i know not everybody gets the Zuni Mountain Sanctuary newsletter. ZMS is a Radical Faerie Sanctuary in New Mexico, two hours west of Albuquerque. Our newsletter will be available really soon online at www.zms.org/ thanks in large part to Miri Mariki who has put in many hours working hard on this issue.

i've been down here at ZMS almost 4 months. i've been a steward-in training down here since May. Making money is a challenge down here and i'm seeking sponsorship. Stewards are asked to contribute $150-200 a month, which isn't much. If you're interested in sponsoring me or another steward, please email me offlist or contributions can be sent c/o ZMS P.O. Box 636, Ramah, NM 87321. i'd also like to receive letters, cards, care packages... it's always nice to rceeive mail when you're out in the middle of nowhere.

or if you'd rather donate directly to the steward account or make a contribution to our bathhouse fundraising drive, you can do so online via paypal:
www.zms.org/joinsupport.html

anyway, here's my newsletter article. i'm always open to feedback ; )

Some of my best friends are Faeries By SCHWARTZ, AKA thee origynal sinnerjee

Oftentimes i feel like that scene from Monty Python's "Life of Brian" where Brian is on the balcony. And the crowd parrots back to him, "We are all individuals!" And then a lone voice calls out, "i'm not!"

i don't regard myself a Radical Faerie these days; just like i no longer identify as gay or queer or Pagan or Christian. All these identities i claimed when i was younger; all have shaped me profoundly. But i've stopped applying these labels to myself because—like the closet—they all have their limitations and baggage. The symbols, spiritual significance, separatism and politics which many people attach to same-sex love don't resonate with me, and seem extraneous to my feelings for men. And the older i get, the more interested i am in breaking down the cultural boundaries that humans create to maintain separation from Others. Which is why i often request “please don't call me 'girl' or 'queen'” because i want ZMS to be a space where EVERYBODY can feel welcome—instead of promoting clique-ishness displayed by feminine terms of endearment. (Editor's note: Whatever Muriel!)

After i stopped being a Christian, i'd still wait outside church when services were letting out so that i could catch up with my church-going friends. Same holds true for Faeries. Ultimately, it's the relationships i've forged that keep me hanging 'round Faeries even when Faerie cultural norms and assumptions rub me the wrong way. It's easy to get hung up on what doesn't resonate. (One of my favorite mantras recently has become "Not for me. Blessed Be.") Which begs the question: if i'm not a Faerie—not queer-identified—then why do i want to be a steward at a Radical Faerie sanctuary???

Because there's plenty of room here for folks who feel empowered by claiming certain identities AND for those of us who reject labels. Because the four stewards here and many of the visitors are committed and hard-working and i love it when we're busting our asses and working it out. Because the splendid, meticulously-maintained gardens here and Ramah Farmer's Market provide an abundance of organic vegetables, eggs, dairy and meat which support a local-vore diet. Because my ancestors insist that respecting the sacredness of water means shitting in a hole in the earth and pissing on thirsty plants. Because i love to run around nekkid and drum and sing and carry on all night long by a fire. Because the local support for weekly potlucks and sweat lodges creates many joyful, powerful, healing experiences. Because my friends put up with me vulturing so much tobacco from them. Because there's more sky and so many rainbows out here and the cloud medicine is rapidly ever-changing and exploding with the vivid hues of dreams manifesting.

Because this is my home and i don't need to be a Faerie in order to fit in here. ZMS is the first sanctuary i ever visited, the first place i discovered how to love myself and others unconditionally. And for the many loving gifts of friendship i have received here over the years, i will always be grateful.

As the California Supreme Court debates the legality of Prop 8 which denied marriage privileges to same sex couples

As people crowd the Castro in San Francisco to demonstrate in favor of marital privileges for 2-person couples

I wander around in a jester's hat with signs reading:

"Overturn Prop 8!
Then OVERTURN MARRIAGE!
Stop Privileging Couples!
Equality for EVERYONE!!"

and

Silly Faggots!
Dicks are for Tricks!
Weddings are for Chicks!

I'm opposed to Prop 8. It's unfair and discriminatory for civil rights measures to be placed on ballot measures and passed by majority rule.

I'm also opposed to marriage. It's unfair and discriminatory for the State to offer special privileges to one kind of relationship and to idealize an illusion of monogamous coupling up as the best model for everyone.

Besides, the Holy Bible is crystal clear:
Marriage
equals
One Man
PLUS
As many teenage girls as he can afford
PLUS
A Dowry for each girl paid to her father
Sometimes the dowry is a flock of goats.
AND sometimes it's a Double-or-nothing requested dowry of one hundred Philistine foreskins (I Samuel 18: 25-27)
skepticsannotatedbible.com/1sam/18.html

This message is a paid advertisement by The Church of More-men.
"Fuck Marriage! WE wanna fuck more men!!!"