This weekend, November 14-16, individuals in the New York metro area have the opportunity to engage in dialogues and activities on faith, gender, and sexuality with the Level Ground Road Show.
Level Ground is a non-profit created by students from Fuller, the largest Evangelical seminary in the world, and the first to sanction an official LGBT student group. The national organization uses art to create safe space for dialogue about faith, gender, and sexuality, with the goal of "cultivating a better way of speaking with one another across our differences and disagreements." The name, from a prophecy in the book of Isaiah, embodies "a space where we descend from our mountains and climb out of the valleys to meet one another on sacred, though likely uncomfortable, level ground."
The free program will include a screening and dialogue around the documentary "Paris is Burning," a mixed-media program on gender conformity, and a theater performance about the church, coming out, and a father's journey by Ted&Co called "Listening for Grace," which will be hosted by Jane Clementi of The Tyler Clementi Foundation. On Saturday night, Grammy-nominated musician Jennifer Knapp will be performing (tickets for this portion of the weekend are $10.)
The road show, which also stops in Portland and Chicago, is only part of Level Ground's annual activity—they also host a film and arts festival in their home city of Pasadena, California, work directly with filmmakers and artists to fund projects and create dialogue around them, and consult with churches, schools, and other groups to spur dialogue. Last year, GLAAD presented a workshop at Level Ground on why the language we use matters, and hosted a screening of We Were Here, moderating a panel afterwards for the second annual film festival.
To learn more, you can connect with the organization on Twitter @on_levelground and RSVP here to join others this weekend for any or all of the events planned!