Sexuality and Spirituality, A Conversation with Zoë Ligon

In the tenth episode of Listening at the Fire, host Virginia Anzengruber moderates a conversation with celebrated sex educator and speaker Zoë Ligon about her relationship to sexuality, trauma, healing, and spirituality -- and the tension points in her life that connect them all. An audience Q&A session followed. Connect with her at [email protected]

Zoë Ligon is the owner of Spectrum Boutique in Detroit, Michigan. She is the host of the "Sex Stuff" series on SuperDeluxe, is a freelance collaborator with TIME, Refinery29, and Yahoo Style (among others), and her Instagram profile (@thongria) has over 210k followers and is growing daily.

 

EPISODE NOTES:

“Sex Stuff” Series on YouTube from SuperDeluxe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1iFNXkJhuA

Queer Clergy Trading Cards, by Rev. Dr. Chris Davies:

http://queerclergytradingcards.org/

Peterson Toscano, “Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender in the Bible”:

http://www.barclaypressbookstore.com/transfigurations.html? - DVD via Barclay Press

http://a.co/d/huIiuPD - Amazon digital video

 

Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors Alternate Translation:

Genesis 37, 39-45

The Hebrew word (I said Greek in the recording -- it’s Hebrew!) for “robe” or “coat” here is “Ketonit Passim” (Genesis 37:3)

The only other time this phrase for robe is present in the Old Testament is in 2 Samuel 13

2 Samuel 13 tells the story of Tamar, King David’s daughter, who was raped. In her mourning, she rent her garment/tore her dress. The Greek word for “dress” here is “Ketonit Passim” or simply, a “princess dress” (2 Samuel 13: 18-19)

If we take this interpretation (which, it has to be at least one possible interpretation, because it’s there in the text), and apply it to the Joseph story, it is possible that Joseph’s brothers attacked him and tore his robe because there was something transgressive about the clothing he was wearing -- perhaps he was wearing a “princess dress”?

 

Sex Education Resources and Educators:

Ericka Hart: https://www.instagram.com/ihartericka/?hl=en

Rachel Cargle: https://www.instagram.com/rachel.cargle/?hl=en

Layla F. Saad: https://www.instagram.com/laylafsaad/?hl=en

J. Mase III, poet, “Josephine” & “Reconciling my Queer Faith”: https://www.instagram.com/jmaseiii/?hl=en | https://bit.ly/2EoYoeJ

Red Hot Suz: https://www.redhotsuz.com/

Carly S: https://twitter.com/makeupandsin?lang=en

Crash Pad Series, Queer Sexuality: http://crashpadseries.com/

“Romans 1:18-32 amidst the gay debate: Interpretive options” by Jeremy Punt, Department of Old & New Testament, University of Stellenboch: https://www.ajol.info/index.php/hts/article/viewFile/41234/8622

Open Path Therapy Collective: with $49 joining fee and sliding scale ($30-$60 per session), works without insurance: https://openpathcollective.org/

WOCSHN: Woman of Color Sexual Health Network, database of health professionals doing internet based treatment http://www.wocshn.org/

AASECT: American Association of Sexual Educators, Counselors, and Therapists https://www.aasect.org/

“Inside the Scam of The Purity Movement”, https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a26026217/sexual-abstinence-joshua-harris-purity-movement-scam/

 

*The views of the host are not necessarily the views of Fountain Street Church.

New episodes of Listening at the Fire will release every other Friday at https://www.fountainstreet.org/podcast

NOW AVAILABLE ON ITUNES, and always at https://www.fountainstreet.org/podcast.

Episode credits:

Producer/Host: Virginia Anzengruber

Editor: Virginia Anzengruber

Guest Speaker: Zoë Ligon, owner of Spectrum Boutique https://spectrumboutique.com/

Special Thanks To: Rev. Dr. Chris Davies for providing research and source material, and especially for responding to me while on vacation. Be sure to check out Queer Clergy Trading Cards at http://queerclergytradingcards.org/

Theme song: "Alone Again" by Kingsbury. Her new song "Blurry Now" is available on Spotify, and the new music video for "All Gone" is now on YouTube.