Timing is Important

by Tammy Phillips

^“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” James 1:19

Lesbianism was not a national topic in the early 1980’s. Women were feminine and men were masculine; there was no celebration for the contrary. This was our reality when we walked into a women’s prison to present a Growing in Christ seminar. The chaplain and the instructor were seasoned; the rest of us were brand new. Incredulously, we watched the women walk into the gathering area; ninety women formed forty-five couples. Some of the women were more masculine than a stereotypical macho man. Our instructor was gracious; we reluctantly followed her lead.

The women were separated into small groups, facilitated by a volunteer. Each of us had at least four couples in our group. Irritation marked my face. At the first break, we descended on our passive instructor; “You’ve got to say something, do something about this.”   Her response was, “We are guests in their house. Do what we came here to do.”   This was the wrong answer, but we continued our small group facilitation after each of her lecture sessions.   Several more times we begged her to address the situation; each time she Continue reading →