me kissing you: me kissing Megan

Friday, April 27, 2012

me kissing Megan

Megan Rohrer is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's first transgendered ordained pastor. So if you're Lutheran and queer, you've probably come across the name before.

Living in San Francisco, Megan came a long way to be kissed by me. Not that Megan knew that was the reason for the trip. As the keynote speaker for the annual Houston Transgender Unity Banquet, I'm sure Megan had other priorities in mind. Whatever. I'm still giving Megan a kiss of peace, to take back to San Francisco.

Megan's main ministry is to the homeless population of San Francisco. In anticipation of the the Unity Banquet, I interviewed Megan for Houston's OutSmart magazine, so learn more about that ministry by clicking here.

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about this blog . . .

So 2011 saw me dealing with a bad 2010 by posting a picture of myself, taken first thing every morning, as some kind of conceptual art project. You can see all 365 blurry, bleary photos here.

As it was, at it's core, a response to loneliness, I knew it was not something I could or should sustain beyond the one year boundary I initially set for it. But I sort of liked this photo blogging thing . . .

So I decided the next logical step was to reach out to other people. Not just reach out, but cross some of my own comfort zones and kiss them. Not on the mouth, not in a romantic or sexual way, just a kiss on the cheek.

So, this year, I plan on kissing as many people as I can. I won't even try to kiss someone everyday, but in various situations, I may just ask someone, "hey, can I kiss you and photographically document the event?" If they say no, no worries, I'll move on. If they say yes, I'll say, "I have this tiny release form granting me permission." (It is a tiny release form, postcard size.)

It's a small way to get me out of a rut I'm in and also to spread a little love. In the ancient Christian church, there was the custom of the "kiss of peace" (which survives in liturgical churches today as "passing the peace," usually signified by a handshake). I think of this exercise as something of passing the peace, too, of offering a kiss of peace to whoever will let me do it. And document it.

Wait---there's more! You can be kissed, too! If you're in the Houston area and would like to be kissed by me, let me know. Or if you're coming to Houston. Or even if you're not in Houston or coming to Houston, but want to be on a list of potential kissees, in the event that I might be traveling to where you are (I get up Austin a few times a year, I hope to get to Chicago this year, etc.), let me know that, too. you never know where I might pop up. Email me at neilellisorts (at) yahoo dot com.