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The Rev. Charles Straight was there when it happened. In the eighties he was a phlebotomist as the AIDS crisis exploded, when it was still called GRID or Gay Related Immune Disorder. Today he’s the […]
Fausto Fernós is the host of iTunes’ #1 LGBT talk show, the Feast of Fun podcast, which he produces and hosts with his partner, Marc Felion.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Fausto Fernós created the Feast of Fools in 1998 as wacky artists variety show in Chicago, Illinois. Feast of Fun grew out of an audio blog to promote the live show into the world’s most downloaded talk show aimed for gay people.
When he’s not blogging, recording or sleeping, Fausto can be found at the gym or appreciating the beauty found in nature.
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Comments
Yay 4 FOF! I have so much catching up to do listening to shows. What have I been doing?! What have YOU been doing?
i respect and agree with reverend straight’s theory on black jesus. i really don’t see it any different than catholicism’s virgen de guadalupe (our lady of guadalupe) who appeared to the peasant juan diego near mexico city in the early 16th century. in theory she’s one of the many apparitions of the virgin mary, only with brown skin and reflective of some traits of mexican identity. today, there’s a popular saying in mexico: “there is one god, and her name is mary.”
one theory about her is that is really a creation of the spanish church, who used the image of the aztec goddess tonantzin and merged it with mary, in order to ease the aztec disbelievers into the catholic religion. but that’s getting into a whole other subject. i guess my point is that people feel a connection when there are similarities. thus, a black jesus and brown mary.
Rev. Straight was fantastic! A truely great interview! I’d love to see him on the podcast again. It is nice to hear from a sane and nice man of faith. Props to Fausto and Marc!
Rev Straight – you rock!
I loved the show today guys! It’s great to highlight the religious figures who are on our side and embrace the GLBT community.
I am soooooooooo happy you guys did this show!! I have had the same debate with people for years and years about the interpretations of the bible and it is so refreshing to see that there are others who have similar views. Reverend Thank you!! FOF Thank you!!
Great show! A very interesting topic.
On interesting thing I heard mentioned is that the United Church of Christ is the most accepting of gays. I’ve heard that from other sources as well but I don’t think it means that all Church of Christ churches are accepting.
I say this because when I was in high school I used to go to a Church of Christ church and when I came out in October of 2000 they were NOT accepting of me at all. So much so that they tried several times to “convert” me using various methods, one included holding me down on the floor and doing some sort of exorcism or banishment of the “abomination inside me”.
Most of the conversion sessions were provoked by my parents, but the church was more than happy to oblige.
At the time it was horrifying but now I think back on it and wonder why I didn’t just leave home all together.
Needless to say, I am no longer a member of the choir. 😉
I would love to be Exorcised some time………….I am just afraid of all the Demons that they might find. Demons to some Angels to others… Who’s to say? But the holding down part does sound HOT. Does it count if I can hold myself down?
I can just see it now……………..THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU………and then Glitter flying everywhere…………Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………………..I am feeling a movie coming on now.
I will do the MAKEUP of course!
Love ya
-SAL-E
Seriously a great interview, I hope you have Rev Straight back on the show.
great show! it was interesting to hear a religious figure speak who was not completely bigoted. i usually get totally turned off/uninterested by religious talk but the way he spoke and stated his views made it more interesting! He seems like a really awesome guy.
Great interview guys. What a breath of fresh air Revd Straight was. From my own experience it is the fundamentalist/charismatic churches that have the most blinkered and literal view of the bible. My husband and I have been openly gay in all the churches we’ve been involved with over the years, in fact 3 of the vicars attended our civil partnership last year. I guess that gays are attracted to the ceremony and “drag” involved in the Anglo-Catholic churches – lol.
Mark
x
I very much agree with the Reverend’s opinion about culture, values and 9/11, but I was hugely suprised to hear an American saying it! I don’t think it’s a war about the culture, values, politics or freedoms of Americans or America per se – I think it’s a war about those values being transplanted into Islamic countries by force. That the debate in the US seems to have missed that point is a shame.
A serious subject, I know – and a fantastic interview! Thanks!
Jase
Nice to get a splice of life from the Rev. Straight. To the point about Black Jesus, I do know that in Bolivia that the candles made of animal fat were set very close to the metaphor of Jesus that the soot would literally make any Jesus black.
The Rev. Straight is thoughtful and fallable – all good things in a person. I would really enjoy hearing more about his knowledge of Alexyss Taylor “Vagina Power.” Most interesting show.
Thanks!
If more religious people were like Rev. Straight, the world would be better off.
input your comment here…Black Jesus , Black Jesus, Black Jesus. Enjoyed this show. In the late 70s and 80s I had a plastic dinosaur eating a black jesus on the dashboard of my automobile. I loved looking at it each day. It brought up a W I D E range of conversations when a person entered my car for the first time.
What a wonderful interview. I really enjoyed Rev. Straight’s perspective on everything. He is the type of Reverend I can look up to and admire. It’s refreshing to know there are people like him out there preaching the truth.
As for Black Jesus – I can’t help but think of the 70s TV series Good Times every time I hear the name mentioned. One of the best episodes of the series. I remember seeing it as a kid and thinking it made total sense for each of us to visualize Jesus as we see ourselves.
I wish more people could hear this interview to better understand the truth behind the ‘controversy’ of Jeremiah Wright’s remarks and what they really and truly meant. Unfortunately, as he said, most people can’t handle the truth.
Fausto, I hope for all of our sakes that your prediction comes true. I’m pulling for Obama!!!
i’m a secular whore/heathen, but appreciate rev. straight’s honest and intelligent insight into relevant issues. it’s interesting to hear about the place of the church in the other communities as far as health awareness.
i would have liked to hear more about the obama/wright/meeks controversy, but realize the interview wasn’t supposed to be of a true political nature
great questions from the guys and overall great discourse.
I really enjoyed the show. It’s affirming to know that thinking people of faith really do support the GLBT community. Thanks for asking the hard and thought provoking questions. I know that my own church, the disciples of Christ, has been supportive since before it was cool.
I too enjoyed the interview with Reverend Straight. You guys asked some really neat questions that don’t typically get asked. One critique though…let him answer the questions Fausto! It’s great that you are so excited, but the number of interruptions was distracting for me.
Fausto, Marc, I LOVED this show. My partner and I listened to it this morning while having breakfast…err, 1pm, but hey Sunday – it’s our day off together. We enjoyed the show, and it provided an exciting jumping point for our morning’s back and forth. We both agree that this is a favorite show of ours.
Thank you to Reverend Straight, I’m not a member of your church, or a follower of the trinity; but with people like you, it gives me personal faith in the power of humanity to do good, and how not all churches are aimed to judge and separate; but a way to bring people together to do good and try to understand each other thoughtfully and productively.
I’m with Michael C. Imagine what the world would be like if all religious leaders could be at least as open as Rev. Straight appears to be. Great interview.
Itsbout time we had another religious leader on the show. The mainstream media to mostly ignorant bigots and to hear from a good Christian is a breath of fresh air.
I am catching back up on the Podcast, and this was a great show. The reverend was very gracious and kind in the interview. It feels like Fausto is always trying to pick a fight when a guest with a religious background comes on. I am not sure if he thinks that it will provide a more interesting interview or what, but I assure you that not all of us church-going types are Christian fundamentals. That aside, it was a great show and I am proud of the two of you not breaking it into 2 podcasts, as the flow would have really been disrupted. The intro and exit music provided by Tom Goss is really starting to grow on me. Have a fabulous week.
I’m catching up on shows as well and I really appreciated this interview. I’m kind of in between churches at the moment – having a hard time determining my direction. And to hear someone so intelligent and sincere as Rev. Straight has given me some hope that I can find direction without having to settle or to be afraid of what I’ll find!
Thanks to Marc and Fausto for a great interview/dialogue with him. And thanks to Rev. Straight for being such a sincere, warm, and caring human being!!
Thank you for this show!
Rev. Straight made my heart all warm lovey. This episode was like the antithesis of the Phelps interview.. which made my little heart cramp up and my head ache. I am passing episode onto some other friends who constantly take issue with the church for the sake of taking issue with the church.
His insights were genuine and unique and I think provide good dialogue into the role of the church and the oppression of queer people.
And Lizard Sparks speaks my mind on letting the wise man speak, honeys! Bless him for his patience in being interrupted! I think the only moment you boys were quiet was, when asked about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he talked about how accepting Trinity United Church of Christ (Senator Obama’s church) was of gay people. I think I laughed aloud when he mentioned it and there was no retort or attempt at wit.
Another marvelous advocate in the church community is Chicago’s Rev. Gregory Dell from when he was Pastor at Broadway United Methodist Church. He is an alum of Illinois Wesleyan University (in Bloomington,IL) and I saw him speak there when I was a student. He was also very warm and open-hearted. Here’s a man who put his career on the line to support gay unions.
Read more:
http://www.umaffirm.org/cornet/gregdell.html
I’m sure he would love to come on the show too… perhaps a religious panel could be in order. 🙂
Cheers.