C andid C amera
Michael Whipple looks through a lens and sees a new life
by Jonathan Kipp
hen Michael Whipple was a
teen-ager, he wanted to be­
come a pastor.
He loved God and saw
himself devoting his life to
religion. But when he took a risk and came out
to his church as a gay man, he was held down
and exorcised.
That incident left him disillusioned and
angry. He was mad at God and would remain so
for years.
Whipple hid out. He drank heavily and was
depressed.
Then, his health began to fail; his viral load
was up, and his T cell count was down. More than
once, he thought his life might he near the end.
But even more disappointing, Whipple
explains, is that he hadn’t lived up to his own
expectations. He had big dreams when he was
younger.
He thought about becoming a pilot or a politi­
cian; later, he quietly dreamed of working in tele­
vision or film. None of these dreams were to be.
But one day, Whipple cleaned up. And in
the clarity of his newfound sobriety, he took
note of an advertisement he saw on television:
A cable station was looking for volunteers.
He made the call and soon started attending
training classes. At that point, he was excited to
be involved in video production; he had no idea
his new undertaking would transform his life.
But it did. Whipple began looking at the
world quite differently.
He knew his life could be short, and he
quickly concluded that he wanted to give some­
thing back to his community in the time he had
left. He knew he had loose ends that needed to
be tied up.
Little by little, Whipple became more
involved at Tualatin Valley Community Access,
a Portland cable station, taking classes and
eventually becoming a producer volunteer.
Looking through the lens of his video camera
put him on a path he didn’t expect, one that
would lead back to the place where the dream­
er’s life originally took a bad turn: the church.
He got involved in First United Methodist
Church, a reconciling congregation near down­
town Portland. It is open and affirming to all
people regardless of gender, class, sexual orienta­
tion and ethnic background.
Whipple started writing, producing and editing
video projects for the church. Last March, he and
40 volunteers went on a mission to Oklahoma to o
rebuild homes destroyed by an F-5 tornado. He j
interviewed survivors and agencies involved in the Michael Whipple
project and toured the path of damage that
reconciling with God and his own spirituali­
stretched 40 miles long and one mile wide.
The program, which aired in Portland and ty. And he began making peace with his
homosexuality and set out to make things
across the country, soon will be shown in Europe.
Whipple received commendations for his work right with the gay community— a community
he always had wanted to reach out to but
including a plaque from Oklahoma’s governor.
Working alongside a reconciling congre­ never could.
Part of that reconciliation included pro­
gation, he said, somehow resulted in his own
ducing a four-part video
series, Spiritual Discot -
eries, dealing with the
spiritual lives of gays
and lesbians. Most re­
cently, No on Mea­
sure 9: An Interfaith Ser­
vice for Equality, was
shot and edited. More
than 600 people at­
tended the service, dur­
ing which clergy and
laypeople shared their
concerns and fears
about the Oregon C iti­
zens Alliance initiative.
Whipple, 43, still
has big dreams, but
today they are of a differ­
ent variety. He hopes for
the day when he and his
partner of six years can
have a marriage the
church will reconfirm.
He dreams of more
and more churches
signing on as reconcil­
ing congregations. And
he hopes his videos will
help educate people so
younger gays and les­
bians will have an easier
time.
“I want my life to give something to
them,” Whipple said. “I really hope I am doing
that.” j n
N o on M easure 9: A n I nterfaith S ervice
E quality airs 5 p.m. Nov. 3 and 10 a.m.
Nov. 6 on cable Channels 6 and 21.
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