Dear Revealer readers,

Late last month, on the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, Florida governor Ron DeSantis visited a Christian school and signed several anti-LGBTQ bills into law. Florida will now only recognize a person’s gender assigned at birth. Consequently, a transgender woman cannot change her gender on state-issued documents and has no protections if a hospital insists on treating her as a man. On that point, DeSantis had already signed a bill into law that allows medical providers to refuse care to anyone who they find morally objectionable, such as an EMT who refuses to treat a battered transgender patient because he believes God only ordained two genders. DeSantis also signed a bill into law that prohibits gender-affirming care for minors. Nonbinary and transgender adolescents who want to take puberty blockers are no longer permitted to access them in Florida (and, for that matter, in several other states). And DeSantis made it illegal for performance venues to allow minors to see drag performances, including, I kid you not, stage productions of Tootsie. And all of this comes on the heels of the Florida Department of Education investigating a fifth-grade teacher because she showed an animated Disney movie that had a gay character.

Revealer Editor, Brett Krutzsch

We are witnessing a full assault on LGBTQ people. We must not dismiss these actions as political theater to advance rightwing politicians (although it is also that). These laws make life for transgender people in several states difficult, if not impossible. In a country riddled with gun violence, poverty, and rampant child abuse within heterosexual households, transgender Americans have become scapegoats who are responsible for none of those things. We must all ask ourselves what we are doing to resist this movement so that we can keep trans people, and all LGBTQ people, safe.

With the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation throughout the country, the June issue of The Revealer begins with two articles that explore LGBTQ politics. In “The First Brick at Stonewall,” Heather White investigates the origin stories of the Stonewall riots, the mythic birth of the LGBTQ movement, and considers why the queer community has latched onto stories about hero-saviors. Then, our issue moves beyond the United States since anti-LGBTQ legislation is rising around the globe. In “What Ghana’s Anti-LGBTQ Bill Means for Queer Christians,” Ugonnaora Owoh explores how queer religious Ghanaians are reacting to a new bill that criminalizes LGBTQ people.

Given how frustrating these laws are and how frightening their popularity is in various religious communities, our next article considers how people react to all sorts of injustices. Our June issue broadens out beyond LGBTQ topics with “It’s a Beef: How Revenge Movies and TV Shows Help Us Cope,” where Kaya Oakes reflects on revenge fantasies and what they offer people under various systems of oppression.

Since June is the start of summer, the issue also features an excerpt from Sandra Fox’s new book The Jews of Summer: Summer Camp and Jewish Culture in Postwar America, where she explores role-playing games at Jewish sleepaway camps and how they have been used to promote a positive sense of Jewish identity.

For those wanting even more summer camp nostalgia, our June issue includes the newest episode of the Revealer podcast: “Summer Camp and American Jews.” Sandra Fox joins us to discuss how summer camps became such an important aspect of the American Jewish experience. We explore why Jewish communities invested so heavily in sleepaway camps, the camps’ goals, and why Jewish leaders saw summer camps as key places to protect the future of Jewish life in the United States. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Finally, for anyone looking for robust articles about LGBTQ people and religion, our June issue includes a roundup of eight pieces from The Revealer that are valuable resources this Pride month, from our special issue on “Trans Lives and Religion,” to a profile of an openly-gay, Black Catholic priest.

As we watch what is unfolding in Florida, where organizers in some cities have canceled Pride events because they fear for their safety, we should remember that the anti-LGBTQ, anti-reproductive freedom, anti-Black laws that the Florida government is enacting can, in a short time, enfold all of us. Our country is in a precarious situation. Following the 2024 election, Florida could become the model for the United States. Let’s make sure we don’t get to that. Let’s do what we can to prevent that. Let’s support the people in states and cities who find themselves under legislative assault. And let’s remember that Pride commemorates a protest against an unjust society that did not want queer people to exist. We are there again. The time for protest is now.

Yours,
Brett Krutzsch, Ph.D.