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On Wednesday, November 3rd at 7PM I will be giving a talk entitled, “Black, Gay, and Jewish” to a room of Jews of Color as part of Be’chol Lashon’s monthly meeting.  I was told that my talk should be about 45 minutes and afterwards there would be a question and answer section.  I’ve spent the last month trying to piece together my talk using my Velvet Park Posts as well as my blog posts and pieces of my memoir to help.  Last night I had a run through with some of my closest friends and today, I’m feeling a bit nervous.  Okay, it’s a complete lie I’m fucking scared shit less.  There, I’ve said it.
 
Let’s just remember that while my blog, my Velvet Park Blog, and my memoir are all called, “Black, Gay, and Jewish” I’M NOT A JEW (yet).  So what’s this black dyke gonna talk about??  Being a black dyke who’s converting to Judaism, of course.  It sounds easy.   It sounds painfully easy but the fact of the matter is that I’m not yet a Jew.  It’s the only thing that I’m hung up and the reason is that my audience is comprised of Jewish people of Color.  They know what it’s like to live in the world as a Jew, as a person of color and the card that I bring to the table is the fact that I’m a lesbian.
 
When I gave my talk last night to my friends the feedback they gave me was that the “Gay” section needed to be longer.  My black section, the section that has given me so much personal heartache as well of strength is the section that I’ve lived the longest.  The Gay thing only came out 3 years ago and the Jewish thing?  Only seriously studying since March.  We circle right back around to the part where I’m gay.  So, I wanted to ask you, my faithful readers who are religious, in any way, what’s it like to be a Gay Christian, a Gay Muslim, a Gay Mormon, a Gay Catholic, a Gay Buddhist a Gay Jew?  Were you accepted in your religious community as a lesbian and if you were not, have you found a religious community that has?  I promise to add you to my speech and your help is MUCH appreciated!

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