Coming Out Spiritually: The Next Step - Softcover

Christian De La Huerta

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0874779669 ISBN 13: 9780874779660

Publisher: Tarcher, 1999

Synopsis

In these times of dramatic social change, when the highly charged issue of homosexuality is undeniably causing controversy in many arenas--religion, marriage, politics, education, the military--Christian de la Huerta, founder and director of Q-Spirit, offers a fresh outlook on gay spirituality and how to assert it.A spiritual awakening is occurring in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered community, as in much of the world. In this encompassing guidebook, de la Huerta looks at Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufism, New Thought, New Age, and Earth-based religions, including Native American. Cogently investigating these traditions' attitudes, teachings, and policies toward homosexuality, the author gives the queer reader a foundation from which to begin building a spiritual connection. Coming Out Spiritually also synthesizes ten spiritual roles or archetypes people we now call gay or queer have often assumed and continue to enact today: creators of beauty, consciousness scouts, mediators, shamans, and healers, among others. Drawing on these models while acting as a guide to the queer community, the author shows how to look deeper inside; to reach higher than ever before; to step forth more fully into a rightful self. An impassioned call to action, Coming Out Spiritually alternatively touches, challenges, encourages, and supports the queer community to fully reclaim its spiritual heritage.

About this title

About the Author

With 30 years of experience, Christian de la Huerta is a sought-after spiritual teacher, personal transformation coach and leading voice in the breathwork community. An award-winning author, Christian is a sought-after speaker whose unique self-development programs have been experienced across the world in university lecture halls, retreat centers, corporate boardrooms and houses of worship. His role can be described in a variety of ways: retreat facilitator, relationships expert, spiritual coach, leadership consultant and beyond. While his dedication manifests in a variety of ways for a diverse audience, all of Christian's work shares a common result: profound personal transformation. 

Christian is the creator and teacher of several self-development programs designed to help people get free and step into their authentic power in order to enjoy lives of meaning and purpose and relationships that work. His mission is to help catalyze a revolution of consciousness for the sake of humanity's evolution.

His award-winning book, Coming Out Spiritually, was chosen by Publisher's Weekly as one of the 10 best religion books of its year. The book was widely regarded critically and is considered a defining, trend-setting accomplishment in its field. His new book, Awakening the Soul of Power, is being published in October 2020.

Christian is an acclaimed speaker at various settings--including the TedX stage. Over the years, he has established himself as a respected leader in the field of spirituality. His retreats, workshops and other events are known for their life-changing effect and for their inspiring and transformative exploration of our innate human potential. 

Following a 20-year period in the San Francisco Bay Area, he again calls South Florida home, providentially finding his way back to Coconut Grove, his favorite Miami neighborhood. 

More about his work may be found at SoulfulPower.com.

Reviews

For many years, de la Huerta contends, gays and lesbians have been forced by organized religion to separate their sexual identities from their spiritual identities. The resulting spiritual fragmentation, according to the author, has been devastating to the gay community. De la Huerta, the founder and executive director of Q-Spirit, an international network of gays and lesbians focusing on spirituality, encourages "queers" (a term he uses to refer to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people, in spite of its offensiveness to some people) to engage in "practical experimentation" of their spirituality. He states that his "desire is to inspire a sense of wonderment, purpose, service, and mission in the gay community. It is now time for us to consciously reclaim and reinvent the roles we have played." To that end, his first chapter names 10 roles that queers have historically played, arguing that the spiritual function and value of these roles need to be recognized. For example, de la Huerta notes that, throughout history, queers have played the role of shaman and priest. He lists several examples of ancient religious functionaries, such as the female agule ("like men") and the male okule ("like women") mediums of the Lugbara tribe of East Africa. In his second chapter, de la Huerta explores various methodsAyoga, meditation, psychotherapy, Qi Gong and the labyrinthAthat enable a person to encounter his or her own spiritual depths. Chapter three focuses on sexuality as an expression of spirituality. "When we learn to reunite sex and Spirit in our lives," he says, "we will experience change and healing beyond our wildest dreams." In the final chapter, de la Huerta contends that coming out spiritually is a culmination of the journey of self-discovery. He notes that coming out means healing old wounds and moving beyond old identities as spiritually fragmented victims to embrace oneself as one really is: "empowered, compassionate, loving, ready to make a difference in the world, and fully able to embrace the totality of life." Appendices offer an overview of the world's spiritual traditions, a resource guide of spiritual organizations and a list of books, audios and videos. De la Huerta's beautifully crafted prose and his passionate desire to help queers come out spiritually mark this book as an extraordinary achievement. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Queer spirituality is a hot topic among both the gay and lesbian and the religious communities. This volume attempts to tackle the issue from a practical, user-friendly perspective. The author quickly differentiates "spirituality" from "religion," and he makes a substantial effort to remain inclusive of all faiths, traditions, and practices. The appendixes are the most helpful to the reader, providing information on centers for gay and lesbian spirituality and denominational organizations supportive of gays and lesbians, complete with contact information. The short definitions of the spiritual traditions of the world seem to focus on the degree of acceptance within a particular denomination or religion. The perspective is largely that of a gay male point of view (the author makes apology for this), and in the effort to be all-inclusive, much is left out, misconstrued, and misquoted. His embrace of such a "cafeteria" approach to finding spirituality is one of many problems with the book. Nevertheless, a decent starting point for someone seeking information about the place of gays and lesbians within religion. Michael Spinella

Edition details

• Publisher: Tarcher
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874779669
• ISBN 13: 9780874779660
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256