Queer Devotions: The Divinity Of Drag with Carmen Del Rae

The latest episode of RFF’s podcast, Queer Devotions, is now available!

Check out “The Divinity Of Drag” with Sheldon Weisbeker, known to many as Carmen Del Rae!

Moving and wickedly funny, Sheldon Weisbeker on the podcast describes his experience growing up Jewish and coming to terms with being adopted, gay and finally, spiritual. This is a short and sweet episode affirming the various ways to participate in Judaism, as well as finding new definitions of family. Thanks again to Sheldon!

You can listen to this wonderful episode HERE and don’t forget to subscribe to Queer Devotions on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

RFF Statement: Conversion Therapy in Iran

A troubling new report from the United Nations has brought to light the use of electric shock therapy and other forms of inhumane treatment against LGBTQ children and teens in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Rainbow Faith and Freedom joins our international friends and partners in denouncing and condemning the ongoing use of torture against members of the LGBTQ community. 

The use of electric shock therapy, involuntary hormone treatment and psychoactive drugs are practices that violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

These methods of torture are being employed as attempted conversion therapy, a practice and concept against which RFF stands firmly opposed in all nations and in all faiths. 

Iran continues to criminalize consensual sexual relations between men with the death penalty and between women with one hundred lashes. 

We will continue to implore religious and political leaders to end this devastating treatment of LGBTQ people, particularly children, and will work to facilitate positive social change both within Canada and abroad.

Queer Devotions: Decolonizing Gender with Hazim Ismail

This is such a favourite and well-received episode that we are releasing it with a new intro!

Queer, non-binary and Muslim anthropologist Hazim Ismail brings to Queer Devotions a wealth of knowledge on the long history of gender fluidity and colonialism’s role in imposing strict and violent definitions. In a deeply informative conversation, Brigitte speaks with Hazim about how misconceptions of the incompatibility with queerness and religion, their early teachings about gender in a Muslim context, and so much more.

You can listen to the full episode HERE and subscribe to Queer Devotions on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an update!

Want to learn more? Visit our RFF Resource Portal to explore more about non-Western gender fluidity!

Queer Devotions: From the Bathhouse Raids to Black Lives Matter

Queer Devotions (Bonus Episode): From the Bathhouse Raids to Black Lives Matter: 40 Years Since Brent Hawkes' Hunger Strike

Queer Devotions is pleased to present a special bonus episode of the podcast to commemorate and contextualize the 40th anniversary of RFF founder and Executive Director Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes’ hunger strike in protest of the “Operation Soap” bathhouse raids. 

In February 1981, police arrested hundreds of men at gay bathhouses in the city of Toronto, the second largest mass arrest in Canadian history. This sweeping action served to galvanize the city’s gay community and would set in motion major social change that swept beyond the downtown core and served as a key inspiration for the gay pride movement across Canada. 

In this special bonus episode, Queer Devotions speaks with Brent and asked him about what gave rise to these protests, the immediate aftermath, and the trajectory of the raids in conjunction with Black Lives Matter and calls for racial justice within the queer community. 

You can listen to this special bonus episode HERE and subscribe to Queer Devotions to ensure you never miss an update. 

40th Anniversary Of Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes' "Operation Soap" Hunger Strike

February 2021 marks the fortieth anniversary of the “Operation Soap” raids in Toronto which saw nearly 300 members of the LGBTQ population arrested in one night. This sweeping action served to galvanize the city’s gay community and would set in motion major social change that swept beyond the downtown core and served as a key inspiration for the gay pride movement across Canada. 

On February 15, 1981, RFF founder and Executive Director Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes, then the Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, began a hunger strike to demand an investigation of the police force and in protest of the raids and their implications on the rights and privacy of those affected. 

“People who were arrested in bathhouses or other situations - their names would be published in the newspapers. And often, people would be fired from their jobs or they would be kicked out of their families … or worse yet, commit suicide.”

… Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes on the impetus for his peaceful protest action.

In the days and weeks that followed, protest marches and mass rallies were held in the city as Rev. Hawkes continued his hunger strike. 

After twenty-five days, Rev. Hawkes ended his fast when Toronto City Council formally requested an investigation into the raids and into the city’s relationship with its LGBTQ community. 

Forty years later, considerable steps have been taken to improve and foster the relationship between the city, law enforcement, and the LGBTQ community. Our work continues today to ensure the progress made is ongoing and evolves to reflect the intersectionality of discrimination and persecution based on sexual identity, race, gender, and faith, both here in Toronto, across Canada, and throughout the world. 

Queer Devotions: "Queer Seniors To The Front" with MPP Dr. Jill Andrew

On this week’s episode of Queer Devotions, we welcome special guest MPP Dr. Jill Andrew.

Dr. Andrew is a fierce advocate for queer seniors - fighting the homophobia and transphobia embedded within many governmental institutions and the for-profit model of long-term care homes, which has put so many seniors at risk in this pandemic.

Enjoy this week’s conversation with Dr. Andrew about the many issues facing LGBTQ seniors and how we, as a community, must address them.

You can access this week’s full episode HERE.

Spirituality and Social Justice

How Did We Get Here? How Do Leaders Become Involved In Social Justice?

In many progressive Christian circles, they talk about the spiritual gospel and the social gospel being two sides of the same coin. Historically, this has meant that people of faith are challenged to not only lead deeply personal spiritual lives, but to also engage in actions that make the world a better place, a more just place, a more compassionate place, for everyone. It means that our faith calls us to be engaged in activities that both care for people in need and challenge the systems that might lead to the inequity in the first place. We see this dual approach in the lives of many of the prominent spiritual and social justice leaders. In Canada, this was profoundly seen in the life of Tommy Douglas, who was both a Baptist minister and also a leading politician. As premier of the province of Saskatchewan, he introduced socialized medicine because he believed that the size of a person’s bank account should not dictate the quality of their health care. He did this because his faith called him to be concerned about the sick, and now all of Canada is better off because of our healthcare system.

We also see this dual approach in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was also a minister and a prominent leader in the civil rights movement. Dr. King also spoke eloquently about how his faith caused him to fight for social justice and civil rights for any marginalized community. 

So today, as people of faith, we are also called to be committed to spirituality and social justice. And together as a faith based organization, Rainbow Faith and Freedom (RFF) is called to hear the cries of LGBTI people all over the world who want to find faith communities where we can worship without discrimination, and families where we can be loved without exception.

At RFF, we believe that we are called to start a movement that directly confronts and reduces religious-based homophobia. It is our calling and our responsibility to address this issue. Religious-based homophobia stands in the way of both of these objectives, and as a result, is a major obstacle to the achievement of LGBTI equality. RFF is a movement to mobilize people of faith to ensure that families and faith communities are safer for LGBTI people in Canada and around the world. If religion has been a major problem, then it means that religious people of faith need to be a major part of the solution. RFF will mobilize that support; spirituality and social justice coming together.

Our next blog will talk about why religious-based homophobia and the role it plays around the world.

RFF’s podcast "Queer Devotions" is back for Season Two!

Queer Devotions seeks to uncover stories of how faith-based transphobia and homophobia manifest in Canada and identify moments of resilience and transformative change. 

Part of Season Two is looking back, exploring our most popular episodes while also bringing you new ones, including our interview with MPP Dr. Jill Andrew, the first Black and Queer person first elected to the Ontario Legislature, who has fought tirelessly for LGBTQ2S+ and progressive issues in the province.

We’ll also hear from Carmen Del Rae, the drag queen who performed with us during Faith in Crisis, about her experience in the divinity of drag. 


We’re also looking forward to a special series this spring, 25 Years of Queer Activism partnering with the “Out of the Closet” lecture series to bring you oral histories of queer seniors. This exciting initiative has been generously funded by the Michael Lynch History Grant from the University of Toronto. 


Make sure to subscribe to Queer Devotions wherever you get your podcasts and look for new episodes every Tuesday. 

A direct link to Queer Devotions can be found HERE.

Caning Sentences In Aceh, Indonesia

February 1, 2021

We at Rainbow Faith and Freedom are distressed to learn of the recent incident in the Indonesian province of Aceh which saw two Muslim men publicly caned for a consensual same-sex relationship.

The fact that this sentence, unquestionably a violation of basic human rights, was carried out publicly and with an audience adds a further sense of concern.

While we recognize that Indonesia no longer considers homosexuality a crime, the continued targeting of members of the LGBTQ community both in Aceh and throughout the country continues to cause concern.

We will continue our work, both at home and internationally, to ensure that the human rights of LGBTQ2S+ people of all faiths are respected and upheld.

A link to this story can be found here.

Black History Month 2021

Rainbow Faith and Freedom joins our friends both at home and abroad in recognizing Black History Month. 

Black History Month is an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions and culture of people of colour across Canada and throughout the world. We celebrate the achievements, traditions, leadership and artistry of the Black community. 

This year, with the theme of “The Future Is Now,” it is also a time to work for a brighter future by addressing ongoing systemic racism and discrimination faced by the Black community in the present.

There can be no doubt of the importance of faith in many Black communities and we join those communities, particularly this month, in amplifying the call for an end to racial and faith-based injustices. While working to seek an end to persecution on the basis of race, we must acknowledge that an individual or group’s experience of discrimination is also informed by the intersection of their race, gender, sexuality, and faith. 

You can learn more about Black History Month in Canada here.

RFF Statement: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

On this annual day of commemoration, recognizing 76 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, we pause to remember the more than six million Jews and countless others who were victims of Nazi atrocities.

This dark period in history devastated an entire faith across Europe and also maliciously targeted people who today would identify as LGBTQ.

As we continue to move forward from the massive acts of hatred perpetrated during the Holocaust, it is incumbent on all of us to refuse to condone persecution on the basis of faith or sexuality.

We must never stay silent when human rights are threatened.