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Holy Ground: Queer Faith Expression in Washington, DC
June 26, 2024 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Did you know that on March 22, 1965, DC hosted one of the first discussions surrounding LGBTQ+ religious identity, belonging, and community? Franklin E. Kameny organized a meeting between members of the Mattachine Society and 11 clergymen from Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish communities around the Capital. This pivotal conversation, held at American University, marked a critical moment in the history of LGBTQ+ religious history and the history of LGBTQ+ individuals of faith affirming communities in Washington, DC. On June 26th, join public historian Emma Cieslik online for a discussion exploring DC’s queer faith histories. Beginning in the 1960s, this session will cover religious activism and ministry during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the creation of LGBTQ+-founded and led religious communities, and present forms of religious protest led by queer folx championing LGBTQ+ rights.
Sign up here!
Emma Cieslik (she/her) is a queer, neurodivergent public historian, religious scholar, and museum worker based in the Washington, DC area. She is passionate about collecting LGBTQ+ histories, specifically the history of religious liberation alongside religious harm in the nation’s capital. She currently serves as historian for Center Faith’s Pride Interfaith Service, and last Pride, published a digital exhibit on DC’s LGBTQ+ Religious History for the Rainbow History Project. In anticipation of Pride this year, she wrote a series on DC’s LGBTQ+ History for the Washington Blade, from the Washington Area Council on Religion and the Homosexual to Gay Pride Week to the DC Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the Lavender Mass.
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