It is now crucial for our community to reclaim our spiritual heritage, and find ways of expressing that heritage that are a match for who we are today.

As a child I was an altar boy. That meant I got to wear fabulous red robes with fine white lace overlay. I grew up in Communist Cuba, where toys were few and there was little worth watching on TV. The upside to that was that I grew up reading, and developed a life-long love affair with books. My earliest heroes, besides Tarzan, were the Catholic saints, whose lives I read and inspired me. I believed they had achieved the highest purpose to which humans could aspire, particularly if they had given up their lives for God.

In those days there was real danger in going to church, and every Sunday my parents, spiritual revolutionaries in their own right, would dress all eight of their children alike (the last one was born in exile) and cart us off to church. It was very “Sound of Music.” I remember sitting up on this huge, elevated altar area, looking down at the congregation, and having a fantasy that the Communists would tear down the doors of the Cathedral, invade the church, and try to desecrate the Eucharist. Valiantly, I would hurl my body and be riddled by bullets, and, having thus protected the Host, I would become a martyr. Thankfully, these days I no longer entertain martyr fantasies. But memories like this have helped me to realize that from an early age I entertained a desire to serve God (as I understood it then) and humanity, to make a difference in this world.

As a tormented and confused teen, like many GLBT people I felt compelled to reject a religion which had no room for me, and which condemned me to eternal damnation. Like too many of us, I tragically threw out the baby with the baptismal water, unable to reconcile my spiritual urgings with my budding but powerful sexuality.

Angry at God and church, I rejected anything that smacked of religion or spirituality. I wanted nothing to do with a deity that allowed such needless pain and suffering to occur, not only in my own case, but in that of the countless millions of people, gay or straight, who have gone to their death feeling less than, or like sinners, or like they failed, because of mistaken, misinterpreted and mistranslated moral teachings.

In my late twenties I was living in South Beach, where I had a condo on the water, a sporty car, a beautiful lover, Armani suits, original art on my walls. I was sought after socially and professionally. My life was enviable in many ways. Yet the more had, the more I felt there was something missing. “There has to me more to life,” I thought. Eventually, at 29, I walked out of my cushy life and embarked on a spiritual journey to rediscover my own spirituality, my own personal connection to the Divine. In the process I also rediscovered service, making a difference in this world, and through that, the expanding hole in my gut began to fill itself. Having re-established a connection to my essential nature, my life regained meaning.

In the ensuing years, I learned how, throughout history and across many cultures, people we today call GLBT were not only spiritually inclined, but, in many cases, were honored for the roles of spiritual leadership we fulfilled. I was astounded to find that my GLBT ancestors had been shamans and visionaries, mediators and healers, priests/priestesses and spiritual activists, pioneers of consciousness and keepers of beauty. This eye-opening research led to the founding of Q-Spirit, and later, to a book.

It is now crucial for our community to reclaim its spiritual heritage, to find ways of expressing it that are a match for who we are. Some will find a place for themselves within established religions, while others will strike out on their own, establishing their own spiritual connection. Whatever we do, it is important to go within, rediscover, reconnect. As we consciously reclaim and reinvent the archetypal roles we have always played, we will find personal fulfillment; our community's healing process will be expedited; and the ripple effects will be felt throughout the world.

info@SoulfulPower.us