o'Dr fr,w il, 0T, Porhnps, Wdor Ci,rclo- Ernse', fu00r(irtg) Hy*ru,0dy"] nv Srr,prrq,NtE BuowT v In addition to (t ) hymns that have been reclaimed as Introdwctiotc Tust behind us, members of St. John's I Metropolitrn Community Church pulled a f;ttle red wagon carrying a boom box playing familiar hymns-"Jesus Loves Me, This I Know," "Blessed Assurance, lesus Is Mine," and "Just as I Am, without One Plea." They sang as they walked, transforming the hymns from songs of private piety into profound public affirmation of a faith in God's radically unconditional love and acceptance. These lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual people had every reason to turn their backs on the church because they had been condemned, rejected, and vilified in the name of God and lesus' But they were not just singing, they were testifying: lust as I am, without one Plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come! "queer hymns", such alive); of inclusion and acceptance that might hint at the inclusion of LGBTIQQA* people but (3) hymns that children of a loving God who had blessed them u'ith innate dignity and integrity."3 By qweerirug, I mean that persons tlansgender, intersex, queer, questioning, or ally (LGBTIQQA* )a were taking hymns that were sung in conservative churches that had previously shunned them and were now proudly singing them in the streets, during a gay pride parade, with a different church that loved and accepted them. The members of St. lohn's Metropolitan Community Church were proudly singing of God's radical love and inclusion, a radical love that is'" so eNtrente that 'it dissohtes ow" existitcg bowndaries, whether they are boundaries that separate Lrs from other people, that separate us from preconceived notions of sexuality and gender identity, or that separate us from God."5 Spring 2016 . Vol. 67, No. 2 speak do not explicitly say so (this category also includes h1'mns that, following the call of queer theolo$' and queer theory, disrupt the normative in any 1vxv, so it irlcludes issues of sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and class); (4) hymns that specifically use the word lesbian, gay, b isexw al, tra nsg e n d er, i n tersex, q u e r r: (5) hymns written for specific experiences in the ffe of LGBTIQQA* people, such as hymns written for same-sex unions, for Pride parades and festivals, and hymns that HIVIAIDS. We at The Hymn Society had a moving hymn festival limmy Creech, a former United Methodist minister who was removed from ministry after celebrating a same-sex union, poignantly describes the scene at the 1988 North Carolina Gay Pride Weekend. Through their reclaiming of these hymns, the "brave voices" Creech heard were queering the hymns as they claimed "that they, too) were who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexuai, four other categories of queer hymn texts to consider:6 (2) hymns that may not specifically address queer issues but the text and/or tune was written by a LGBTIQQA* person (or what we would now consider a LGBTIQQA* person if those terms did not exist when the person was address Just as I am, though tossed about, With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!2 as those above, there are also featuring LGBTIQQA* hymns in Colorado in 2}ll.7 There are some persons who embrace queer hymnody, while others think it is unnecessary. This is not an either/ or situation, but rather a both/and, and this is because we live in a time of already/not yet, which means \1'e who identify as LGTBIQQA* persons live with both our baptismal identities as Christians and our sociallv constructed identities as queer people. The fust stanza of Adam Tice's hymn "Draw a wider circle" speaks to this tension: Draw a wider circleor, perhaps, erase. Spiral toward God's center, gravi ty of grace . Raze former fences marking out and inholy and unholy, sanctity and sin.8 Adam Tice, 2011@ 2013, GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reser.,red. Reprinted by permission. Tice highlights the tension beflveen wanting to expand the circle of who is included in God's radical love, but at the same time longing for the day when there are no boundaries or fences at all. There is of course the question raised here, what if we take away dlose particularities The Hymn . 2l that rnal<e us individr,u-rlsf Perhaps the eschatological goal tl-rat rve strive torvards sl-rould be to maintein our particularities/indir.idual identitics r.vhile dismantling the hierarchies tl.rat have been crcatecl based on these differences, thr,rs strivir.rg for particularity in equalit,v. This essay r.l,ill begir"r r-"itl'r a discussion of r,r,h,v cltteer h)rmnody is inrportant. Then, cxamples from the five categories of queer hvmnodl, as outlincd above u'ill be exarninecl. We thankftllly l-rave r-nar-rv pcoplc in The Fl,vmn Societl, s'ho are already r.vriting h,vrnns in a queer ke-t', vet there is not er-ror.rgh room to cliscuss all of them here. Iinirllr.,, there rvill be a discussion of rccommend:rtions 1br the future of queer hymnod1.. he {irst category of h1,11n5 is those that htrve been rcclaimecl as clueer hymns. In their discussion concerning the connection betw'een music and social movements, Ron Eyerm;rn and Ardreu. ]amison describe tl-ris as an action of "reconstitLLtion": "But in taking on a political c{imension r,r,ithin sociirl movements, oral traditions-the fbrms of mr-rsical and culturai expressionare reconstituted. Bv becoming sources of empo\r.erment, education, and'consciousness-raisir-rg,' musical expression can thus serve as a form of exemplar,v social action."ts Earl1, . a. n her article on "Queer Worship," Siobhar-r Garrigan asks: "As yolr si1lg r'vith the faithlul in all times and all placcs, horv olten have yoll sang Isic] in terms that lvcrc not bascd on heteroserist binaries-father and mothcr, male and fbmalei"e She goes on to sa\r that most LGBTIQQApeople "can coLrnt on one har-rd the number of times in their ivhole lives, if ever, that their particular u,av of being in the r.orld s,as reflectecl in an ordinary worship service, and manr. report that they have nevcr cncountered any tbrm of recogrrition of thcir sexuality or afErmation of . their gender bel-rar.ior in church at all."r0 While queer rites oipassage have been cretrted, such as coming out sen'ices and sirme-ser blessings, Garrigan argues that there is too n-ruch fbcr-rs on these spccial serl,ices, and not enough on hou' "the mvriad rvavs in lr'hich day-to-day 61din111, u-orship is, and is not, queer."Il Her cluestion, then, is hou' can eterlday u,orship be queerf My ansr,ver is tl-rat l-rr-mns arc one way wc can queer everyday \vorship. As noted above br, Garrigan, h1,prx can Llse langr-rage tl-rat is not bascd on hctcronormative binaries-those that insist on a "normative," cle:u male/female distinction ir-r bioiogicai sex and gcndcr roles .nl'ith heteroserual m'.rrriage as the only "n6111"-xnd h1,6ns can be r'vritten fbr clueer rites of passage. Most importanthr, hlrmns can recognize, name, and affirm the LGBTIQQA* people in thcir r-nidst and all over the lvorld. In this role, h1.11n5 becorle fonlatir,e (and perhaps also performatiyef ) as ther'helpr tetrch people about God's ri-rclicirl, inciusive love lbr all ol God's children. Some n-right argue that it is enough to hear encoureging u'ords tiorl tire pulpit. L-)aniel Landes, holever, argues drat "a single hvmn is often more comlbrting'and trssuring than ten sermons. It htrs often been s;rid that the average church goer gets more theologv fiorn the hvmns that are slrng thar-i fi-om thc sermons that arc preached."12 Because people are being fbrrned b), tl-re u.ords thcy alc singing and, ir-r the cases of trul,v inclusive churches, embodr.ing rvhirt their are sir-rging-hYmris also have the por'r,er to "change people's minds and hcarts," meauing that not only are hvmns used "as a means of cxprcssing praise to God," but theY can also be used ((;rs tools fbr teaching"ls as thcy raise up the pressing 22 o The H!run on in the LGBTIQQA. Rights Movement, these irl,mns \\rere sung in churches too, as the communiw had no other hymns to sing. In addition to "Just as I am" discussed above, it is also ir-rteresting to looh at another specific case of horv one particular group is currentlv reclaiming hymns. There arc really not any hyrnns yet that speak specificallv to trans* pcople, trans* issues, or speak from a trans* perspe6lil'6-x serious lacuna that needs to be filled. (Trans* is an umbrella term that can refer to many different crpcriences and self definitions, such as transgender, transsexual, trans\\.oman, and transman.l6) The Rev Dr. Cameron Partridge, a trans* priest in tl-re Episcopal Diocese o1 Massachusetts and tl-re first openlv trans* pricst to preach at Washington National Cathedral, \\ras contacted to find out r'r''hat hvrnns u,ere used in the u,ork he does u,ith the group TransEpiscopal.lT Partridge replied that at the TransEpiscopal Eucharist held at General Co-Lrr enrion in lu.l,v 20).2, the group reclaimed hvmns and made them queer) speaking specificall,v to them as a group of trans* Christians. The n-rusic mosti-v came from the collection Music b1t HeartlE u.,hich is sin-rple and easy to 1earn. Partridge also graciously shared not onhr some of l-ris thoughts on trans* theologl,, br,rt also some hymns that he associates rvith trans* ider-rtim F{e u,rites that his vision of trans* theolog.v "does not focus first ancl foremost on inclusion but rather or.r a combinatior-r of transformation, irmbiguit,v and the role of stigma in the cross." l{is theologv centers around "a gror'vth that has transfbrmative implicetions on earth and not simpll. in heaven; a growth that implies transformation of boc15 often evoked s.ith language of iilumination/light/transfigurationf.]" As a rcsult, many of the h,vmns Partridge mentioned center on th<: notion of transfiguration/transforlnation as u-ell as Christ's "transformed bocly, the resurrected bodrthat still bears its wollnds" rvhich "is pou,erful fbr trans pcople r,r.ho may lvc1l bear tokcns of the 'passion' of their transformcd livcs." One such hymn is Charles Wesley's "Lol he comes r'vith clouds descending" u,hich in stanza three mentions "ft]hose dear tokens of his passion / still his dazzling body bears. . . . u,ith what rapture / gazewe on those glorious scars!"1e isstLes u.e fhce each dar'. Yol.67, No. 2 . Spring 2016 he second category is l-rymns that m'ay not specificallv address queer issues, but the text and/or tlrne was s,ritten by a LGBTIQQA* person. While some might not consider these irymns to be queer, it is irnportant to hold up LGBTIQQA* h1,6rr lvriters because there are still some) to this da1., rvho must remain in the closet. While many areas of U.S. culture tr,v to force LGBTIQQApeople to remain silent and in the closet, the church is one of the most restrictive and silencing structLlres of them all. How will we break the f-allaq, that onl1, straight to church culture unless u,e uphold LGBTIQQA" hymn writers) Horv u'rll LGBTIQQA. people think they belong in the church if they do not people contribute feel they can contribute or have contr:ibtLted in the past or that their voices g.ill or have been heardf It is for these reasons that lve must honor those u,ho have had the colrrage to be out (or those who have been heid up by the LGBTIQQA* communiq, after their deaths)2o in ordcr tcr give hope to those rvho rnay not be able to do so at this time, and to also remincl the church that as Jim Mitulski said, "[rv]e are here. We have ahval.s been here. We are not a problem. We are a blessing."2r One of the most famous l-rlanns in the United States, but perhaps best-kept secrets (or fbr some the least-wanted-to-be-known fact), is that "America the bear-rtiful" rvas written in 1893 by I(atherine Lee Bates, a lesbian. Bates, a Wellesley College profbssor, lived rvith IGtharine Coman for nvenw-five years and wl'ren Coman died. Bates w'rote "fslo much of me died with I(atharine am sometimes not quite sure whether I am alive or not."22 The reason some might not want to hear this is that "America the beautiful" is so rvrapped up in Coman that I patriotism, and as Garrigan rvrites, "Ih]eteronormativitv is embedded in American civic lifb just as, and perhaps because, it is embedded in American religious lilb[.]"23 :he third categor)r is h1.6n5 that speak of inclusion and acceptance that might hint at the inclusion of queer people but do not explicidy say so. Adam Tice's h--vmn, "The Arc of l{istory"2a joins together the Cii,il Rights and LGBTIQQA. Rights Movemcnt in mam' r,vays. \\4rile there has been much debate about the connection between these tr'vo movements) they became inextricably linked b,-v the back-to-back rulings of the Supreme Court on June 25 and 26, 2013, striking dolvn part of the Voting Rights Act and finding part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOr\'L{.) unconstitutional. Hor,v could the LGBTIQQA* communin'fti11v celebrate this victory u.hile the Afi'ican-Aneric.an communirv s'as dealt the blou, of the decision on rhe \btu-rg Rights Act only the day befbrei This same tension u-as ttlt again on lune 26,2015, r'vith the complete strilong dou'n of DOI&{, rvhile at the same time the coLrntr\- rnourned for Spring 2016 . Vol. 67, No. 2 the nine African Amcricans brutallv killed during a bible stud1, n1 Emarrucl Afi'ictrn Metl-rodist Episcopal Church ir-r Charleston, South Carolina. The p;1stor of the church, the Rev. Clementa C. Pichne1,, u.as buried on the same dat, as the DOMA decision. Tice's hymn addrcsses this teusion, ar.rd the constant strlrggle betrveen rvhat Don Saliers described as the gap betu,een $rhat "is" and u,hat "ought" to be.25 Tice composec.l this text imn-rcdiately after the Supr:eme Court ruling on DONL\ in 2013, and through tert and music, he intertu,ines tl-re Cir,il Rights and LGBTIQQA* Rights Movement: he sets tl'rc tcxt to McIGa, a spiritual adapted by Harry Burleigl-r, and the text makes references to both famous Civil Rigl-rts quotcs ("The arc of the mor:rl Lrnir.erse," made thmous b1r l4o.,it Luther ICng, ]r.) and a famous reference to samc-sex lorre (the lor.e that nou, "dares to speak its namc" in stanza one).26 Although the text celebrates the victor,v against DOtrL{, it does r-rot allorv us to rest on our laurels, because therc is still u'ork to be donc as there is still inji-rsticc in the u,orld.r- ' o\\r to the for,rrth categorY oi hr.mns. those th:: dare to speak the name bv actuallr-using the \\'ords [a), and lesbian. Orre important observation is th;rt ti-Le se hyn.rns on11, use the r'"-ords gat, ancl lesltian. il tl-rer- arc printcd at a11.28 In Dan Damon and Eileer-r Johnson's slrrvcy of trvent.v North Anerican hymnal topical indexes, the,v found that "It]he Unitarian Uni-',ersalist h)'mnal, Sircging the Litting Trarl.ition, is the only fiv6t .1 ir't our database to include LGBT topics in its index: 'Gav Pride Dar.' and 'Senices of union.' lI\,mnal editors have an oPportunitv to address this justice issue in their lbrthcoming collections."2e Yet, among the seven h\.mns listecl uncler thosc trvo topics, onl1, e11s, FIolIy Near's "Singing fbr our lives" actually Llses the tvord got, (it onlrcontains the "gav and straigl-rt" verse) not the "ga)' and lesbian" r.erse ). Not one hvmn uses the torcls bisexunltransgenrl.er, or intersex. As Damcxr said, this is a serious justice issue that needs to be addressed b), current hr-mi-r u,riters fbr fliture h)rmnals.:o "God of queer transgressive spaces" is a te\t b\ Edu,ard Moran (2006) rvho describes this h\-mn i1s one that "aclclresses often-divisive issues of sexual c'lilersin' in the lighr of traditional images of L-rcarnation and Trinitv."3l Stanza one dcscribes the "transgressir.e spaces" of the "lavish manger" and "entpt1, tomlr," reminding us that God often inhabits such spaces) spaces at l.hich some scoff, unable to expect to fir-rd God there. Stanza ti'vo describes lesr-rs as "God's olvn dcr''iance," reminding us of thc "abnormal r.r.orldliness" of one r,vho rvas bom of a r.irgin, buried, and rose from the dead. Stanza fbr-rr rcfbrs to God as "Father-Mothcr," and also makes rcfbrence to the Oscar Wildc line as Tice's text docs, r'vith the line "!]ove that dares norv speak its Name." Tl-re final stanza is also verv qucer, beginning u'ith thc linc "[u,]ith our The Hyrun . 23 Threesome God confessing" asking to "[t]urn all fracture into praise, / Benediction into blessing," and closing with "[f]abulous and full of days," which utilizes a word central to gay camp. One can also feel the queer juxtaposition of text and tune, as this text is set to CoNwnsE, known best for its association with "VVhat a friend we have in ]esus." Another hymn that uses the word qweeris Adam Tice's *Quirky, queer and wonderful."32 Set to the tune Rovar Oar, this is another example of a queer juxtaposition of text and tune, as this tune conjures up memories ofthe text "A11 things bright and beautiful." Tice takes the notion of "All things bright and beautiful" further, proclaiming the great diversity that is the Body of Christ, and how each and every member can reveal the face of God to us) even those who may be labeled qaeer, nlt ruortmal, or wnclean. "Set Us on, Oar lloru,eward, Way Unbwllied. an,d, Un bown dD36 T n the fall of 2010. the United States was shocked out I of its complacency over teen builying by the multiple suicides of young people who were bullied because they either identified as gay or were perceived to be gay. What was the church's responsef For the most part, silence, much iike the church's early response to the AIDS crisis. Bishop Robinson said in response to these suicides, "ft]olerant people, especially tolerant religious people, need to get over their squeamishness about being vocal advocates and unapologetic supporters of LGBT people. It really is a matter of life and death, as we've seen."37 We need more hymns like David Lohman's "God, we gather your people" which breai< the silence around this issue' Another issue that faces queer youth in staggering numbers today is homelessness. It is estimated that 40% as Hyrnns for Qneer Life Experievlces -Tth. fifth and final category is hymns written for specific I experiences in the life of LGBTIQQA* people, such written for same-sex marriages, for Pride, and hymns that address HryAIDS. Sadly there has been a great need for hymns that speak to what it means to as hymns have HIV/AIDS, to lose someone to HIV/AIDS, and to struggle with the question of why. Many hymnwriters have done an outstanding iob of writing very powerful texts. Edward Moran's "Christ our health" (1994) is one such text. Stanza one and six refer to Christ as "our sure immunity."33 Stanza two draws on the language of plague and infection, saying "Christ and Christ alone infect us / TIJI ow lives be Christ endowed." Stanza four again borrows fiom Oscar Wilde, "Speak of Love that dares be nameless," which is particularly powerfirl in this setting because early on in the AIDS epidemic, people either had to come out to tell family and friends they had AIDS or families kept very silent as to why their gay son had died so others would not find out. Stanza five is particularly thought-provoi<ing with the line "Christ alive and Christ contagious," which Moran writes was inspired by the poem "In Disrust of Merits" by Marianne Moore (18871972) "rcferring to how 'contagion of trust' can be more powerful than'contagion of sickness."'3a Throughout the hymn there is an overall movement from despair to hope. There are also hymns that are beginning to address some of the pressing issues in our society, including the great number of LGBTIQQA* youth who are committing suicide. David Lohman's hymn, "God, we gather as your people," might be the only hymn in a major hymnai to address this issue.3s The third staflza "pray[s] for all the young lives cut short by fear and shame, / so afraid of who they are and whom they love" and then calls for action, asking "May the message now be banished drat your love is for the few / may their faith in you renew." of homeless youth identift as LGBT.38 The number one factor contributing to LGBT youth homelessness, as reported by 46% of respondents, was rejection by their family because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. A close second at 43% are those who reported being forced out of their homes by their parents because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The research of Caitlin Ryan and the Family Acceptance Project shows that families that accept their LGBT adolescents lead healthier lives and also protect them against "depression, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation and behaviors."3e In addition, those who identified as qweet', hrarusgender, and Latino men also seemed to report more problems.a0 \Arhat does this mean for hymnsf Hymns should have the word qu.eer in them. Hymns should have the word transgerud.er in them. We need hymns in Spanish and written from a Latino perspective as that group of adolescents seems to have a particr,rlarly hard time with family acceptance. Ryan's group also found that "participants who reported a childhood religious affiliation reported lower family acceptance compared with those with no religious affiliation in childhood."ar These )rouths have been rejected not only by their families, but also by their churches. They desperately need to hear hymns that tell them of God's radical love for them and their inclusion in God's loving embrace. We need hymns that speak to the parents. One hymn that might help is lohn Thornburg's "A lonely tear" (2003).42 This hymn describes Thornburg's "awakening" as he attended a Human Rights Campaign event and he began to cry because, in his words, "I had to confess those pockets of judgmentalism."a3 His hymn powerfully describes his movement from shame to healing as the he describes the tears he cried in this way: "the moisture feels like grace." This is a grace that can be given to the parents of LGBTIQQA* children as they come to accept their children, an acceptance that can begin with help from h).*.rt and the church. Yol. 67, No. 2 . Spring 2016 We also need hymns that speak direcdy to the LGBTIQQA* kids who are on the street. They are homeless, often turning to "survirral sex."44 Edith Sinclair Dou,ning has two hymns, one that speai<s to suicide, and one that speaks to addiction.as \Vl-riie they are not hymns specifically addressed to LGBTIQQA* individuals, they are two examples of very ferv to address these diltcult topics r,r,hich shouid not be shrouded in silence any longer. Finally, we need to gather a1l these hymns into one place. They are dispersed thr and wide, often hard to find and hidden. We need to gather them into a collection so they can be not only sung, but also used for personal devotion and prayer. Many of the younger generaLiort might not know the hymns from the late 70s and early 80s, man1, of which are extremely rich and come with a history they should know, a history that must be kept a,live. We need these hymns to continue ro goad r,rs to work for justice and the inclusion of all God's people and to iet them knor'v we stand in solidarity with them. Partridge pointed out the line in the first stanza of the h].mn "My song is love unknown" that savs "[l]ove to the loveless shown, / That they might lovely be."a6 He wrote "how queer is thatf "aT Let us r'vorl< for the day when that e is not queer, but reality. eSiobhan Garrigan, "Queer lVorship ," Tbe ology 4r Sexuality: The Journal of tbe Institute for the Study oJ Christianity dr Sexuality 15:2 (lan. 2009 ): 215. tolbid., 215. Italics original trIbid., 214. My former rector) a gay man) refused to use any languxgs during lvorship exccl-rt "orientation of any hind," er.en after the church had passed an "a1firming statemcnt" that used the words "scxual orientations and gender identities." He also refused to use those u.ords in the Prayers ofthe People. IrDaniel Landcs, ed., Sing and be Glad: A Collectiott of H1,nr.ns for Open and Alfi.t,wing Congregarlozs (Nashville: Orvl Hollou' Music, 200I), v. One of mv scminarv prolessors once proclaimed that no one c\rer left church l-rummir-rg a sermon! r3lbid., v-vi. LaFrom "Singing fcrr our lives" by Holly Near. See Mitulski and Hamilton,41. LsRon Eyerman and Andrew Jamison, Music and Social Movewentt Mobilizing Trnd.i.tions in the Twentieth Cenh,u,y (Cambridge, U.I(.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998), 78. r6See Elisa Barth, Ben Bottinger, Dan Christian Ghattas, and Ina Schneider, Hg., Inter: Erfnhrungen intergeschle chtlichsr Met'rschen in. d.er Web der zwei Geschlechter (Berlin: NoNo Verlag,20I3), 118. l7All quotes belorv relbrencing my conversation \yith Partridge come from Cameron Partridgc, c-mail message to the author. Dec. 2-1. 2012.I wnnt to sir-rcerely thank Cameron for sharing his though-.s u.'id-r me, and I u.ish I had roon-r to share al1 his suggestions here. lljs email u,as extremely profound and insightful, ald I an-r most gr;teiui that he has allorved me to share hrs u'ords in this article . rSThe New Music Project, Music b.t Henrt: Palttrless Songs _fttr E:;i:ii:,, Worship teThc Stephanie Burlwey a past Lowlace Scholar anrl recip'ient of the Emerging habilitation in practicnl theology Wuppertd.l, ()erruany. She grad.uated frorm Boston Unitersitt, School of Theology with d. dlrtlrate of theology in liturgical stud.ies anrl, church music. Her booh on Marion congregotional song,Sing olMary: Giving \zoice to Marian Theology and Devolion, pas Scholor Awarel, is cu.ruently pursuing her at the l(irchliche pablisherl. by Hochschule Litutgicol Press in in 2014. lrIott:s ITaken fi'om "Draw a ri,rder circlc," Adan-r M. L. Tice, Stars Like Grace: 50 More Hynon Taxls (Chicago: GL\, 2013), 22. rlimmy Crcech, Ad.onr\ Gift: A Meruoir of o Pastor's Calling to Defy the Chwrch\ Persecut'ion of Lesbiatos ond. Gq,s (Durhan'r, NC: Duke Univ Press,20lt), 50-5f . Ihe hyrnn is "Just as I am, u,ithout one plea," llrics by Charlotte Elliott (1789-187I), n.relody by Witliam B. Bradbury (f816-68). 3lbid.,51. +Note that although quecr nlty have been used as a dcrogatory term, some l-rave reclaimed it as a term of pride . The asterisk denotes that not everyor-re rna1, fbel comfortable identilying as lesbian, gag bisexual, transgender, intcrscx, queer, questiotring, or ally. Tl-re asterisk therefore stands lor aI1 those who feel they do not fit into society's normative binaries of male/female and galy'straight. :Patrick S. Cheng, Rod.ical Love: An Introduction to Q,reer Tbeology (New York: Seaburl., 20f 1), x. Italics original. 6Some work has already been done on the gendering/queenng of music. See Susan McClary's Fewinine Endings (MLnneapolis: Unil'of Minnesota Press, l99I); Heidr Epstein's Mebing the WntLsberg: A Fem.inist Tbeology of Mwsic (New York: Continuum, 2004); and Sean R. Glenn. "Fashioned in rhe Sound of our Peculiar God: of a Queer Theolog' of Boston l-Jnjr,ersin' School of Theolog-, Conversatior-rs toward rhe Foundations Music" (master's thesis, 2013 ). Mitulski and Donna Hamiltolr, "A Heart to Pr,:rse Our God: Celebrating Lesbian & Gay Poets & Composers: ,\ Hvmn Fesrir'al." See Jim Tus HvivrN 62:3 (Autumn 20ll):28-42. tTice Stnrs Lihe Grace,22. , (NewYork: Church Publishing, 2008 t. full text olthe hymn can be ibund at h.r!.:,'.. ,' r, i...'.--.-. . hi.nnlEI-]i 9iJl./57. 20It is often diltrcult to knou' fbr certain rf ilidivrduals ftom the past self idcntified as LGBTIQQA*, espccialll since manv ol these terms have only entered our language in the past 100 150 r'ears. OLlr undcrstanding of rvhat it is to be gay or straight can be much d-ran the understanding during the tin're and place in rvhicl.r a person lived. These defir-ritions are extrcmely contertual; they are dcpcndent on self:identification ofan individual in a certain time and place, and an individual can also char-rge therr orvn self-idcntification n-rultiple times during dreir life 21Dan C. Damon and Eilcen M. lol-rnson, "A Cr1. for Justice in Hymnody: A Plenary Address to The Hvmn Society in the United States and Canada," THs Hvuri 61:4 (Autumn 2010): 12. This quote is from fim Mitulski as he spoke at a \mn festir.al celebrating gay and lesbian poets and cornposers in 2010. 22Mitulski and Hamilton, 33. That article includes other examples of garand lesbian hymn rvriters as we1l. diflbrent . 23Garrigan, 217-lB. M. L. Tice, Clairn tbe Mysterj,: 50 Moye Hynon Texts (Chicago: Gr4,2015), BB. 25Don Saliers, "Tl-reological Foundations of Liturgical Reform" (paper presented at the XXfV Congress of Societas Liturgica, Wiirzburg. Germany, Aug 6,2013). The full text of this presentation can be 'zaAdam in Stud'ia Lirwrgico 44 (2015). original line is "The love that dare not speak its natne" comes from Lord Alfi'ed Douglas' 1894 poem "Trvo Loves." Douglas and Oscar lVilde r'r,erc rcported to be lovers and the quotc came up at Wilde's 1895 trial fbr "gross indecency" (sodomy). 27See particularly Tice's st. 3: "though surely as one struggle ends, / four-rcl 26T1-re another takes its p1ace." 2sShirley Erena Murray's text, "For everyone born, a place at the table" is usually printed without the stanza that begins "For gay and for straight, a place at the table." The same goes lbr the hyn'rn by lulian B. Rusl-r (a ga1, United Metl-rodist minister), "In the midst of new dimensions," rvhich is also often printed without the stanza which sa1.s "Througl-r the ycars of human struggle, walk a pcople long despised, / Gays and lesbians together fighting to bc realized." :eDamon and 12. ]ohr-rson, :0lbid,. I2. 15. Spring 2016 . Vol. 67, No. 2 The Hynon . 25 3lThe hymn can be found at i - rr,.l oi L L(L. httlrs:/lrer .iJ-l!:L\'\.i sel.t: nlrd!-'i:ess corn l 0()S t l'i' . t r.l. r s 32'lice, Clnin+ the Mystery,72. 33llannah Ward and /ennifer Ward, Hutnan. Rita: Worsbip Reslarccsfll' an Age of Change (Londorr: Mowbray, 1995), f 58-I59. Moran, e-mail message to the author, Dec 30,20),2. Corutnwni4' of Christ Slzgs (Independence, Mo: Herald Pub. Ilouse, 2013), #274. 36From st. 3 of Edward C. Moran, "God loves us in mysterious ways." Available from htt!-,./t't,',t^t'.r,,,1. 3aEdward ssFound in . is I(lling our Most Vulnerable ittill:,/u/ryrr-r'.ilr-:ihng't' 'rrf Lri r' 'rr ,' -O*inS lrl:t,i. i,i'lr, ;. , r'..r'rrlrr:rrort lt,rt' tcli.ii,tt i' r,;li,'r,, 38Forry to None Project/True Colors Fund, The Palette Fund and the Williams Institute, Seru'ing our Touth 2012 Report,Fotty to None, i.tti:&$i'!o-:g,,!.org/ icstlttl crs ,/i.'rrill S rrLil' )-oittil ,/. AII the information below is taken from this website. 3eCaitlir-r Ryan, Stephen T. Russell, David Huebner, Rafael Diaz, and Jorge Sanchez, "Family Acceptance in Adolcscence and the Health of LGBT Youn g Adttks," J o urn a l of Chi,l d an d. Ad. l e s nt Psy c h i atri c Nu.rsing 23:4 (Noi'. 201 0 ): 205. 3TBishop Ge ne Robinson, "How Religion Youth," Huffilgton Post, o 26 . The Hyrun 4olbid., 210. 41lbid., 208. They also found that "highly accepting families reported low religiosity compared with the high religiosity among lorv accepting families." *24.{irul'ki and Hamilron, 30. 43Ibid. +atr rtp:/./n'1 r-tii i1-J' iri:rrl { r . i i: rl . +s"God, you bear your children's pain" (or-r addiction) from Fot' Us, God\ People Nora (Wayne Leupold, 20L1); "Mrere is the light when darkness falls" (on suicide) from Through Joy ond Sorrow (Wayne Leupold, 2009). text may be found at a6The is lir:e lltt!-'://\r1\r.ili r!)il.,i!Illgli!tr!Lu1\:-!4g Lt:lk;ior-,'t-l. aTPartridge, e-mail. c e YoL 67, No. 2 . Spring 2016