Queer Spirit: articles

QS Retreat Appears on Logo Network
A weekend retreat held by local gay spirituality group Queer Spirit was featured on the gay cable network Logo as part of a documentary series that follows gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals going through major life changes. Premiering on April 28 this half hour segment of Be Real focuses not on the seasonal spiritual retreat at Wind Walker Ranch in Spring City, UT, but on a man who traveled several miles – both geographically and spiritually – to participate in it. 4-12-08
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Episode excerpts:
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The Essence of Gay Spirituality
JustOut newspaper interviews Mark Thompson

Acclaimed writer, photographer and former Advocate editor Mark Thompson came to Portland to discuss his traveling exhibition of photographs, Fellow Travelers, which has been on display around the country. Thompson has written or edited three books on gay spirituality: Gay Spirit, Gay Soul and Gay Body. During a recent interview, he said: “It’s been my life work to try to figure out [the es- sential characteristics] of being a gay man. There are some unifying cultural roles that we seem to do…which led me to the archetypal." 1-26-08
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Fellow Travelers
about the recent exhibit of Liberation Photos of Mark Thompson

The Fellow Travelers Exhibit was a collection of 14 stunning black & white images of Gay liberation pioneers taken by Mark Thompson, one of the foremost chroniclers of the movement. Thompson is best known for his influential trilogy of books dealing with gay spirituality: Gay Spirit (White Crane Books), Gay Body, and Gay Soul. 1-26-08
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Gay Soul Making Workshop
4-hour workshop with Mark Thompson
by Jerry Buie

"One of the goals and ambitions of Queer Spirit is to create a dialogue around spirituality and identity for queer men. I think it’s important to understand how spirituality is defined. In the context of Queer Spirit, spirituality is the essence of who we are and how that essence relates to the broader scope of humanity, and in our world relationship with each other..." 12-25-07
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True Self
by John Cottrell

Queer Spirit to me is the opportunity for a person to explore and express one’s true self. How does one know the true self? It certainly takes some exploration and intentional evaluation to answer this question. The road to the answer is to look at how we define ourselves; what constitutes our identity?...
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What is Queer Spirit?
by Jerry Buie

In my observation, many queer people shun religion and spirituality because of the traumas, fears, rejection and abuses toward our identity. Many incorporate this rejection in developing a warped sense of identity often shrouded in shame and guilt. Queer folks buy into heterosexual norms for our homosexual selves. We demand political equality without fully embracing ourselves as equally valued parts of society...
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Betwixt, Bothered & Bewildered
by Bo Young

Miguel Ruiz challenges each of us, just as Joseph Campbell’s message does in his stories of the Hero’s Journey, to test all the assumptions that are handed to us. He speaks of becoming “undomesticated. ” Becoming undomesticated means that we need to reexamine our lives in the smallest detail and apply our own critical thinking, our own criteria to each and every part of it, even, sometimes, those things that seem simple, that we all assume to be true. This is never an easy thing to do... 7-15-07
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Gay Wisdom
by Harry Hay & Andrew Ramer

"Bring gay men together in Circle to explore what the specific gifts are that we bring, things that the larger culture needs. And once you have a consensus as to what those gifts are, begin letting the culture know exactly what it is that they are getting from us. It is in this way that we will be given respect and acceptance, not by simply demanding rights or asserting that we deserve them"... 7-15-07
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About Queer Spirit Retreats
by Jerry Buie

Queer Spirit is about ALTERNATIVES
Queer Spirit is about COMMUNITY
Queer Spirit is about NEW EXPERIENCES
Queer Spirit is about DIGGING DEEP.
Queer Spirit is about FINDING new gifts, talents, perspectives and self-confidence.
Queer Spirit is about finding a HOLISTIC approach to life.
Queer Spirit is about INTIMATE SHARING... 8-7-07
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Who are the Gay People?
by John Burnside

First, I want to make clear that I am using the term Gay to refer to homosexuals who, on realizing that they turn naturally to others like themselves for sex and for love, have come eventually to acknowledge and to welcome the fuller implications of their way. Also, as Gay people tend to dislike being put into categories of any sort, including being called Gay, I want to emphasize that I use Gay to mean precisely those who have firmly resisted being forced into one or other of the two categories that are thought to comprise the whole human race... 8-12-07
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Queer Spirit
A gay man's deeply personal solo journey
by Michael Aaron
An article first published in Q Salt Lake newspaper, reprinted by permission

"People who know me well will probably tell you I never talk about religion and rarely talk about spirituality, afterlives, ghosts, spirits, or anything else otherworldly. Mostly, I find the topics so deeply personal I feel uncomfortable discussing them. And, frankly, I haven’t really gelled my own personal belief system well enough to have a coherent conversation about it. So here I am telling you of a deeply moving experience I had last spring at the Queer Spirit Retreat..." 9-10-07
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queer spirit: articles