Kentucky Baptist Church Will Hold Its First Same-Sex Wedding

Color me stunned, but out there in Kentucky, a Baptist church, the Highland Baptist Church of Louisville, Kentucky, in fact, has agreed to marry two of its gay members, making it the first same-sex wedding for the congregation. 

In.Kentucky.

Those two members, David Bannister Jr. and Steven Carr II, have been together for six years and became engaged last summer in Washington DC weeks after the US Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.  Then they returned home to Kentucky and took a deep breath and asked the pastor of their church, Joe Phelps, to marry them and he said he would.

"It takes courage to step out into the unknown. It's taking us courage to be one of the first churches to do this." — Pastor Phelps

Phelps says that when he first came to Highland Baptist in the late 1990s, there was a kind of ‘doesn’t ask, don’t tell’ policy regarding gay church members. But, that very next year, a gay couple's photograph appeared in the church directory and since then there has been a slow, but steady march to acknowledge and accept LGBT members, and their families, into the church. In fact, Highland Baptist ordained its first openly gay minister, Maurice Blanchard in 2012, and now Blanchard leads a gay ministry at the church.

"Inch by inch, it sort of begins to dawn on us. Over time, we've come to the realization that led us to today." — Pastor Phelps

In February 2013, a group of church deacons began to study the idea of allowing the pastor to perform same-sex ceremonies, but the group never came to any agreement. Then, in May 2014, a new group chosen to once again study the idea instantly, and unanimously, recommended the church begin offering same-sex weddings.  Actually, you could only all it a unanimous decision because no one in the church every voted on the idea; Pastor Phelps said it wouldn’t be right to pass judgment that way.

"To vote on it is to basically ask the question, 'Are gay people fully human like the rest of us?' I think spiritually and morally, that's a step we cannot take." — Pastor Phelps

And so, when David and Steven asked Pastor Phelps to officiate at their wedding, he was able to say yes, making Highland one of the first Baptist churches in Kentucky to hold a same-sex wedding.

And again. Baptist Church. Kentucky. Let that sink in for a spell.

And so David and Steven have set a wedding date for next May, and though they don’t see themselves as activists, they have hope that their wedding will make a statement.

"If people don't get the shades pulled back on LGBT people's lives, they won't learn. They won't see. So the onus is on us and our friends to talk with those around us. It would be very sad to us if we weren't able to have our church involved." — David Bannister

And in light of the fact that this past week a judge struck down Kentucky’s ban on same-sex marriages — a stay has been granted — David and Steven hope that by the time they marry, same –sex weddings in Kentucky, even at Baptist churches, will just be weddings at Baptists churches.

Still, what a wonderful stop for the Baptist church, and Kentucky.

via The New Civil Rights Movement

Random Musings

We spent last Sunday with former Round-The-Way-Gays, Neal and David; they downsized a bit and moved into another neighborhood here in Smallville, so they are just a little Further-Round-The-Way.

We picked up a friend, Matt, who is in his mid-80’s — yes, I said, eighties — and he is always such a pistol. He’s spending part of this next weekend at a male dance revue where the men don’t actually take off their clothes because, well, they aren’t wearing any clothes, save for elastic bands on their wrists and thighs for you to slip your money into. My wish is that I have half the energy, zest for life, the get up and go, and just plain fun in my 80s as Matt does now.

Afterwards, we took Matt home and then the four of us do what The Gays like to do on a hot day: shop. I’d heard from a friend about a salvage shop near downtown Columbia, and Neal, who knows where everything is, literally, knew of it, so off we went. And they had everything; some salvaged, some salvaged and repurposed; clay pots and sheets; palladium windows turned into mirrors; cabinets, tile, sinks, lights, furniture.

Naturally, Carlos and I will be headed back soon because there were several things we want for the house that we found there, though one thing I think we’ll pass on is the stone sink that Carlos found.

I mean, if we lived in bedrock …..

Why did it take seven years to get Sherri Shepherd off The View? 

She should'a been gone the day after she said, live on air, that she wasn't entirely sure that the Earth was round.

Oh, yes she did.

I like Elton John, I do, but there are times when I wish he’d just shut up and sing.

Like last week when he said that Jesus would want The Gays to have the right to marry.

Really, Elton? You know this for a fact? A man that has allegedly been dead for over 2,000 years and you know what he thinks about marriage equality?

Stop. Seriously. Stop.

Speaking of religion, I’ve been wondering about all these religious folks hatin' on The Gays and hatin' on laws that are changing to make The Gays equal. 

If God is Love, shouldn't y'all be more tolerant? And if you believe, as some politicians like Frothy Mix has said, that this country was created by God and that our laws come from God, then doesn’t that mean that all new laws, even those granting equality to The Gays come from God? And if so, shouldn't y'all just shut up and take a seat?

Asking for a friend.

Beyoncé. Meh. 

I mean, I kinda liked her a few years back, but then she seemed to reinvent herself as a high-class stripper, grunting and grinding all over the stage while a wind machine attacks her weave.

And now she has a new look: a body suit with the butt cheeks cut out.

Get on the pole already, girl, I hear Cheetahs is looking for fresh meat.

How can it be that pulling a nose hair out is the most painful thing I've ever experienced?

So, last night we wondered what to watch on TV and I had DVRd TNT's new show, The Last Ship, as well as CBS' Under The Dome.
Carlos wasn't feeling very dome-ish, so we opted for The Last Ship.

It should be called The Last Ship of Hot Men. Oy, that's beefcake Travis Van Winkle who obviously buys shirts one size smaller than legally allowed, and Jocko Sims, oozing with sexual heat, and beautiful Commander daddy, Eric Dane.

Yeah, I think we'll keep watching.

Shia LaBeouf was arrested at Cabaret last night and police reported that he was incoherent and disheveled and that he had severe body odor.

No wonder his movies stink. It's not the script; it ain't the acting' it's LaBeouf.

The perfect way to get people to stop talking ... just because?

Hold up the index finger of your left hand and say, "This is my last nerve."

Then take the index finger of your right hand and scratch the index finger of your left hand while saying, "And this is you."

Works every time.

I am not a fast food person; ever. I figure I can get a better meal at a ‘real’ restaurant where the food isn’t frozen and then nuked or super-heated before serving.

Still, I like Burger King’s new Whopper that was unveiled during Pride in San Francisco; a burger wrapped in a rainbow flag paper.

When customers asked what made this Whopper different from a standard-issue burger, they were simply told, “I don’t know.”

But the mystery was revealed once the rainbow-colored wrapper was opened: there was absolutely nothing is different about this burger, nothing at all.

Like it says: “We Are All the Same Inside.”

Ken-freaking-tucky. Where marriage equality arrived this week, though there is a stay on the ruling pending an appeal, but, man oh man, the march is going on.

Maybe, when Carlos and I get married — and we’re doing so this October ... fingers crossed that the plans work out — we might actually be able to do so in South Carolina; it’s all changing so quickly.