Saturday, July 01, 2006
Musings of Peterson Toscano an ex-gay survivor and -- Creator of Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House. Visit myspace & Performance Schedule & YouTube videos. Also visit BeyondExGay
About Me
- Name: Peterson Toscano
- Location: Sunbury, Pennsylvania, United States
When I travel, in addition to photos, I also record slices of sounds.
Previous Posts
- Marvin SHOCKER!!!
- Marvin Meltdown
- Marvin Down But Not OUT
- Marvin Deflated
- Flood -- Live Report
- Wicked -- Thank Goodness
- Transgressing Gender and Native Culture
- The Gay Gene?
- Marvin Gets a "Christian" Job
- Ex-Ex-Gay Blogger is Born
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4 Comments:
Thank you so much for that article, Peterson. I have often struggled with feeling like one of the "great unwashed." Unclean, unacceptable, worthless beyond measure. And I always thought that it was God telling me this, as it was folks who came in His name, supposedly, who did everything they could to cement my bad image of myself.
It is healing to see that others have felt that way as well, for whatever reason, and have grown past it. (still trying to get there)
Ohmygoodness, P... beautiful.
The "Comments? Click." link isn't working... maybe you can mention that to them.
I found the back door to the comment area (get your minds out of the gutter, gentle readers!) and posted the thoughts below. For anyone else who wants to comment, here's the link.
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Would it have been a reasonable expression of Christian compassion if Dale's pastor had said, "Please stay. Continue as our music minister. We don't completely understand what you're saying about being gay, but we have known you as God's gift to our worship for many years, and we feel called into conversation with you now. We have ached with you in your battle with depression, and rejoiced to gaze in your eyes in the aftermath of the suicide attempt."
That's not what Dale heard.
It's so messy, so complicated. So tragic. So many good people sincerely working toward being their best, their most compassionate selves.
He was flawed and fragile, desperately reaching for the hem of Jesus' garment, yet convinced that men of sacred cloth had slapped his hand away when it got close.
Better dead than gay?
Addled by biochemistry gone wrong, that question became a haunting thought which grew to become a conviction and the only destination that made sense.
He died in late 2000. I still don't know exactly what God meant for people to learn from his life.
But Dale, and perhaps God, left me behind to tell his story. To ask his questions. To push into territory that is uncomfortable for me. To challenge myself and others to address the stuff that is unsettling and scary. To learn something about compassion because my own compassion turned out to be something weaker and thinner than I had hoped.
Excellent Peterson!!
j.
I would comment on some of the other articles, but I don't feel qualified. The ideas expressed are so strange to me I don't even know where to start.
When I discuss pornography it's generally to lament that so much of it is of such dire quality, or to recommend particular comics etc. to friends. I accompany my boyfriend to the stripclub, and have the girls dance for *me*.
Your article is very good, but the views expressed in some of the rest of the magazine are just... alien. Should I comment anyway? They seem pretty desperate for forummers, but I'm not sure they'd want me! :D
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