SOUNDbite... Cindi Love

From the Stained Glass Rainbows interview with the Rev. Dr. Cindi Love...

“I was depressed because I couldn’t sort out, ‘what am I gonna do if I am a lesbian and I am who I am in this church, in my family, in this community. There’s no place for me.’”
- Cindi Love

MUSICIANS... Want to Hear Your Music in this Film?

Please help us spread the word to all your musician friends...

There is still time to submit your music for consideration for the film Stained Glass Rainbows...

MUSIC QUEST

http://www.stainedglassrainbows.com/SGR_Music_Quest.html

Hurry it up already! The deadline is September 30th, 2011.

SOUNDbite... Robert Gagnon

Here's a quote from the Stained Glass Rainbows interview with Robert Gagnon in Pennsylvania...

"All of us experience immoral sexual impulses on a regular basis, but not all of us are engaging in adultery. Not all of us are committing incest, bestiality or same sex intercourse, so these are issues over which the church really does have to draw lines. If we fail to draw the line, we fail to revere the Lordship of Christ in the community.” - Robert Gagnon

gayNEWS: Gay Teen Suicide: Are Christians Culpable?

The wave of gay teen suicide continues. This past week, 14 year-old Jamey Rodemeyer from Buffalo, New York became the most recent gay teen to take his life. (Or at least the most recent one that was covered extensively by the national media).


Here are a couple of quotes (reported in a Washington Post article) that had been posted online prior to Jamey's death...

“JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!”

“I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!”

The media & bloggers are also widely reporting that Lady Gaga has been using Jamie's death as a platform to speak out against gay bullying. Here are three of her recent tweets...

"Jamey Rodemeyer, 14 yrs old, took his life because of bullying. Bullying must become be illegal. It is a hate crime."

"The past days I’ve spent reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger. It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someones life."

"I am meeting with our President. I will not stop fighting. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it."

Do Christians help create an environment that promotes gay teen bullying? A Facebook friend posted a link to this video today.

MUSICIANS... Submit Your Music for Consideration

There is still time to get your music in for consideration on the soundtrack of the film Stained Glass Rainbows...

Yes, we are creating another totally cool soundtrack for this documentary and we would love to hear what you have to offer. Know a band? Know a Singer? Know that next great group? Please forward them them this link...

http://www.stainedglassrainbows.com/SGR_Music_Quest.html

But hurry, the deadline is September 30th, 2011.

gayNEWS: Public School Punishes Boy for Opposing Homosexuality

An honors student in Fort Worth, TX, was sent to the principal’s office and punished for telling a classmate that he believes homosexuality is wrong.

Student Suspended for Saying Gay Is Wrong: MyFoxDFW.com

FOXNEWS: Read the full story...

SOUNDbite... Jonathan Ervin

This quote comes from our Stained Glass Rainbows interview with Jonathan Ervin in Virginia...

"I remember telling my parents... that I had been infected with the HIV virus. And I will never forget my dad looking across the table at me and he just looked square into my eyes and said, 'Sin bites, doesn't it, son.'"
- Jonathan Ervin

Ex-Gay Therapy, Ministry to Homosexuals, Exodus International-Type Programs

As I'm working on my film Stained Glass Rainbows, I'd like to hear from anyone who has experience (as a counselor or as a recipient of counsel) with any type of ex-gay therapy, ministry to homosexuals, or any kind of Exodus International-type of program.

     What was the approach?

     Was it effective?

     How is life different (if at all) as a result?

     Would you recommend it to others?

     Was it Good? Bad? Other?

Any insight you could offer would be appreciated. Thanks!

SOUNDbite... John Westcott

This quote comes from our Stained Glass Rainbows interview with John Westcott down in Florida...

"It would have been easier, which is horrible to think, that it would have been easier for me if my father had been dead than to be there, because his silence was more painful than his absence would have been." 

- John Westcott

Straight White Male Seeking Film On Homosexuality & Faith

Welcome to the the very first entry of the Stained Glass Rainbows Blog. My name is Kent Williamson and I am the producer/director of the forthcoming documentary film Stained Glass Rainbows: Exploring the Bed-Wrestle Between Homosexuality and Faith.


Allow me to introduce myself... I'm a conservative, straight, white-bread, male. I'm happily married and have a house-full of kids. So why am I making a film on the topic of homosexuality and faith?


This project had it's inception as I was finishing my previous film Rebellion of Thought: Post-Modernism, the Church, and the Struggle for Authentic Faith. In Rebellion of Thought I needed a few seconds of footage of a gay pride parade, so in June of 2007 I packed up the camera and traveled to Washington DC for the Capital Pride event. As the parade began I left my space on the curb near Dupont Circle and I stepped out into the street. Little did I know that step would change the next several years of my life.


I soaked in the parade through the viewfinder of my video camera and the things I saw were remarkable. Up and down the parade route were men and women, all created in the image of God, and all of them promoting their version of homosexuality...
     Some were long-time committed lovers.
     Some were swingers.
     Some were gentle and others were militant.
     Some were demanding equal rights and some just wanted to be left alone.
I imagine that in their hearts some of them were more free on the day of that parade that they've ever been in their lives. I imagine that some of them were fearful of my camera, wanting to be there at that moment, but not wanting to be filmed. I imagine that some of them hurt inside having wrestled with words like "sin", "outcast" and "shame".


There were two things I was most blown away with at the Capital Pride parade. The first was the number of churches that were represented in the parade... spanning all the major denominations. But the thing that moved me the most was the oppressive feeling, not of a straight man being surrounded by homosexuals, but of the weight and burden of my own sin. Now my sin is not homosexual in nature. My sins of choice include greed and lust and things like that which are much more "socially accepted" in the conservative Christian circles in which I was raised and have lived my entire life. But regardless, that day on the streets of DC I was overwhelmed with their weight and I realized that this is why Christ came. To pay the price with his life for my sin... their sin... our sin.


After the parade, as I rode the metro back to my car, I tried to process everything I had seen, heard and felt that day. I knew in my heart I had to make a film about this topic and that was moment that Stained Glass Rainbows was conceived. In a sense I was impregnated by thousands of homosexuals that day... and now I am preparing to give birth to a film.


Over the course of shooting Stained Glass Rainbows I have filmed five Gay Pride parades. I have interviewed people from Florida to Pittsburgh, from Cincinnati to Connecticut. I have talked with lesbian ministers and homosexual pastors. I've spoken with people from the God Hates Fags group. I've interviewed theologians, ex-gays, and people that minister to the homosexual population. And the things I've learned along the way have been fascinating. I'm eager to share them with you through this story.


Over the next few months I will be wrapping up this film and then will get it into distribution. Please join me for the journey.