Charles Nazarian, June 13, 2021

In a unique celebration of Pride Month, we are enriched this morning by personal
messages and songs by LGBTQ musicians Brian King, Deb Hardy with her wife
Kerry Mullen, Kaedon Gray, Kerr Griffen, and soon by Johnny Blazes. The freedom
of expression this represents would have been unthinkable only a few decades
ago. We must never forget the history of repression of persons with alternate
gender and sexual identities in our own culture, as well as the ongoing
discrimination and persecution of LGBTQ people around the world, often sadly
due to misconstruing the words in the Bible and other religious texts. Pride
Month is a time for somber reflection; resolve to be vigilant in protections of
hard-won freedoms and social justice for everyone… as well as for celebration.
There have always been gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people – who did
not fit the expected norms of society for men and women to eventually marry,
have children and expand a family, but these nice words did not exist in our
vocabulary and the term “queer” (or worse) was loosely and mostly used
derisively. By adopting this term that was once used in a repressive way, it turns
the tables on its negative cultural connotations and becomes a point of pride.
Still, like the N word to African Americans, it can sting when used as a verbal
weapon. Yet, as individuals many of us would admit to being somewhat “queer,”
regardless of sexual orientation, and frankly bask in following our own path.
The Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism encourage that appreciation of
human diversity. It’s not by chance that they begin with a covenant to affirm and
promote: “The inherent worth and dignity of every person”; continue to
encourage “justice, equity and compassion” and “acceptance of on another”; and,
conclude with “Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we
are a part.” This concept of inclusion and individual freedom emerged as a
central idea the Civil Rights Movement. Expressed beautifully in 1963 by Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., who was exposed the U-U world view during his years at
Boston University; he wrote “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of
destiny.”In our culture it was often only people of wealth and social status who enjoyed
freedom of sexual identity. Many of you may be aware of the three early 20th
century, infamous Cape Ann gay characters: interior designer Henry Sleeper (who
built his home Eastern Point home Beauport, as well as Winterthur for the
Duponts); congressman and WWI ambulance driver A. Piat Andrew (who built Red
Roof, for whom the 128 bridge over the Annisquam River is named, and
entertained young men like Franklin Delano Roosevelt): and inventor Jack
Hammond (who built his Medieval style Castle facing Norman’s Woe, where the
Hesperus from Longfellow’s poem was wrecked, and delighted in the occult).
These three were part of a larger circle that Douglas Shand Tucci calls the
“Boston Bohemians” in his book of that title. They were known along with other
famous Gloucester summer residents and visitors like Cecilia Beau, Joanna
Davidge, Caroline Sinkler and Isabel Stuart Gardner for lavish parties, pranks,
theatrical productions, smoking opium and sexual openness.
During the repressive 1950’s many of these stories were covered up. For
example, it was not until the 1980s that we learned that Jack Hammond, although
he was married to Irene Felton, had built a second castle for his lover, a young
English actor named Leslie Buswell, called Stillington Hall with a Gothic style
theatre, which is perched high on the hill above Freshwater Cove. Buswell later
married and had a son, so the story was kept quiet. But it may interest you to
know that the term “bash” for a big party was coined from the first letters of the
men’s names: Buswell, Andrew, Sleeper and Hammond.
Women of means who perhaps lived a quieter life as partners in Boston high
society of the period were not uncommon. In fact the term a “Boston Marriage”
was used for two so-called “spinsters” who chose to live together. It was a
genteel way to describe women who chose not to marry a man and raise children
but who, none-the-less, were accepted and highly respected members of society.
Life was not so kind to the average gay or lesbian person in America, and
especially not to people of talent who were seeking high achievement. The
McCarthy era resulted in blackballing a huge number of people in the arts,
academia and in government who were labeled as having Communist beliefs, ruining countless lives. Staying “in the closet” and appearing to live a straight
lifestyle was the only safe route for the majority of men and women. It is hard for
many of us to imagine that life, even in a metropolis like New York, was extremely
dangerous for gay people before the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village in 1969.
We also cannot forget that even today, in many parts of the world, gay
relationships can be illegal and severely punished, especially in places like Iran
where a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam is the basis of the legal system.
It is telling that Bayard Rustin, who was the key person planning events for Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., had to stay out of view most of the time because of the
backlash, not only because of the white segregationists but because Black clergy
would not accept him and feared that anti-gay prejudice would hurt the Civil
Rights Movement. Fortunately, the truth always has a way of coming out!
When I was a student at Trinity College in Hartford, CT I helped to create its first
Gay Liberation group on campus in 1970. Fortunately the Chaplain of the Trinity
College Chapel was a somewhat-closeted but forward-thinking person. He
offered us a stone gathering room in the Undercroft for our first meeting and
capacity crowd showed up, most of them out of curiosity. I ended up doing a lot
of consciousness-raising with groups and helping individuals find their path
towards self-acceptance. The College was supportive of us, even providing funds
for our “bashes”. I recall one humorous moment in the elegant, oak-paneled
faculty lounge when the College Vice-President (Scotch on the rocks in hand) told
me that I was doing a great service…so that people could freely discover if they
were really gay or not! Perhaps he imagined that I was running a quasi-bordello
in my 19th century dorm room overlooking the quad?
The Women’s Movement, along with many other liberation movements, had
taken off by that time and anti-establishment sentiment, especially with regard to
the war in Vietnam, was running high on campuses. Gradually people everywhere
began to understand the mutuality that Dr. King spoke about. Black people were
wearing their hair in “Afros” proudly rather than trying to straighten it out to look
more culturally acceptable and “Black Power” stickers and buttons were popular.
It even got to the point where people of my ethnicity were wearing “Armenian Power” buttons and letting their hair grow out. It took me 2 hours to bush mine
for my graduation photo in 1973!!!
The 70’s became a different Bohemian Era, as the Disco craze took hold, but the
party ended in the 80’s with what was called the “gay plague”…and the religious
fundamentalists including the orange juice queen, Anita Bryant, had a field day
pointing fingers and claiming that God was punishing us for sinful behavior. It was
ugly and frightening.
I recall staying by a dear friend, a big guy who had played football at Boston
College, on his death bed until the end. His brothers were outside-none of them
willing to even come inside the room for fear of catching what by then was called
AIDS. I gave the eulogy for another dear friend who was my sailing partner, a guy
who had served in Vietnam and very slowly came to acknowledge his gay self. He
had finally established a deep relationship with a great guy in Miami. We three
got tested together and they came up positive. It was like having an Iron Gate
drop between us. After a valiant battle they died within months of each other.
We survivors got tired of burying our friends.
Out of all that terrible suffering, discrimination and death came a determination
that we would never, ever go back into the closet and, further, that people using
the Bible or other religious texts to justify discrimination and repression were not
only wrong; they were fostering hate in God’s name. It taught is to be ever
vigilant, with a keen sense for wherever prejudice or hypocrisy might emerge.
African-Americans have long celebrated Juneteenth, recognizing June 19, 1865 for
the announcement by Major General Gordon Granger of the end of slavery in
Texas. Although it was long time after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in
1862 regarding the Confederate states, it was a seminal moment in a new
territory. We all know from history what followed that optimistic time after the
Civil War: a brief time of new liberty in the Reconstruction period followed by the
emergence of Jim Crow laws, the creation of the Klan and systematic racism that
permeates American society to this day. It is fitting that this holiday comes in middle of Pride Month because Juneteenth is
both a day of joy and a stark reminder that the fight for equality is never-ending.
As the death of George Floyd, and so many others whose names we do not know,
taught us systemic racism is unfortunately still very much a part of America.
At the end of our service you will hear a Rabbi say that Pride is not just about
parades and waving flags; as a Jewish person of color she will tell you that Pride is
about the determination to preserve rights and root out injustice anywhere it may
be found. The profound message is that liberation – freedom from prejudice and
injustice of whatever kind- is for everyone…but that means that we all have the
responsibility to constantly protect and nurture this incredible gift to simply be
ourselves without fear