it was time for Mishpacha groups, and so Julia and I retired to one of the common areas, and ended up having a chat with fellow faculty member Bet Mish’s Rabbi Laurie Green.

We were tempted to stay for the service, and even for the havdallah, dancing and open mic, but Julia had to get up early for her volunteer work at Washington Ear, and I wanted to help my back recover as well as possible.

The other retreat co-chair was Nehirim’s Executive Director Rabbi Debra Kolodny; the other faculty were Sabrina Sojourner, Eryca Kasse, Dr. Dana Beyer, Rabbi Joel Alter, Rabbi John Franken and Michael Alterman.  This NE was sponsored by the World Congress of GLBT Jews (Keshet Ga'avah, Rainbow Pride), Bet Mishpachah, GLOE (the DC JCC's Kurlander Program for GLBT Outreach & Engagement), and Bolton Street Synagogue.

Open Door Metropolitan Community Church’s Tasha’s Follies

Julia and I had such a good time at our first and Open Door Metropolitan Community Church’s 19th Tasha’s Follies – Open Door’s almost-annual fundraising variety show with raffle to benefit WUMCO Help! Thanks, everyone!! 

We went tonight; it is, unbelievably, tomorrow night too. This year’s theme was Country Vs. Rock & Roll. They brought new meaning to ‘being a fool for the Lord’, and I truly do mean that in a wonderful way. To some extent, of course, ‘you had to be there’ – and I’m particularly sorry that some of you couldn’t be. But here are some of my highlights:

• Maxie Pearl as the Narrator
• Marie Osmond being played by a fat person, and wearing a sandwich board that had weight loss ads on the front and a “healthy is not a size” poster on the back; and returning to play the “little sister” during Billy Idol’s White Wedding
• Jerry Lee Lewis throwing rainbow pom-poms into the audience during Great Balls Of Fire
• Dolly Parton pulling all of her props out of her bra
• June Carter Cash being played by a blow-up doll
• Elton John changing his glasses several times
• Ozzie Osbourne biting the heads off of Peeps
• The Oakridge Boys’ Elvira including Elvira Mistress Of The Dark
• Garth Brooks’ Friends In Low Places including a limbo contest and a crew of miners
• Wynonna Judd losing it – and she was singing, not lip synching – because among other things Naomi was being too funny during their duet Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain
• A version of Tina and Ike Turner doing Proud Mary that has actually, amazingly, ruined me for the original
• The blow-up guitar used in a few of the performances having “Lucille” written on it 

Also:

• Marie was joined by Donny
• Tammy Wynette did Stand By Your Man
• Dolly did 9 To 5 and Jolene
• Mick Jagger and Keith Richards did Satisfaction
• June was joined by Johnny for Jackson
• Joan Jett did I Love Rock And Roll
• The Beatles and others did Yellow Submarine and A Little Help From My Friends
• American Idol with Simon Cowell, J. Lo, Randy Jackson; Justin Timberlake, Dolly, Elton, Ozzie, Elvis 
• The cast did Miley Cyrus’ Party In The USA (a guilty pleasure of mine as well)
• Family Feud with Richard Dawson, and Garth, Patsy and Dolly vs. Elton, Elvis and Ozzie
• An Everly Brother did Wake Up Little Susie
• Patsy Cline did Crazy
• Elvis did Blue Suede Shoes – or rather, Green Neon Shoes, as in the sneakers zie was wearing

Plus tasty treats during intermission, and a number of extras that are hard to describe. Here is the flyer.  And, we made Julia’s outfit into her latest Massculine Fatshion post; though I was so into that that I forgot to get photos of my own outfit, oy.

MY "GOOD NEWS : A SERMON ON FAT JUSTICE" HAS BEEN PUBLISHED!

GOOD NEWS!! 

My “Good News : A Sermon On Fat Justice” has been published in the new issue of Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society – a Special Issue on Religion & Fat! 

‘Twas going to be this Summer, but surprise. Sorry if you didn’t have time to get your party hats and/or pitchforks.

Special thanks to my partner Julia McCrossin and the Popular Culture Association Fat Studies Area for workshopping! And to two friends for editing!  And to Divine, Charles C. Mann via National Geographic Magazine, Bruce Chilton, Rabbi Ruth Adar, Reb Irwin Keller, Anna Mollow, Rev. Miller Hoffman, the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand & Polynesia and others for being referenceable! Any and all remaining mishigas is mine, though. 

9 other articles and 2 book reviews, in this issue, edited by Esther Rothblum (with a board and guest editors for this and other special issues), with authors including Lynne Gerber, Sue Hill, and Lesleigh Owen.  

The journal is paid access only, but today I received the e-mail that says "share online access to your article with up to 50 colleagues by forwarding this e-print link http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/p7nN4fPdbRQIrbsuDKc9/full or by adding it to your social media profile. Research suggests that early readership drives citation levels up."

Peaster / Eastover 2015 / 5775

Sunday the 29th we did the 11:00 Palm Sunday service at Episcopal Church of the Ascension, though the procession was canceled because it was below freezing. Also for the second year in a row, we Googled how to fold our palm fronds; here they are with some of my mother-in-sin’s Irish tchotchkes.

“Blessed are you, gracious God, creator of the universe and giver of life. You formed us in your own image and called us to dwell in your infinite love. You gave the world into our care that we might be your faithful stewards and show forth your bountiful grace.”

Holy Wednesday the 1st we went to the Tenebrae service at Ascension -- the Liturgy of Shadows; a different version of the service than last year, which was our first Tenebrae here and I think anywhere. This is the bulletin cover art, which I really like, but haven’t found the credit for yet.

“Father in heaven,
we so often stand by,
as others are mocked or belittled,
as cruelty and injustice are allowed free reign,
afraid to speak,
afraid to act,
silent and guilty.
Give us strength to speak out,
and to witness always to the right,
and to the truth.
Through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.”

Attended Ascension’s Maundy Thursday service; this the bulletin cover art. The entire bulletin was also in Spanish, and we did do most of it. And it was the first time we’d heard Rev. Javier preach, and we enjoyed it -- and he gave his entire sermon in both languages; a part in English and then the same part in Spanish!  As last year, we didn’t participate in foot washing, but maybe the third time will be a charm.

“What I have done for you in my love, in my love
What I have done for you, in my love;
What I have done for you, so you are called to do,
To be a servant true in your love, in your love,
To be a servant true in your love.”

I went to Ascension’s “Stations To Go” service; they hadn’t done it outdoors in several years, and I’d never done it at all.

The clergy, seminarian and a dozen plus of us carried our cross and bulletins to the police station, under the Father John Stanislaus Cuddy Bridge (built largely because the Saint Martin’s* priest was killed by a train), the Wells/Robertson House, City Hall, the Lord’s Table Soup Kitchen (at *Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church, which Ascension is part of and at which Julia has begun volunteering; I joined her for the first time the next day), Bohrer Park, Hospice Caring /A Different Kind of Hospice, and Ascension’s columbarium -- where I took this photo of its little guardian.

All places I’ve been a few times in this my first year here. I know, we are in quite a convenient location for Stations, aren’t we? And though it was a pretty rainy day, we didn’t have any until a little bit starting at the 7th station; and it was in the 60s (sorry, MA diocese Friends!).

“Let us always be aware of the dignity of every human being so we may answer our Baptismal call to respect that dignity and to work for justice and peace for all people.”

And we went to Ascension’s Good Friday service.

“As instruments of peace, may we grow, may we grow,
As instruments of peace, may we grow;
As instruments of peace to bring the bound release,
And make oppression cease, help us grow, help us grow,
To make oppression cease, help us grow.”

Also, I am counting our weekly Erev Shabbat Chinese food takeaway as a first-night seder.

Shabbat / Holy Saturday we volunteered at the Lord’s Table Soup Kitchen; Julia for the second time and I for the first -- it’s at Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church, and our church is among several that provide volunteers (and it was one of our “Stations To Go” the day before).

We also went to Ascension’s Great Vigil of Easter service – or as I like to call it, Erev Easter, and this year also the second night of Pesach. Like last year, our first, we started outdoors around a little BBQ grill on the front walk. And here is the sanctuary as we left it.

“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will, with God’s help.” (The Episcopal Church's Baptismal Covenant, which is part of this service – and my fat justice sermon to be published this Summer.)

Sunday we went to the 11:00 version of the Sunday of the Resurrection : Easter Day service at Ascension. Here’s the view from our seats before we began, and the flower arrangements at the front door -- with Julia's resplendent reflection!  

Our first hymn was ‘Jesus Christ is Risen Today’, which always reminds me of Mister Bean singing it -- or trying to.

And J made tuna casserole at her mum’s request (tuna, egg noodles, peas, celery, onions, cream of celery soup, milk, mayo, salt, pepper; with shredded cheese and potato chips on top). “On this mountain, the Lord of heavenly forces with prepare for all peoples a rich feast, a feast of choice wines, of select foods rich in flavor, of choice wines well refined" (Isaiah 25:6-9).

Me in my Eastover outfit, with our Peaster Buggy Ursula. Julia’s outfit was low-key today, and she needed to undress to rest before making dinner – and of course I always support her undressing!  And she took this photo, thanks.

Black velvet frock coat by Express via Goodwill of Greater Washington; purple / black fringed scarf / shawl in a ye olde stylized florals etc. pattern by unknown via Goodwill of GW; v-neck tee in Aubergine by Gildan Online via A.C. Moore or Michael's; black pants by Gap via Goodwill of GW; black mules with pewter buckles by Clarks via EBay; Magen David / Tudor rose pewter pendant by unknown via HideAndTallowSupply of Etsy; Magen David earrings via wangrea of EBay.  #‎sharethegood  (Goodwill of GW's official hashtag.)

Peaster / Eastover also always reminds me of Douglas Adams' prologue to Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

“And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change, one girl sitting on her own in a small cafe in Rickmansworth suddenly realized what it was that had been going wrong all this time, and she finally knew how the world could be made a good and happy place. This time it was right, it would work, and no one would have to get nailed to anything.

Also, my colleague Rabbi Emily Aviva Kapor-Mater has published the 2nd edition of her Haggadah Shir Ge’ulah – Song of Liberation. I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

And Jews for Racial and Economic Justice has published a ‪#‎BlackLivesMatter‬ Haggadah Supplement; another thing I need to read.

And, how cute are these "Bunny Bread"s we got on sale at Giant Food? I know, they're like bunny challahs! Challot / challos. Bunnot challot. Bunnos challos. With raisin eyes.

AND, Jon Stewart on the Daily Show on Passover and Easter.

Aaand, the Star and Shamrock in DC had a Peaster / Eastover weekend -- Julia and I must visit them someday soon.

JQ Baltimore's 2nd Annual Queer Seder

Tonight we schlepped to JQ Baltimore's Second Annual Queer Seder -- their 2nd and our 1st – and are very glad we did. ‘Twas co-sponsored by GLCCB, Interfaith Fairness Coalition of Maryland, and The Faith Communities of Baltimore with PRIDE; and primarily led by Rabbi Gila Ruskin. And we made a sea-themed mosaic frame for a big round mirror as a gift for Hearts And Ears! It reminded me of Congregation Am Tikva et al’s Pride Seders in June, and other things back home – it has been challenging to leave the queer Jewish community of Boston MA for MoCo MD, and we can’t afford to schlep to DC much.

Saint Patricks Day 2015

Happy Saint Patricks.

Here is my Feast and my fob from today. A green bagel from Giant Food's bakery (just a ‘plain’ one dyed green) with cream cheese and lox. And a pendant from my McCrossin – steel or something like with a real four-leaf clover in a clear cabochon (and the bail spins, and has a hole in the top too; no maker's marks).
‪
#‎RabbiPatrick‬ ‪ #‎ErinGoBagel‬ ‪ #‎Slaintefillah‬ ‪ #‎shamlox‬ ‪ #‎Irishmear‬ ‪ #‎leprechaunosh‬ ‪ #‎greeneggsandsalm‬ ‪#‎Icoulddothisallday

Also?  Happy Saint Fat Chicks!  From me and Adipositivity.