qsa workshop #9: queer religion

qsa workshop #9: queer religion
designed by talia young, talia@sccs.swarthmore.edu, fall 2000

objectives:

to give resources to people who are trying to figure out how to live with both religion and queerness, and in doing so:

build relationships between the religious and queer communities on campus
to discuss tensions between the religious and queer communities on campus

materials needed:

handouts

preparation:

talk to campus religious leaders, advertise through campus religious groups

icebreaker:

human knot

name game:

go around, talk about history of name

ground rules:

confidentiality: not that you can't talk about what goes on here (on the contrary, please do continue discussions outside of the workshop) but don't go around saying "so-and-so was at the workshop and said such-and-such"
respect: there are probably a lot of us coming from different places; please respect each other. feel free to disagree with each other but please use "i" statements
no stupid questions: on a similar note, there are no stupid questions here; you should feel free to ask everything. i realize this can sometimes be a risky position to take, but i think it's important. if you think a question is offensive, you should say so, but that doesn't mean that it was stupid. anyway, we'll see how this one works.
any others?

activity:

handout questionnaires:

what religion, if any, were you raised?

if it's different, what religion, if any, do you consider yourself now?

what parts of that religion or those religions do you like and/or believe in and/or live? (you can talk about whichever religion is most meaningful to you or talk about them all.)

what parts do you dislike and/or not believe in and/or not live?

do you think that your religion(s) directlyaddress(es) gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/queer issues? if so, how?

do you think that your religion(s) indirectlyaddress(es) gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/queer issues? if so, how?

are there differences in the ways that you and your religion(s) address gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/queer issues? if so, how?

how do you feel about and deal with the way or ways (if there are any) in which your beliefs or life conflict with that of your religion (as mentioned in (3), (4) and (7)? (for example, is it something that you came to terms with a long time ago, that you think about a lot, and/or that stresses you out every day?)

do you have one or more community or religious or familial role models with whom you have or feel that you could talk about the issues mentioned in (3), (4) and (7)? if so, who are they? if not, how could you find some?

have people do 1-7 on their own.
break them into groups of three or four to talk about their answers to those and then about 8 and 9.
bring back together and have each group report.
discuss

follow up/wrap up/conclusion:

go around and share a closing thought, related to why you came, or not.