Kicked out of church :0

[Sylph]

I was supposed to perform today at a friend of mines church, because I was invited, and was all primped and ready, after a long day of helping out at my old music institute. Only to be turned away at the last minute, because my shirt was too "un-godlike" and that I would scare the children. Well, I'm not one to get mad (well, easily anyway), so I politely packed up Bertha(my Viola :3 ) and left to go back home.

It's funny cause when I was in there alot of the guys there were checking me out(I can definitely tell :p, we have alot of extreme closet cases, especially in the church), and the children were "oooing" and "ahhing" over Bertha and yet, I was told that my shirt was to "un-godlike" and that I would scare the children. :confused: I was laughing the whole way home, cause they missed out on having a young person, who's actually interested in things outside of a gang/violence/promiscuity, perform for them.

Music(especially strings) is not a very common practice here, unless your rich and privledged(like some private school students I know ) or are into percussion/ singing. I have a sneaky suspicion that I was removed from the church, was because they could see that I was obviously gay, and did not want me there.

Has something similar happened to any of you? It's sad, but i'm not a vengeful person, but I did want to share my little "drama" today lol.

[jamiebfd]

What was wrong with the shirt?
explain why it was un-godlike

[Person66]

What were you wearing? What was on the shirt?
How on earth could they tell you were "obviously gay"?
What kind of a church was this? (ie. what denomination)
I don't go to churches often. Sometimes to St. Patrick's cathedral cause it's so beautiful and cause you can get a bottle of Holy water for $1 or my own orthodox church to get holy bread for Easter.
They are so miserly with that bread, they will never give you a whole piece (serves4 to 6) no matter what your donation. So I just snatch it and give them a dollar I don't care if they give me a dirty look.
Trust me they need no more money for more fancy robes and solid gold jewelry and paraphernalia!
They make the Catholics look frugal!
Sorry about what happened, I would have just told them "that's nonsense the children don't look scared to me" and ignored them, I can certainly understand your anger/frustration.

[pellaz]

this is refreshing. Other times it has been a hopeless closet case gay hanging on to his or her childhood cultural experiences at the local church.

this thread defiantly needs a pic of the t-shirt. if you post count will support it.

[matty7]

well u handled that with so much dignity mate - u have my total respect

the church should see they need the youth not alienate them - just a shame the audience missed out on your performance

[Sylph]

What were you wearing? What was on the shirt?
How on earth could they tell you were "obviously gay"?
What kind of a church was this? (ie. what denomination)
I don't go to churches often. Sometimes to St. Patrick's cathedral cause it's so beautiful and cause you can get a bottle of Holy water for $1 or my own orthodox church to get holy bread for Easter.
They are so miserly with that bread, they will never give you a whole piece (serves4 to 6) no matter what your donation. So I just snatch it and give them a dollar I don't care if they give me a dirty look.
Trust me they need no more money for more fancy robes and solid gold jewelry and paraphernalia!
They make the Catholics look frugal!
Sorry about what happened, I would have just told them "that's nonsense the children don't look scared to me" and ignored them, I can certainly understand your anger/frustration.

So many questions :o .

To answer them, and everybody else, It was a black shirt with skulls,roses and feathers on it(that's not to gothic, right?) and it was bought for me when I was in Florida by a friend. As for the obviously gay part, If you ever see a straight guy wearing skinny jeans(not tight ones in my case ) and shoes with little flower petals on them (mine are black and red ), then let me know, cause I haven't seen them.

The community here is pretty gay friendly in the day time and mostly in public areas(although we have our problems), but as it is predominantly a black country, it can be bad if your alone or "too" gay(think of it as a Brittish Jamaica if you will). The church I went to perform at was a Seven Day Adventist church.

@Matty7-
Thanks it definitely isn't easy, especially in my community, but I've got to live my life the way I want to, even with negative views :3 I'm not particularly religious, but I know some people say, the bible says : "come as you are" and "judge not ye be judge 7x over" or something along those lines, and I've learned to accept people and their views, good and bad, and love them anyway

@Pellaz -
Thanks :3 , I wasn't raised in the church (looong story), unlike my other siblings(again, long story)who were brought up there , so I never even got attached to the church like that. As for the pictures, I put them in my Music and Me Album(should be in the Gallery >.> , forgot to mention that)
(ps. about the Cello thing[cause I forgot ], as long as it isn't to low of a price and/or damaged it should be good to go. But if he gets serious, then you're probably going to have to expect to pay more :3 )

[CellarDweller]

*shakes head*

I'm sorry you were asked to leave the church. Talk about having an un-christian attitude. Here was someone (you) willling to give your time to them for free, and they ask you to leave because of what you were wearing. That's just sad, but I must say, you handled the event with a great amount of dignity and class. Good for you!

[Person66]

Sorry about all the questions, I have a tendency to do that.
But please allow me to add that you have 100% of my support and respect for the dignified way in which you handled the situation.
There is no way that the shirt as you described it was inappropriate in any way. I would have responded that there's nothing wrong with my shirt and ignored them but I can be too confrontational that way, and you definitely handled it in a much more appropriate manner than I would have.
You have to understand that churches like the 7'th Day Adventists are intolerant places, which is why I never go to those places even before I dated guys, the Bible might say "come as you are...." but these people are selective about what passages they honor. For example The Book Of Leviticus forbids homosexuality but it also condones human trafficking.
Best of luck with Bertha and your music mile:

[pellaz]

i looked at the t-shirt, nothing to anti anything, just dont understand ...
not a big church goer myself, my current average is once every 10 years. both times it was creepy.

[TimmyThink]

I you handle yourself well.......I would not been has mature in that situation, I would have been all....

WELL JESUS WORE A DRESS!!! AND SANDLES!!!! AND HAD LONG GIRLY HAIR!!!!