Eugene was a student in my last ever Freshman Writing class at APU. We've kept in touch over the years, and I knew I wanted him to tell his story on Chapel Probation early on. After sharing an experience on the facebook group, Eugene agreed to be interviewed, and I'm so glad. We talk about the special brand of evangelical racism he encountered, his experiences being in all the different choirs, and his memories of being a closeted queer student before coming out years after he left APU. While most non-white cis-het men have to deal with bigotry and marginalization, Eugene had to deal with feeling both invisible and stereotyped as an Asian American, and feeling like his sexual identity was something to tamp down and ignore. Fortunately, he has learned and is learning to explore all aspects of his identity now. And like so many, he has APU to thank for his faith deconstruction, which has enabled him to dive into his identities.

Nate and Gail from the Full Mutuality podcast join me and my daughter Audrey for this week's Chapel Probation players sketch. And we continue with our "special" music bits with a bonus segment in which we re-imagine a beloved worship song as a queer anthem. You'll hear Eugene in the "studio" recording the track as the "producer" tries to make sense of it as the track becomes more and more...horny.

Chapel Probation is part of the Dauntless Media Collective

Music by Scott Okamoto, Jenyi, and Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford

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