Clamour Underbridge August 2008 Newsletter

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Inside this issue:

Pride

Tango Bravo 1

Whats Up with BookChat

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Another top ten list of gay books

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Thank yous 4

establish groups. Oneloud and outspoken fac-tion is set up as a shammuseum. It seems a godof some form or anothertold them that The Flint-stones actually happened.My favorite, an especiallywacky group, is critical of

It takes pig-headed deter-mination and a lot of junkscience to perpetrate thefantasy that Christians of any variety are a perse-cuted minority in theUSA. The hue and cryare usually raised whenturn or burn fringe sects

are hindered in theirdrive to establish theirbrand of religion as thelaw of the land or theircoercive proselytizinggets obstructed or chal-lenged. Here in Ken-tucky we have no short-age of proselytize and

Tango BravoClamour Underbridge for August from The Letter

The Kentuckiana PrideFestival was off and run-ning on June 20th, 2008with the annual PrideParade. ProgressivePathways Fellowshipparticipated in the pa-rade. It was our biggest

and best year yet. Elevenpeople arrived to marchwith us. This picture wastaken by the folks at Rulethe City since we were allin the parade.

After the parade we de-cided to look around at

the Friday Night Fest onthe Belvedere. Therewere performances byThe Confessional andJosh Zuckerman. I thinkthe favorite vendor of theevening was the Adopt aKitty group with the gi-ant pink cage.

The day of the festivalwas hot and includedperformances by Voices,City of Refuge, MadCamp Cabaret, RobbieBartlett, Gregory Doug-las, Tracy Rice and EricHiman. DJ Mike & theDivas of Drag brought theevening to a close.

According to the Pride

Festival committee theestimated crowd for Fri-day was 2000. Saturdaythere were 4500. Thats arecord and over 1000more folks than 2007.

Clamour & News

from UnderbridgePride Month 2008

Please note that:While Father Jim is co-pastor of ProgressivePathways Fellowship inLouisville his opinionsand any opinions andinformation found inClamour Underbridge or Clamour & News fromUnderbridge are thoseof Father Jim or other writers as they appear.They do not usually rep-resent the official policy

of the church.

August 1, 2008

Progressive Pathways Fellowship in the 2008 Louisville GayPride Parade.


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selected research at state universities

in the Commonwealth. Funny hownone of their expert staff have qualifi-cations or credentials in the fields theyare quick to loathe. They also tend notto read the studies they dont like nordo their off-the-wall critiques make anappearance in anything resembling apeer reviewed journal or a professionalorganizations conference. Culture war-riors just dont have time for all that.When you are absolutely convincednothing worth knowing exists outsideyour religious dogma then your motiva-tion to know is a bit stunted. Hurtling

head-long into the 19th century thesegroups are satisfied that the earth isflat, the sun circles us inside a crystaldome above the waters in the sky anddinosaurs walked the earth with ouruppity great-grandparents.

What do determined groups of Know-Nothings and Flat Earthers do to winconverts to their junk science and con-torted theology? First, its important topretend to be persecuted when bogusfindings or practices come to light.Everybody pulls for the underdog. Sec-

ond, its important to quash relentlessly

any facts that undermine the flatearth and Flintstones mentality.Heres where we meet Tango. Tangohas two dads. And shes a penguin.

And Tango Makes Three is a childrensbook by Justin Richardson and PeterParnell. It dares to report that twomale penguins in New Yorks CentralPark Zoo hatched an egg and raised thechick that emerged. Thats it. Nomale bodied drag queens or leatherclad sexual predators appear. A lav-ishly illustrated childrens book aboutthree penguins in the zoo is the mostchallenged book in the USA accordingto the American Library Association.This is the second year in a row thatRichardson and Parnells book has thatdubious honor. Tango has been theprey of bogus controversy in schoolsand public library branches from sea toshining sea. None of this is happening

because Tangos story isnt true. Its

because Tangos story is natural. TheFlat Earthers and Know- Nothings dontlike those parts of nature that profanetheir junk science and upset their faux

Victorian sensibilities.

There really is no good reason to letthem get away with it. Christianity, inits various flavors and hues, is not be-ing persecuted in Kentucky or anyother state of the Union. Velociraptorsdidnt mow down anyone that looksremotely like Barney Rubble at anytime in the past. Same sex play, at-tachment, bonding and the rearing of cute little off-spring is natural and con-spicuous in the animal kingdom. Let-ting the Flat Earthers and Know-Nothings prevail drags all of us backinto the bad old days of establishedreligions, coercive proselytizing andsnake oil chicanery. Dont take myword for it. Look it up.

Clamour Underbridge from The LetterPart two

Clamour & News from UnderbridgePage 2

Father Jim at the Pride Parade.

You are invited to any and all services of Progressive Pathways Fellowship.

Our studio and education center is at208 1/2 Mellwood Arts andEntertainment Center1860 Mellwood AvenueLouisville, Kentucky 40206

Visit our website for more information,maps and directions.

We meet on Sundays at 5:30 p.m for infor-mal worship and discussion.

Book Chat meets on Tuesdays (beginning August 26) at 6:15 p.m.

www.progressivepathways.org


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Weve been reading The Beverly Malibu

by Katherine V. Forrest. Our last daywith Detective Kate Delafield and thewild and wacky inhabitants of the Bev-erly Malibu was July 30th.

Beginning Wednesday August 6 at 6:15p.m. we take up The Llangollen Ladiesby Mary Gordon.

Lady Eleanor Butler (1739-1829) and TheHonourable Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831)were two upper-class Anglo-Irishwomen whose relationship scandalisedand fascinated their contemporaries.The Ladies are interesting today as anexample of historical lesbianism orromantic friendship.

Well be reading The Llangollen Ladies

on Wednesday August 6, August 13, August 20 and Tuesday August 26.

In September there are two books beingconsidered. Both of them are biogra-phies of my favorite historical queen of England Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings by Amy Kelly and

Ele anor of Aquitaine: A Life by AllisonWeir.

Have an opinion? Which would youprefer and do you have other sugges-

tions for Book Chat?

Whats up with Book Chat?

Another top ten list of gay books from theClamour Underbridge Blog http://clamourunderbridge.typepad.com/clamour_underbridge/

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A portrait of the Ladies of Llangol-len painted by Lady Leighton in1813.

I admit it freely. I've never read Shameless by Paul Burston. A visit to Mr. Burston's website, however, gives blurb and re-view information. It looks like an interesting read. I may pick it up.

But that's not the subject at hand. Mr. Burston has come out with a top ten list of gay books. I just love top ten lists. Go tothe Guardian for the article but here are the relevant details.

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)Jimmy says yawn. Wiki info. Have you ever actually read "Dorian Gray" and not just watched bad movies of the week? Ilove Uncle Oscar and he paid the price for the rest of us but he was ever so avant garde for the Victorians! Victorian literatureis a tough sell in the 21st century market.

2. Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet (1943)Maybe. He toned it down to get a publisher in the 40s. Wiki here. Another death by tuberculosis in a garret. Don't apart-ment buildings in France have second floor walk-ups?

3. City of Night by John Rechy (1963). I've never heard of this one and it's not in The Gay and Lesbian Literary Companion(Malinowski) and the Wiki is pretty bare. He also wrote a vampire book with magic. Is he the inspiration for Dante's Coveand the Lair?

4. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (1978). I have to say that I agree. Wiki here. "Tales" was new and exciting when Ileft Bugtussle and moved to the Not Actually a Big City But We Try Real Hard. Read it. If you're a gentleman of a certainage you have to read Maupin to figure out what you missed by staying in the Bible Belt.

5. Dancer From The Dance by Andrew Holleran (1978). My reading group picked this one up a few months ago. We had agrand time trying to find "Gatsby" parallels and motifs because one of the lit profs told me they were there. Another guy book


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that queers of all persuasions shouldspend a couple of hours with. Wikihere.

6. A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White

(1982). I'm a little tired of coming outstories. Everybody has one. However,some nut job with a baseball bat triedto beat the faggotry out of his son lastFriday. Info here. So read "Boy's OwnStory." Remind yourself what it's liketo live in real fear of the people that aresupposed to love you. Wiki here.

7. Queens by Pickles (1984). What?Who? Is this even in print any more?

8. Flesh And Blood by Michael Cun-ningham (1995) not A Home at the End

of the World? What's up with that?Read Michael Cunningham's Wiki fordetails.

9. Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas (1997).Don't know Tsiolkas. Loaded wasmade into a movie. I might have to dosome follow up. Info here.

10. Two Gentlemen Sharing by WilliamCorlett (1997). He wrote gay stuff?This is the guy that wrote Magician'sHouse. Well, bust my buttons. I'llhave to look this one up as well. Thereviews all say things like "gay slap-stick." I never get broad humor andfarce. I'm missing one of those essen-tial humor circuits that make slippingon banana peels and hitting peoplewith pies funny.

A n o t h e r To p Te n L i s t o f G a y B o o k s c o n t i n u e d f r o m P a g e 3

Mary Poppins is com-ing to Book Chat in

December 2008.

Stay Tuned!

A big thank you to The Letter for supportingProgressive Pathways Fellowship and Clam-our Underbridge.

Thanks Dave!

Visit The Letter at

http://www.theletteronline.com/index.html

Our thoughts and prayers are with the congregation, clergy, friends and family of Tennessee Valley Unitarian UniversalistChurch. http://www.tvuuc.org/

Visit the UU main site at http://www.uua.org/ for information on how to help.

Clamour Underbridgea bastion in defiance of the jealous god, an outpost of refuge for the

Queandom. This is a gay, lesbian, queer and questioning space. Be

welcome and beware. Abusers and miscreants will be fed to the troll.

http://clamourunderbridge.typepad.com/

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Clamour Underbridge August 2008 Newsletter