Queer Heroes NW 2013
Sister Krissy Fiction
aka Kurt Granzow
Kurt Granzow aka Sister Krissy Fiction is a fully professed Sister of Perpetual Indulgence and Prioress of the Portland Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Order of Benevolent Bliss. She first joined the order in 2006 and has served as the President/Prioress since 2010.
Prior to moving to Portland in 2001, Kurt was part of the “ex-gay movement” for over a decade, where he attempted to change his orientation to comply with his conservative Christian background. During this time he trained for ministry and was a staff minister in a conservative Lutheran denomination in San Antonio, TX and in Brazil.
After years of not being able to change who he was, and knowing that his sexual orientation was going to stay that same, he moved to Portland to start his life over in a way that affirmed who he was as a gay man. It was here that he first became involved with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
In the Sisters, he found a place where he could put his spirituality into action in the Portland LGBT community in a way that was meaningful, fun, positive, and fabulous. He became Sister Krissy Fiction, the nun that got nailed.
The achievements that Krissy is the most proud of is initiating a relationship with the Multnomah County Health Department. The Health Department gives the Sisters training on HIV and STDs and on safer sex, and the Sisters work with the County to do bar test recruiting for free HIV tests once a month at CC Slaughters.
Krissy also brought the Walking Vigil for World AIDS Day to Portland in 2007. During the vigil, two Sisters wear white veils. One is the Veil of Remembrance where we ask people we meet to write the names of loved ones we have lost on the veil itself. This veil is kept in the Sisters’ archives. The other is the Veil of Shame, where we ask people to write the words and names that others have used against them to shame them and cause them hurt. At the end of the vigil, we burn this veil, symbolically releasing that shame and negativity. The Sisters have continued this annual vigil every year on Worlds AIDS Day since 2007.
In 2008, Krissy approached the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and ask them to turn the lights on the Morrison Bridge to red in honor of World AIDS Days. The county has kept this observance every year since.
Krissy’s goal as a Sister is to be a voice for radical inclusion in the community. She take her vows as a queer nun seriously. She believes that we are not defined by the labels that others put on us. We are loved, and worth loving just the way we are. No exceptions. And she is here to remind you of that every chance she gets.
Q Center and the Gay & Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN) have partnered on an annual multi-media celebration of LGBTQ pioneers and leaders from our local movement called Queer Heroes NW!
The project features a new queer hero (nominated by the greater LGBTQ community) every day online during Pride month (June). The 30 queer heroes are also featured on the walls of the Aaron Hall Gallery at Q Center for the months of June and July, as well as in Q Center’s Pride booths all over the region.
After Pride is over each year the portable display hits the road and makes the rounds all over community centers, schools, churches, and businesses in the Pacific NW! Help us honor our queer heroes by spreading the word.
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