The church doors are open and all are welcome in the sanctuary of Black Joy Missionary Baptist United Methodist Assembly!
First Lady Starr Dunigan is back from vacation with a sermon about the first time I saw a drag performer dance to a Gospel song at a gay club in Huntsville, Ala. When I heard those Gospel notes pour out of the speaker, my heart leapt out of my chest like it’d caught the Holy Ghost. I raised my hands in witness at a beautiful performance that combined the grace of a praise dance with the glitz and glam of drag. While I didn’t know the entertainer personally, I thought about the many LGBTQ+ people who’ve been exiled from the church.
This performance sent a powerful message: that nothing can separate us from the love of God and the church is with us wherever we go.
This week we partnered with Matter of Faith, a newsletter founded by my Reckon sis and longtime colleague Anna Beahm who writes about all things faith, sex and politics. So put on your church clothes and slip this newsletter to your friends and fam with a piece of that strawberry candy and explore the intersection of queerness and Gospel music with us.
Baptize yourself in positive vibes during a Gospel drag brunch
Black Pride Colorado hosted its Gospel Drag Brunch in June.
When Colorado drag entertainer Juiccy Misdemeanor and her friend and fellow entertainer, Venus, were looking for a way to release some stress during the pandemonium of 2020, Juiccy knew Gospel music would do the trick.
As a child, Juiccy was putting in werk at their traditional Southern Baptist church. I’m talking choir rehearsals, Sunday school classes and Bible studies on top of Sunday service. She even showed off those leadership skills in the youth ministry. The uplifting and empowering messages in Gospel music stayed with Juiccy’s soul all the way up to adulthood. As the ballroom community liaison of Black Pride Colorado in Denver, Juiccy thought hosting a Gospel drag brunch would be the medicine people needed during a time when COVID-19 was causing chaos.
“I felt like we desperately needed something to be like, ‘It’s OK. We’re gonna make it through.’ My immediate connection to that was Gospel music because anytime I listen to Gospel music – whether I’m sad, happy or rejoicing – it always hits the note for me. It hits the target,” Juiccy said. “It’s that instant connection of like, ‘I need this song for myself to get through.’ That’s personally uplifting. So I’m like, ‘If that does it for me, I know somebody else is gonna feel it.’”
And it did! And the Gospel drag brunches have been a hit ever since. Juiccy hosted the latest brunch earlier this month to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride while still honoring her community’s Black roots. You can catch all the joyful noise Colorado Black Pride made by reading Anna’s story about the Gospel brunch and Juiccy’s spiritual journey. Juiccy said the Gospel brunches aren’t so much about religion as it is about creating a place of refuge and fellowship. So before you baptize yourself in some good energy, here’s more about Juiccy.
Starr: What is your favorite Gospel song?
Juiccy: A song I feel like that speaks to being authentic is “This Little Light of Mine” because even though the song was about sharing your Christian light, I also feel like it’s about sharing who you are as a person. You can reference it in another way like, “This light of mine, I’m letting a shine everywhere I go.”
But also when I think about Gospel music in general, I grew up with spirituals, but also grew up with what I like to call the “New Age” Gospel. So the Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Mary Mary. I love LeShaun Pace and Fred Hammond. Because I watched a lot of “Sunday Best” on BET, I love Amber Bullock.
But I also liked listening to those spirituals. LeShaun Pace did a version of “There’s A Leak In This Old Building,” and that’s one of my favorite songs because it talks about leaving one place that’s torn down for something greater that’s going to be given to you from a higher power if you go towards it. And I think that’s relatable because I grew up in an inner city St. Louis – in the hood – and I always told myself that I was going to go somewhere and be better than what this was.
Starr: With so much going on with anti-LGBTQ legislation and attacks on drag performances, what would you say to Black LGBTQ+ youth who are navigating their faith right now?
Juiccy: Choose to believe in what you believe in, but I hope that what you believe in is for the betterment of yourself and others not just for a specific grouping of people. If you only serve one group of people, that’s going to hurt the masses of people because the world is so eclectic, so different and diverse.
I hear from youth, “Well, I don’t know if I can be gay and go to church.” I was like, “OK. Well let me tell you this. If there’s a person, energy, spirit, creator, or entity that says you can’t do something because of this certain book, words, or person, I want you to look at that book and see how it exiles them from anything else and also how it may stifle their own personal growth.”
I had a moment with these people who were crying because they were like, “Well, If I do go to church, I still want to be myself.” And I was like, “And you can.” I told them that may mean finding another church. You can go to church in many ways and there are many places that will accept many different people. There are other ways for you to serve and practice your faith. I always say, ‘Yeah, I don’t go to church service anymore. No, I don’t sing in the choir anymore…But do I have my own personal practice? Yes, I do. And it works for me. And all I need it to work for is for me.
A holy sound – and queer AF
Graphic of Sister Rosetta Tharpe (left), Nell Carter (middle) and Wilmer “Little Axe” Broadnax.
Black Music Month may be coming to an end, but the legacies reign forever — and a lot of the folks who set the signature sound of the bops we jig and jive to today were queer. Many of them started singing in the choir, which helped them shape the sound of Rock and Roll hits. Check out my story to educate yourself on some Black queer church history.
What’s the perfect song to make your summer sizzle?
Song of the Summer quiz graphic
Summer has arrived! Black Joy editor Minda Honey is making sure you set the right groove for the season with our new quiz. Start your playlist off right as you chill by the pool, hit up the fam at the reunion, ride along with friends or just enjoy your own vibe. I got “Put It On The Floor Again” by Latto ft. Cardi B. Okurrr!
