Methodist Church’s First Drag Queen Pastor: ‘God Is Nothing’
Posted: 06-09-2022 11:17 AM
In a new poem, a gender-bending minister for the nation’s third-largest denomination says that queerness is divine. FULL STORY
Excerpts:
“Drag allows me to process the mystery of myself, the mystery of God, the mystery of love, and the mystery of pain,” he said. “When I walk the streets in six-inch heels and wear four pounds of hair, double-stacked wigs, the power which lies within my mystery is released into the world. When I paint my face, meditating upon those who came before me, my spiritual ancestors, I can reach into a deeper part of my soul.”
“There is holy liberation occurring when folks feel they can release the mysterious secret shrouded by society,” he preached. “There is holiness in queerness.”
He speaks of God not as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but rather as the source of queerness, describing him as “nothing but a drag queen with a microphone of biblical f***ing proportions,” “nothing, but if she were, she would be ‘yes, queen’-ing her way down the runways of Paris and Montreal,” and “nothing, but if she were, she would be a seamstress of divide couture, weaving together string theory and self portraits to form the fiercest gowns of queer existence.”
Simmons says he has received copious support. Many official bodies of the church are promoting him and inviting him to speak. He was featured in glowing terms, for instance, in a video produced by the United Methodist News Service.
Progressives promote Simmons and invite him to preach in drag as a way to challenge the conservative position on sexuality that the denomination officially still takes.
The United Methodist Church was ready to split in 2020, but that has been postponed until 2024 because its quadrennial general conference was canceled due to COVID-19.
Excerpts:
“Drag allows me to process the mystery of myself, the mystery of God, the mystery of love, and the mystery of pain,” he said. “When I walk the streets in six-inch heels and wear four pounds of hair, double-stacked wigs, the power which lies within my mystery is released into the world. When I paint my face, meditating upon those who came before me, my spiritual ancestors, I can reach into a deeper part of my soul.”
“There is holy liberation occurring when folks feel they can release the mysterious secret shrouded by society,” he preached. “There is holiness in queerness.”
He speaks of God not as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but rather as the source of queerness, describing him as “nothing but a drag queen with a microphone of biblical f***ing proportions,” “nothing, but if she were, she would be ‘yes, queen’-ing her way down the runways of Paris and Montreal,” and “nothing, but if she were, she would be a seamstress of divide couture, weaving together string theory and self portraits to form the fiercest gowns of queer existence.”
Simmons says he has received copious support. Many official bodies of the church are promoting him and inviting him to speak. He was featured in glowing terms, for instance, in a video produced by the United Methodist News Service.
Progressives promote Simmons and invite him to preach in drag as a way to challenge the conservative position on sexuality that the denomination officially still takes.
The United Methodist Church was ready to split in 2020, but that has been postponed until 2024 because its quadrennial general conference was canceled due to COVID-19.