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 July 21, 2010 · Rev. Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping will perform “The Coal River Revival." Their performance comes with an agenda: to reduce consumption in general and end mountaintop removal mining.
Bill Talen, also known as Reverend Billy, is on a mission – perhaps not one from God -- but a mission nonetheless.

 CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Reverend Billy Talen realizes he might not be able to get you to stop shopping, but he'd sure like to get you to try. Reverend Billy and the Mountain Top Gospel Choir are coming to town to spread their message of post-consumerism, responsible living and joy.
The New York City-based group, part of The Church of Life After Shopping, will be at the Culture Center at 8 p.m. Saturday for a little song, a little dance, a few laughs and a big message.

"We don't believe that consumerism is any way to structure a society," Talen said.

Even though we’ve come way farther than we did back in the day when Abraham Lincoln was alive, and he may have been gay too by the way, reading this New Yorker article about the gospel singer Tonex reminds me (once again) that we’ve got a loooooong way to go. The low down is that in September of 2009 the gospel singer Tonex came out of the closet, after dogging years of rumors and ending a four year marriage. And now he’s struggling to find his way, but not his ego, because his Church is not a-okay with him being gay.

Activist/performance artist Reverend Billy Talen held an "unmarriage until gay marriage" ceremony at Central Park's Bethesda Fountain on Sunday.

Dressed in his trademark televangelist drag and exhorting the crowd to a “same-sex elujah,” New York activist Reverend Billy Talen led straight couples in a mass “unwedding” on Valentine's Day in solidarity with gay couples denied marriage rights.

The Village Voice offers a detailed report of the scene with nearly 50 couples in Central Park on Sunday.

On Valentine’s Day 2010, over 50 straight couples gathered in the snow in front of the Bethesda Angel in Central Park for a mass Rev. Moon-style ritual of Unmarriage. Led by activist and performance artist Rev. Billy, these couples signed certificates of unmarriage and ceremoniously suspended their vows. They promised to stay committed but unmarried until gay weddings are legalized in New York State and the rest of the country.

KISS IT GOOD-BYE: Married couples take a final kiss to suspend their vows in the “UnMarriage until GayMarriage” ceremony at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park on Feb. 14. The mass ritual, led by the Rev. Billy Talen of the Church of Life After Shopping on Valentine’s Day, was in support of the right of all people to marry.

We usually hear from the colorful activist Bill Talen, known as Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping, before Christmas when he stages his annual "Buy Nothing Day" and Dance your Debt Away events. But now he's expanding to Valentine's Day.

The angel at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, shown here in this week's blizzard, is the meeting point for an UnMarry event for couples to call for gay marriage.

Audio of interview with the Rev, plus the Choir singing "I Do! I Do!"

Click here to listen to the MP3.

On Valentine’s Day in Central Park, married New Yorkers offered a cheeky “fuck you” to the New York and New Jersey state legislatures, which both recently passed disappointing “no” votes on gay-marriage bills. The semi-ubiquitous Reverend Billy presided over a ceremony in which straight marrieds undid their wedding vows. Sing-alongs and general merriment ensued, but the message was clear: You can’t pass homophobic legislation in the gay capital of the world without some blowback. Expect more of these shenanigans when the weather heats up.