Written by:
Susan Calhoun
Photographer:
Marsha Stevens (on right) with her partner
We are all familiar with the names of gay and lesbian artists in the rock, pop and country music scenes. But I’ve always had a fondness for upbeat, Christian music. Amy Grant, Sandi Patti, and Susan Ashton were all familiar names to me. So when I first heard Marsha Stevens in concert last summer in Calgary, Canada, I thought I had discovered the new American Idol of contemporary Christian music. Much to my surprise, not only is the 53-year-old Stevens — a self-described “Jesus-loving, Bible-believing, God-fearing lesbian Christian” — not a novice, but she’s also the founder of a ministry and a record label.
Described by Christian Century magazine as “a nightmare for conservative Christians,” Stevens’ music has been banned from many churches, and some pastors have gone a step further by having her songs ripped from the hymnals.
“I’m pretty much a gnat in the huge Contemporary Christian Music world. I was at least a storm cloud back in 1980, though,” Stevens recalls. “So when I came out it did make waves. I had not heard of anyone else in CCM who was out and I expected people to disagree with me. The funny thing is that the manner in which the church I belonged to taught me about God’s love … that the Bible promised that nothing could ever separate us from God’s love, was the very thing that made me know that God and I were fine.”
But Stevens found that despite her faith in the teachings of the Bible, other Christians did not share her beliefs. “I was unprepared for the vitriolic reaction of believers. Most of them simply excised me from their lives as though I had never existed, but some of them told me (and my ex-husband) that God would kill our children,” she says. “That Jesus could not be in my heart or home any longer. One guy called at all hours of the night offering to fly a private Lear jet down to pick me up. I don’t know what he was going to do with me if he got me — take me somewhere for the ‘cure’?”
I recently spoke with Stevens about her musical career and how she reconciled the bitter treatment she received from other Christians with her faith.
You had a great success at an early age after writing “Come to the Water.” Was that what made you stick with religious music instead of moving to pop or rock?
I wrote a lot of poetry, but I never had any desire to write songs until I was writing about my experiences with God. For me it was so intensely personal, that it made me feel I had something to say or a perspective to share that no one else could express in quite the same way. I was actually terrified of being onstage. I only did that part so that my songs could be heard.
How can you not be bitter with the way that other “Christians” have treated you?
For one thing, their rejection drove me to do what I love best. Today I write and sing Contemporary Christian Music for the LGBT community — it’s a narrow field, but hey, it’s wide open. But I did have to find a place of forgiveness. Once I could do that, I could just feel sorry for the poor souls who reject us and pity how small and frail and narrow their God is. What hidden terror they must live in. I’ve actually met people who feel they can accept me, but their God cannot — can you imagine that? They love me more than God does? Really sad.
Tell us about BALM, and what it is doing for young artists.
BALM stands for “Born Again Lesbian Music” along with the double entendre, of being a healing balm. Some people are put off by the language, but I pretty much like co-opting their own lingo. Although I have tried over the years to be supportive of other artists, either as they came out of mainstream denominations or as they came into their musical gifts already in our community, in the last few years we’ve really focused on that. UPBEAT is a music ministry training program for musicians in ministry to the LGBT community. It’s a pretty comprehensive program that takes about a year to complete for singers, songwriters and musicians who feel they have a Christian message to bring. We have classes on a whole range of issues from stage presence, singing and delivery to the legalities of copyrights and religious organizations to promotion and booking. I have found the most amazing, talented, delightful, mostly younger-than-me people. Several of them took my bus this year and did their own tour around the U.S. and Canada. We’ve made some CDs with some of the singers and songwriters, a couple of them full-length professional studio CDs and a few of them demos. It’s been really fun for me and I hope a leg up for them.
What else would you really like to accomplish?
Oh, I’m afraid that some days I am simply vain and petty. I’d love to do something that the religious right simply cannot avoid — like write a song so great that everyone wants to record it even though my name is on it, or write a best-selling book, or appear on Oprah to talk about queer Christians, or win an award that they wish they could take away from me. Other days, I realize I am awfully lucky to be able to spend most of my life doing what I love best.
For more info on Marsha Stevens and UPBEAT, go to: http://www.balmministries.com
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