Thursday, June 11, 2009
Reception: 7pm; Performance: 8pm
Location: Arch St. United Methodist Church
55 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
At the corner of Arch St and Broad St;
Just two short blocks from the Philadelphia Convention Center
This performance is affiliated with the spirituality track of the Philadelphia TransHealth Conference, but open to the public with no admission fee. A free-will offering will be accepted in appreciation of Peterson's work (i.e. we will pass the plate).
Peterson will be available for Q&A after the performance. You may also consider attending his workshop on Friday/Saturday (TBA) of the Conference.
You are also invited to a reception sponsored by the Philadelphia YES! Coalition at 7pm, in advance of the performance. Light refreshments will be available.
The YES! Coalition is an interfaith collaboration of faith communities in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties that welcome people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning people), their families, and friends.
Transgender Bible Characters??? You bet!
Theatrical performance activist, Peterson Toscano, unearths transgender Bible characters--those people who do not fit in the gender binary, and who in transgressing and transcending gender, find themselves at the center of some the Bible's most important stories.
Drawing on inspiration from one-on-one interviews with transgender and genderqueer individuals, Peterson weaves their experiences with the stories and lives of transgender, genderqueer and gender-variant people right on the pages of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Hilarious and moving, Toscano's one-person play deepens well-known (and lesser-known) Bible stories as he presents an array of characters with an array of genders.
To learn more about Transfigurations, please visit www.petersontoscano.com/transfigurations.
Praise for Transfigurations--Transgressing Gender in the Bible
"Bible-lovers, gender-transgressors of all sorts, people who love justice! Make haste to see Peterson Toscano's play Transfigurations as soon as possible! His biblical exegesis is insightful and accurate, and you will glean a whole new perspective painlessly because of his charming performance."
- Dr. Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, author of Omnigender, co-author of Transgender Journeys
"It's really great to see positive interpretations of gender transformations and difference in the biblical scriptures, given the amount of hurtful stuff that can be found out there in the religious world (not to say the non-religious are any nicer as a group). Even as an atheist, I was comfortable sitting in your audience, and not just comfortable - moved and inspired!"
- Greg, a student at UMASS Amherst
"I attended a workshop with Peterson in which he announced that he was doing a show on the transgender people in the Bible. 'You all know who those are, don't you?' I thought to myself, 'Hey, I'm a biblical scholar, and I don't know any transgender folks in the Bible!' Now I know! I applaud Peterson for bringing to the fore in this play a new way of looking at the Bible! Bravo! No, bravissimo! I had to look at my own sexual stereotypes and how I bring them to biblical interpretation!
- Michael Willett Newheart, Ph.D., Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Howard University School of Divinity
- Peterson Toscano
Peterson Toscano
After 17 years of struggling to accept his gay orientation and gender differences, Peterson Toscano finally came to his senses. He then tumbled out of the closet onto the stage where he shared his story internationally through his one-person comedy Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House--How I Survived the Ex-Gay Movement! In unpacking his own story, he began to explore gender in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures and those individuals who have transgressed and transcended gender. He now shares these insights through his new production, Transfigurations--Transgender Bible Stories.
To learn more about Peterson Toscano, please visit www.petersontoscano.com.
