The Queer Resurrection of Alabama

Last updated on: February 8, 2015 at 12:07 pm by Jeff Hood

The Queer Resurrection of Alabama 2015-02-08T12:07:57-06:00 Jeff Hood

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The year was 2005. I was a junior at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The Glomerata or our yearbook had just come out. I remember sitting at my fraternity house and hearing people laugh about a picture in the Glomerata. While I don’t remember the exact name of the organization, the picture was of the LGBT organization on campus. There were three LGBT people who were willing to take a stand at one of the most conservative public universities in the nation and have their pictures placed in the Glomerata. While I was still incredibly conservative at the time, I wondered if God was not somehow present in the courage of these three individuals? Nearly a decade later, I have no doubt.

Did God forget about Alabama? Through the years, I have wrestled with this question over and over. From slavery to segregation to continued hate, Alabama is no stranger to evil. After earning two degrees from Auburn and a degree from the University of Alabama, I have direct knowledge and experience of how hateful Alabama can be. However, God always leaves a remnant. Throughout the state, I have met courageous people who are living their lives authentically and challenging the evils of Alabama.

I can think of no more authentic of Alabamians that Chi and Jessica Peoples. Recently the subject of a Freedom to Mary commercial, I met this beautiful couple about five years ago. In their persistence to live and be who God created them to be in their home state, I believe is Alabama’s hope. When same-sex couples start filing out of the courthouses, I encourage the people of Alabama to look to them for who and what God wants you to be…love.

For so long, Alabama has been dead in hate and prejudice. As a Christian, I don’t believe in death without resurrection. I think LGBT people are birthing a queer resurrection in Alabama. I know it will spread even further. I can’t wait to see the beauty of God in the land of the living. Who would have ever thought that Alabama would be one the Southern states leading the way?

Amen.

University of Alabama

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