Queer Syncroblog: We're Here, We're Queer. Some of us Even got Marriage licenses.

Big Thank yous to Peterson Toscano and his post about http://petersontoscano.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/eunuch-inclusive-esther-queer-theology-101/  for calling out this year's Queer Theology Synchroblog http://www.queertheology.com/synchroblog2013  .


RantWoman unabashedly notes the following points:

--RantWoman is running behind; her post will be dated October 2. It will be experiential theology, which is to say also full of conflictive thoughts, moments from practice as defined by the recent life of her Quaker Meeting, and exclamations of "See, See!"

--The Synchroblog link includes links to a number of other posts. Except for Peterson's post, the rest of the synchroblog links are presently on RantWoman's Mean to read list. RantWoman would enjoy hearing that others have read some of the other posts and what spoke to any readers.

In the realm of "See, See," RantWoman gives you:

--Vocal ministry from Meeting for Worship awhile ago by a Weighty Friend long married, for the second time, under the care of Meeting to another Weighty Friend of the same gender. Vocal ministry was about an organization of professional counselors including visible figures who are LGBT or just Q but who completely omitted mention of Queer relationships from discussion of some important topic where it would have been entirely appropriate explicitly to include such relationships. See, See, unfortunately STILL, nothing can be taken for granted.

--Two women from RantWoman's Meeting were among the first ever to ask their Meeting for marriage under the care of Meeting. That was almost 30 years ago. Over time views of and practices about marriage have evolved. There have been periods of great contentiousness. There have been periods when RantWoman's Meeting was not marrying anyone or when couples refused to interact with the issue of marriage licenses insolidarity with same-gender couples who did not have the option. There have been couples with marriage licenses whose actual relationships can be summarized as "It's complicated."

Most recently WA voters approved full legal marriage equality and a few months later the Supreme Court ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional the same week and partly under the same reasoning that it struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act.

--The State of the Meeting report, written by a lovely heterosexual couple married under care of RantWoman's Meeting. The State of the Meeting report as first drafted contained nary a word about WA voters historic approval of Referendum 74, providing full legal marriage equality for same-gender couples. One excuse offered, by a member of a same-gender couple, for the whole Meeting countenancing ommission of this moment of history is that no one from RantWoman's Meeting was very active in this year's pro-Referendum campaign. Our Monthly Meeting helped ensure that our Yearly Meeting has been on record for 15 years calling for full legal marriage equality. The Friends Committee for WA Public Policy, which some of us ARE active in, endorsed the Referendum 74 campaign. But why mention the rest of WA catching up with us in our State of the Meeting?


Another, possibly more understandable reason for delayed rejoicing: the Friend in question still faced barriers to appreciation of this newly won right because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, another wall which as since fallen.

--At least four couples connected in some way to RantWoman's Meeting who have taken advantage of newly won rights to full marriage equality for same-gender couples, scheduled a celebration, gotten a license, and gotten fully legally hitched. The RantWoman approach to theology yncroblog would be to say a special blessing upon all these weddings.

Meanwhile RantWoman herself is:

--challenged in the area of respecting pronoun gender preference and appreciating changes in voice for someone in her circles now taking hormones. RantWoman wishes this person the best. RantWoman suspects her own challenges about the transitions implied: RantWoman does not get just to take hormones to make her body do things it cannot do right now and RantWoman has given herself permission to be a LITTLE crabby about the issue.



--dawdling about the question of getting dis-married from Ferrener Husband. There are plenty of reasons to dissolve the "it's complicated" legalities; RantWoman still cannot put her fingers on why she is not clear to do so but is quite clear to bless the weddings of people who have recently gone and had weddings!