Protecting Our Own: A Queer Solution to Project 2025's Attack on Personal Freedoms
When Religious Fundamentalists Push Their Agenda... Queer Spirituality Pushes Back
There’s no question that my concerns, as a Queer person living in the United States, are many. Watching the terrorist GOP operatives, at the behest of Putin’s Oval Office operative and Paedophile-in-Chief, systematically attack and dismantle healthcare access, human rights, security and our reputation on the world stage has been nothing short of disgusting and maddening.
I have no question that their attacks on members of the transgender community is only the beginning of what they have in store for members of the LGBTQ+ community writ-large. And because I have little confidence in the tepid, aging so-called “leadership” of the Democratic party, which seems terrified of turning the reins over to better-suited younger leaders; so it’s time for the power of the people to protect itself from the people in power.
In the 1980s, a small spiritual community, devoted to living according to the precepts of the Buddha, Ss. Francis and Claire, Rumi and the mystics of the Desert Skete was founded in Orlando, Florida. They were the first to begin to actively care for those sick and dying from AIDS (which was still called GRID or ARC at that time). Holding the hands of those who would have died alone… whose families and loved ones abandoned them in fear or discrimination… this small community of Queer people were dedicated to honouring the dignity of every human being — especially their dying siblings.
That community would eventually grow to become a Queer-centric, post-denominational and esoteric intentional community, serving the spiritual needs of LGBTQ+ people and their allies in North, Central and South America, as well as parts of Europe. In 2004, I had the fortune of becoming the Spiritual Director of that community, known as the Contemplative Order of Compassion.
And it was in that capacity, as the Spiritual Director of the organisation that I now announce our direct opposition to the Trump regime’s attacks on humanity as well as providing safe-harbour and sanctuary to members of the LGBTQ+ community and others who find themselves endangered by the Project 2025 agenda.
Here’s how…
Constitutional Standing
At the heart of our response is a fundamental aspect of American constitutional law: the robust protections afforded to religious freedom — specifically the First Amendment, and its two religion clauses: the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. While they work in tandem to ensure religious liberty, they address different facets of this freedom. This isn't just a theoretical concept; it's a living principle that shapes how government interacts with spiritual traditions in our society.
The Establishment Clause: Preventing Government Endorsement of Religion
Let's start with the Establishment Clause, which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."
This clause prevents the government from:
Establishing an official religion: This means the government cannot create a state church or declare any particular religion as the national religion. Historically, this was a reaction to European practices where state-sponsored churches often led to religious persecution.
Favouring one religion over others: The government must remain neutral concerning religion. It cannot promote or prefer Christianity over Judaism, Islam over Hinduism, or any faith over another.
Favouring religion over non-religion: Equally important, the Establishment Clause dictates that the government cannot favour religious belief over non-belief. It must maintain a posture of neutrality, ensuring that those who do not subscribe to any faith or those whose spirituality operates outside of the mainstream religions are also protected.
The Supreme Court has developed various tests to determine if a government action violates the Establishment Clause. One of the most well-known, though not universally applied today, is the Lemon Test, named from the 1971 case Lemon v. Kurtzman.
This test asks three questions:
Does the law have a secular legislative purpose?
Does its primary effect neither advance nor inhibit religion?
Does it avoid excessive government entanglement with religion?
If a law fails any part of this test, it risks being deemed unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause. So, when we talk about laws that cannot be enacted that inhibit religious expression, the Establishment Clause plays a role by preventing the government from creating an environment where one religion is so favoured that others are effectively suppressed or discouraged.
The Free Exercise Clause: Protecting Individual Religious Practice
This clause states: "...or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This provision protects an individual's right to practice their religion freely, limited only by generally applicable laws that do not target religious practices.
The Free Exercise Clause ensures that:
Individuals can hold any religious belief: The government cannot dictate what you believe or punish you for your sincere religious convictions.
Individuals can perform or abstain from performing certain acts in accordance with their beliefs: This means that religious expression, not just belief, is protected. This could involve rituals, dietary practices, dress codes, or even the decision not to engage in certain activities due to religious objections.
Laws cannot target religious conduct: A law specifically designed to burden a particular religious practice would almost certainly be struck down. And while courts have grappled with this issue, it’s important to note that in the wake of the 1990 case Employment Division v. Smith, in which the Supreme Court held that the Free Exercise Clause does not exempt individuals from complying with neutral laws of general applicability, even if those laws incidentally burden religious practice, the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in 1993 aimed to restore a higher standard of protection for religious exercise. It essentially mandates that if a federal law substantially burdens a person's exercise of religion, the government must demonstrate that applying that burden to the person:
Furthers a compelling governmental interest, and
Is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
This brief Civics lesson serves to illustrate the way we fight back and win, while protecting those who are most in jeopardy.
What the Contemplative Order of Compassion Believes
Although the website for the Order provides a brief overview of the generally-held precepts, values and ideals of our spiritual community, there are several key principles that apply here:
We Recognise the Sacred Expression of Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation
Our spiritual tradition believes that the expression of gender and sexual orientation are sacramental aspects of living authentic lives, necessary for our personal, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being, growth and health.
We reject the binary gender construct and do not believe that restricting a person to a gender identity that is inconsistent with their own true identity, based on their genetic make-up is ethical, moral or legal.
As such, every person who is a member of our community is protected spiritually and constitutionally from any laws that limit or prohibit gender expression, sexual orientation or access to gender-affirming care.
We Consider the Union of Individuals to be Sacred
Marriage and blessings of non-traditional unions of consenting adults are part of the Sacraments of our spiritual tradition.
We Consider the Exercise of Bodily Autonomy to be a Sacrament
It is essential that every adult member of our community exercise bodily autonomy, including full reproductive autonomy, as part of their fulfillment of the sacred duties as stewards of their bodily temple.
Our Vocational Formation Process Requires U.S. Residency
Because aspirants to the Contemplative Order of Compassion’s priesthood is an intensive and deeply personal four year process, preceded by two years of catechumenate postulancy, it is required that candidates reside within the United States and be able to personally attend formation classes, meetings and spiritual direction at our Pennsylvania location.
What this means for the LGBTQ+ (and Immigrant) Communities
Those who are formally-recognised as members, catechumens or postulants of the Contemplative Order of Compassion — who have met the guidelines and requirements of the spiritual tradition, as approved by our ecclesiastical council, are therefore protected against any laws that infringe upon their free practice of our faith.
The government cannot, therefore, enforce illicit restrictions against our gender expression, our bodily autonomy, access to gender-affirming care, sexual orientation, marriages, or relationships, because these things are part of the sacramental life of our spiritual tradition, and as such are protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Additionally, immigrants who are here legally and who are part of our formation program must not be detained or deported, because that is direct interference with their religious freedoms; and those seeking entry to the United States, in order to pursue their religious vocations should be afforded the same rights and protections given to those coming to the United States to attend Catholic or Episcopalian seminaries.
We Welcome Everyone
Our spiritual tradition excludes no one from admission to our communities, provided they agree to our core values, traditions and vision. No one is turned away for inability to financially support our work, nor for their cultural, ethnic or national origin.
Our work is generously supported by those who are able to do so.
Anyone seeking more information is encouraged to reach out to us here or through the website.
We stand united against fascism and hold the principles of Democratic Socialism to be for the highest and greatest good of humanity.
