Lavender Mafia is a conversational queer spirituality podcast hosted by Jess Grace Garcia and Jack Bates. Jess is a filmmaker, music producer, and worship pastor. Jack is a drag queen, theologian, and comedian. We have conversations exploring what it means to be fully queer and Christian. We get into theology, sexuality, politics, culture etc. So we talk about some deep topics...and, the deeper the better. :) We hope you’ll join us in figuring out what integrating queerness and religion—or n ...
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Episode 46. “Anti-Trans and Anti-Drag Bills,” Or: “Who Would Jesus Dehumanize?”
1:11:40
1:11:40
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This week Jess & Jack talk about all the kinds of anti-trans, anti-drag, and other anti-LGBTQ legislation being proposed (or passed) in legislatures across the United States. We talk about the impact of these bills on us and on other queer people and our communities, as well as why these bills are bad from both queer and Christian perspectives. Kee…
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Mini(Maxi)sode 24. “Catching Up,” Or: “Get In, Loser, We’re Going…Off-Script”
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation catching each other (and you) up on what we’ve been up to lately. Marriage! Jobs! Church stuff! Disabling illness! You know, the usual. Keep a lookout for more new episodes, as we return to a more regular posting schedule! And, as always, visit linktr.ee/lavmafia for our IG, Twitter, Facebook community page…
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Episode 45. “Reconstruction,” Or: “If You Threw The Baby Out With The Bathwater, Maybe It’s Time To Get A New Baby”
1:02:23
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about reconstruction. After we tear down the religious structures of thought and action that oppressed us for years…what’s next? Do we build back better? Or do we salt the earth and move on? Jess opens up about mommy issues. We talk about what reconstruction has looked like for us, what we think reconstruct…
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Mini(Maxi)sode 23. After Dark: “Purity Test Part II” Or: “Sometimes Success Looks Like Failing at the Right Things”
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This week Jess & Jack finish taking an online purity test together and share anecdotes about our “less pure” moments, from run-ins with principals and police to public nudity, as well as plenty of sexual exploits, then share our scores. Who’s more “impure”? The answer may surprise you! Take the purity test along with us as at ricepuritytest.com whi…
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Mini(Maxi)sode 22. After Dark: “Purity Test Part I,” Or: “They Can’t Slut-Shame You If You Slut-Celebrate Yourself”
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41:50
This week Jess & Jack take an online purity test together and share anecdotes about our “less pure” moments, from run-ins with principals and police to public nudity, as well as plenty of sexual exploits. On next week’s ep, Jess & Jack finish the test and compare scores. Who’s more “impure”? The answer may surprise you! Take the purity test along w…
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Episode 44. “Prayer,” Or: “Couldn’t This (Prayer) Meeting Have Been an Email?”
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This week Jess & Jack have a discussion about prayer. We talk about what it is (and isn’t), what we were taught about prayer growing up, what shame and personality types have to do with it, and what our relationships are to prayer now. Hit us up on our social medias to tell us what prayer means to you, how you pray (if you do), and how you would re…
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Mini(Maxi)sode 21. Q&A: “Labels Are My Second Favorite Sticky Stuff That Goes on My Chest” or “I’m Pan but I’m Still Not Into You”
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This week Jess & Jack respond to a listener question about gender and sexuality labels. We talk about the ways in which our labels have changed over time, the difficulty and importance of keeping up with new labels, as well as the tension between using widely-understood but not-quite-accurate labels vs. using more accurate but niche terms. Visit li…
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Minisode 20. Q&A: “Why Should I Care About Worship Music?”
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20:53
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This week’s Jess & Jack respond to a listener question that’s more of a co-host question: Jack asks Jess what good Christian music is to a queer Christian like themself who has left behind the evangelical contexts that introduced (or subjected) them to Christian worship, along with the music itself. Jess talks about their own worship music, recomme…
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Episode 43. “Getting Sick,” Or: “My Antibody, My Choice”
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about getting sick and, relatedly, explain our unintentional summer hiatus. We talk about our experiences getting COVID and battling virus-shaming. We also talk about monkeypox: what it is, how it seems to spread (and how it doesn’t), similarities with both COVID and HIV, and the harms of talking about it a…
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Mini(Maxi)sode 19. Q&A: “How to Become a Citizen of the United States of Chromatica”
58:57
58:57
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This week Jess & Jack respond to a listener who wonders if we’d live in an LGBTQ-only country if we could. We talk about the pros and cons, how dynamics of marginalization would change, the most queer form of government, and how the straight world would fall apart without us. Visit linktr.ee/lavmafia for our IG, Twitter, Facebook community page, Di…
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Episode 42. “Queer Prom,” Or: “Can You Believe the Genders We Wore Back Then? So Early 2000’s”
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55:21
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about prom: our own prom experiences, whether we got lucky after, and what we wish had been different—from fashion to our gender expression and the number and gender of our dates. We also talk about the queer prom that Jack is planning with their church, All Saints Church in Pasadena, CA, on June 10th at 6:…
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Episode 41. “Time,” Or: “If Jesus Weren’t Queer, They’d Be Back By Now”
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about time. We talk about time travel: whether it’s possible and where/when we would go if we could. We also talk about the ways in which queer people relate to time differently from our cishet counterparts: the what and why of “Queer People Time,” as well as how milestone events in queer lives often occur …
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Mini(Maxi)sode 18. After Dark: “Queer Friend Break-Ups”
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about queer friend break-ups. We talk about how queer friendships often blur lines between friendship and romantic/sexual relationships, and how that complicates the ending of friendships among queer people, as well as how to navigate a friend break-up when everyone knows everyone else. We also talk about s…
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Episode 40. “Evangelism,” Or: “Jesus’ Pop Diva Fan Club Members Should’ve Been Called ‘Christ-Stans’”
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about evangelism. We talk about The Eyes of Tammy Faye, what we think of when we think of evangelists, and the ways our previous faith contexts used shame and fear to push evangelism strategies of emotional manipulation. We also talk about why our current faith contexts have no place for evangelism, why uni…
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Minisode 17. Q&A on “Getting Re-baptized After Transitioning”
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This week Jess & Jack respond to a listener question about what we think about trans people seeking to be re-baptized after transitioning. We talk about the meaning of baptism, how to weigh theological vs. pastoral concerns, as well as the ways that we are (and aren’t) the same people after transition. Jess & Jack have a spirited disagreement, even…
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Episode 39. “Faith,” Or: “What Do I Gotta Do To Sit On It?”
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about faith. We talk about what it is (and isn’t) and how our previous and current faith contexts talk about it, including whether it’s like sitting on a chair. We also talk about what it looks like for each of us to put our faith into action, from social justice and advocacy to therapy and partaking of the…
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Minisode 16. Q&A on “Who Should I Come Out to First?”
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This week Jess & Jack respond to a queer listener who wants to know in what order it’s best to come out: friends, then family, or vice-versa. We talk about how there’s no one-size-fits-all order to coming out, the pros and cons of dipping a toe in the water vs. jumping in the deep end, and the family/friend social dynamics involved in coming out. W…
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Episode 38. “Cults,” Or: “Kool-Aid? I Think I’ll Stick to Vodka Crans, Thanks”
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about cults. We talk about what they are, how to spot them, and the differences between cults and other religious groups. We also talk about the ways the churches of our conservative Christian were very cult-like, as well as the ways that progressive faith spaces replicate the same cult-like qualities of th…
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Minisode 15. Listener’s Story: “Genderqueer Butch Lesbian Child of God”
21:49
21:49
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This week Jess & Jack share the story of Kit, a listener who grew up steeped in the purity culture of conservative evangelicalism, walked away from her faith in college, and came back to it recently, only to find their home church’s teachings sickening (and not in the good way). By learning to queer Jesus, embracing God’s love for her, and blowing …
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Episode 37. After Dark: “God Is a Freak”
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43:34
This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about the recent viral TikTok song and certified bop “God Is a Freak,” by Peach PRC. We talk about Christian purity culture’s obsession with sex, how they project that onto God, and the ways God does (and doesn’t) care about what you do/is done to you in your bedroom or on your couch. Visit linktr.ee/lavmaf…
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Minisode 14. Q&A on “Finding A/The One,” Or: “Jesus, Take the Wheel (on My Tinder Account)”
30:02
30:02
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This week Jess & Jack respond to a queer listener who wants to know if God is ever going to give her a spouse. We talk about how much or little we think God intervenes in our search for romantic and sexual partners, as well as some of the harmful things Christian purity culture teaches about God “bringing someone along when you’re ready.” We also t…
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Episode 36. After Dark: “Kink-Shaming,” Or: “The Impossible Burger of Gay Vampirism”
1:03:02
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This week Jess & Jack have a conversation about kink-shaming. We talk about our most shameable kinks, as well as the sexual activities we just can’t see ourselves getting into and why. We also talk about when making ethical evaluations of sexual activity is kink-shaming (and when it isn’t), as how motivations affect the morality of kinks (for bette…
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Minisode 13. Listener’s Story: “Like Looking for Hay in a Stack of Needles”
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This week Jess & Jack share the story of Pip, a trans non-binary Christian listener from Minneapolis who matched with Jack on a queer dating app (no, not Grindr). They grew up in a small-town hellfire-and-brimstone church, were bullied for coloring outside the gender boxes, and ended up hearing the Christian message of God’s love and grace toward a…
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Mini(Maxi?)sode 12. “The Biblical Case for Christian Polyamory,” Or: “Sometimes a Family Is a Bi King, a Straight Princess, and the King’s Gay Stepbrother”
1:37:21
1:37:21
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This week Jess & Jack have a discussion about polyamory from biblical & theological perspectives. Does the presence of poly relationships in the Bible mean that the Bible supports them? What about biblical prohibitions of poly relationships? We also talk about The Reformation Project, an LGBTQ Christian organization, their recent strongly anti-poly…
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Episode 35. “Christian Polyamory,” Or: “How Many People Can Fit Into ‘One Flesh’?”
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This week Jess & Jack have a discussion about polyamory: what it means to be poly; different ways to be poly; and benefits, challenges, and misconceptions. We also talk about whether being poly is a choice or whether you’re born this way, baby; and polyphobia in the church and in society. ICYMI: we have merch! Go to lavmafia.com to pre-order your v…
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