Wednesday, June 6, 2012

After MOBConf

MOBConf (Mobilizing and Organizing from Below Conference) was hosted this past weekend in Baltimore by Red Emma's Bookstore.  It was a joy to attending informative sessions and to meet people indefatigable for radical politics and social justice.  I gained an appreciation for the breadth of work that people of all experiences and interests are doing all over the country toward this end.  The sessions on safe spaces host a discussion on the essential questions and challenges that face creating these spaces and provided me with a new framework for understanding my work in tenant organizing.  The antiracist training workshop covered important material--from Western racial history and theory, to anti-racism as central to anarchism, to how to address subtle forms of racism one might encounter in their next activist meeting.  Despite my minimal involvement with the Occupy Movement, I still enjoyed the Tidal/Occupy Theory discussion group--an initially leaderless session which slowly emerged as a conversation about Occupy, space(s), and the possibilities and goals of Occupy.  You can see peruse the pictures and videos of the conference here.

A few friends and I led a panel discussion on Religion and Radical Politics, described as "a chance to explore the political aspects in religious traditions which offer relevant critiques and points for hope in our world."  Unfortunately, we weren't able to gather the religious diversity I had initially envisioned, but it was a great panel nonetheless.  We all prepared more than we were able to share, but we briefly touched upon subjects such as debt and economics, gender, sexuality, and the current role of churches in organizing. 

Though incomplete and vague, below are my notes for my discussion on "Sexuality and Class."  My goal in this 10 minutes presentation was to show that the Gospel texts, though by no means "pro-gay", offers a vision of sexuality which is inseparable from political and economic realities.  In many ways, in this presentation I am trying to work out my own frustrations with the dominant "gay rights" movement seems disconnect from class struggle and economic inequalities.  As such, its demands (e.g. marriage equality, adoption, participation in the military) seem little more than bourgeois concerns and the movement elitist.  Until its able to recognize and incorporate economic struggles (near and far), I have difficulty supporting much of the mainstream gay rights movement.  My presentation was an attempt to show that the Gospel texts recognize both sexuality and economics as inseparable and offers avenues for the transformation of both in the new Christian community and beyond.  My notes are below:


 
Sexuality and Class: Presentation for MOBConf

My goal is not claim that the Bible is a gay-friendly text or to try to defend its unsettling references to homosexuality. I want to argue that marriage, reproduction, and family are essential parts of heterosexism or “heteronormativity.” And as such, heteronormativity is an instrument for defining and controlling gender and sexuality as well as politics (i.e. determining who is in or out, familiar or foreigner, friend or stranger) and economics (who will help me gain wealth?, how can I make sure my wealth isn't taken by another?, who can have my wealth after I pass away?). Even though the Gospel texts have no explicit reference to gay or lesbian issues, it levels harsh critiques against marriage, reproduction, and the family unit and thereby removes any foundation for heteronormativity in the new community whose life together embody signs of the Kingdom to come. Liberated from heteronormativity, new possibilities for gender and for sexual identity are able to emerge. Simultaneously and in the same moment, new political and economic possibilities also unfold.

Focusing on the Gospel text, we find many declarations about the family—some overt and some not so explicit. Regarding the family unit, one can find:
"Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)

Or

"'Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-27)

Which can be interpreted it to mean that you must hate mother, father, wife and children in so far as they are those relationships to you (along with the privileges they engender), but you must love them as members of the new, egalitarian community oriented to justice.

The last passage included children, which leads us to the issue of reproduction. Passages addressing and critiquing reproduction state,

"While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!'" (Luke 11:27-28)

Or

"But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)

Or Jesus' declaration that those who enter the new community must be born from above, that is, in contrast to their biological birth and any privileges which might accompany it (John 3:1-8).

Even regarding marriage, Jesus takes a critical and cautious posture which is made evident in his own singlehood and when he affirms that, considering the demands of marriage, for some it is better not to marry (Matthew 19:5-12). All of this, and many other passages, are not inconsequential nor just happenstance. It is not that the Gospels hate marriage, but it is seen as dangerous for the sustainability of a new, diverse community embodying mutuality. In this egalitarian community dedicated to justice, all other social identities and roles lose their privilege and have no merit. And so, the Gospel text is explicitly critical of any valuation of marriage, reproduction, and the family unit—essential aspects of heteronormativity.

Okay, so the Gospel texts are critical of heteronormativity... so what? What does this have to do with sexuality? And what does this have to do with organizing from below? This is very important if we recognize that heteronormativity is a matrix for regulating not only gender and sexuality, but also politics and economics. The family is both the product and the conduit for socio-political realities. In particular, sexuality is regulated in the structure of the family—sexuality is restricted to between a man and a woman (ensuring that the other person is one's own property) and has reproduction as its goal (producing other economic agent to provide support to the parents in old age and to responsibly inherit the wealth of the couple after their demise). When understood in light of heteronormativity, we can see how sexuality is intimately entangled in politics and economics. In the traditional family unit, sexuality is essential to determining boundaries—who is in or out—as well as keep wealth and resources within closed, reproducing circles. And this mechanism for keeping economics in closed, familial circles is essential to creating and perpetuating class division—those with wealth are able to keep it in their closed circles and those in poverty continue to inherit poverty. And despite the illusions of social mobility, the family structure is an economic force that serves to keep out the unwanted and keep in capital. An recent article in the Guardian titled Yourdaddy's rich … inherited wealth may date back to dawn ofagriculture” by Maev Kennedy (May 28, 2012) confirms that the economic and political dynamic of the family has ancient roots. Returning to the biblical text, we see this very problem happen in the Acts 5:1-11 account where the first husband and wife mentioned in the new community are the very ones who try to hoard money for themselves—violating the practice of sharing with those in need and communal possessions.

What does this have to do with sexuality? I find that much of the current, dominant discussions about sexuality are narrow, still subscribing to heteronormative ideals and, I propose, that's why "gay rights movements" have difficulty making any connection to class and economic issues. However, sexuality is more than what reproductive organ one enjoys. Marriage equality has become little more than seeking to participate in heteronormativity and its benefits to the exclusion of many who are of low-income. This, among many other issues, makes much of LGBT movements full of elitist aspirations. Those with unstable or non-tradtional families, those with very little wealth or social capital, those who are jobless, and those who have to rely on social services for support are often times excluded from the “gay rights” vision represented by white, muscular men who apparently are wealthy enough to go on cruises and wear Diesel.

But in its consistent critique of heteronormativity, the Gospels offer us amazing groundwork regarding sexuality, economic inequality, and becoming a community that works for justice. If we recognize a common root of LGBTQ oppression and economic inequality in heteronormativity, we'll be able 1) to forge queer movements that will be inseparable from economic justice and 2) to organize and work in solidarity with those who are low-income or marginalized because our social ties and economics will take on a new shape. Suddenly, our new family are those who seek justice, our siblings are those commitment to mutuality, our children are those who continue the work of the community after us. Rather than dividing along our bio-legal family lines, mobilizing and organizing from below demands that we are willing to enter new families. And once we undo the hold of the heteronormative ideal and dedicate ourselves to the community of radical justice, we'll find that sexual liberation and economic liberation coincide.

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