Not Church ("Mama Bears" Film Screening & Queer Sing-a-long)

6259 Middle Fiskville Road,Austin TX 78752

11 September, 2022

Description

For this first-ever convening of Not Church, we'll watch MAMA BEARS, a documentary by director Daresha Kyi that offered me the most healing experience I've had since I left the church at 19. MAMA BEARS is currently doing the festival circuit and not yet available for wide release, but it feels urgent to me that others who grew up struggling to reconcile queerness and faith see it ASAP, which is why I've organized a special screening Sunday, September 11 at the AFS Cinema. One of the things I miss about church is singing my heart out in a roomful of people who are also singing *their* hearts out. That's why after the movie ends, we'll do a pop song sing-a-long that will include a generous helping of queer anthems. 6:30pm - Arrival 7pm - Film begins 8:45pm - Queer anthem sing-a-long From the film website: "Spread across the country but connected through private Facebook groups, they call themselves “mama bears” because while their love is warm and fuzzy, they fight ferociously to make the world kinder and safer for all LGBTQ+ people. Although some may have grown up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians, mama bears are willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to keep their offspring safe—even if it challenges their belief systems and rips their worlds apart. "MAMA BEARS is an intimate, thought-provoking exploration of the journeys taken by Sara Cunningham and Kimberly Shappley, two 'mama bears' —whose profound love for their LGBTQ children has turned them into fierce advocates for the entire queer community — and Tammi Terrell Morris, a young African American lesbian whose struggle for self-acceptance perfectly exemplifies why the mama bears are so vitally important." At my last event, Y'allentines Day, I shared my own story of discovering my queerness after being raised in a Baptist community that vilified LGBTQ2A+ people. You can watch me share my story at the video link below. Learn more about Democrasexy at Democrasexy.com or on social media @Democrasexy.