COURTESY
QUEER IN GALVESTON
Sounds of the Seaside Ezra Bordelon leads worship at an LGBTQ-affirming church on the Island. By ZACH McKENZIE
W
hen queer people name the places where they’ve felt a sense of acceptance, belonging, and healing, “church” is typically at the bottom of the list—if it even makes the cut. But for Ezra Bordelon, a transmasculine nonbinary musician, Galveston Central Church has become his spiritual oasis. Bordelon serves as the church’s musician and worship leader, and he describes that faith community as a glimpse into the kingdom of heaven. The soft-spoken church leader recalls his childhood days in the church as a positive experience. “My parents are very sweet, and protected me for a long time from the nasty church politics they were dealing with as adults,” he explains. His parents discovered he was queer when his mom found a video 36
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recording of a song he posted online. “In that post I mentioned being gender fluid, which was my label in high school. She was really hurt for a minute, wondering why I wouldn’t trust her and my dad with this. I told her she had to understand that I was scared to tell them [because of their Christian faith].” Fear may have kept Bordelon from living authentically, with the impact of a church upbringing still lingering as he discovered who he was. “When I was a teenager, I felt a lot of that old fear while I was slowly coming out to people and getting mixed reactions, because a lot of people I know are from churches,” he recalls. “I didn’t figure out I was queer until I was an adult, but the church stuff sticks with you as you become an adult. I wrestled with my identity, but I never believed it was wrong, I just wasn’t sure how the people I cared about would feel.” Music served as a creative outlet for
Bordelon from an early age. “I started learning guitar when I was six, through one of the young adults at my church in Seabrook. I picked up piano somewhere along the way and played a lot in the church I grew up in. I’ve always had a lot of opportunities to play and get experience through church gigs.” After conquering his intense stage fright at the age of 13, he went on to earn an associate degree in music at San Jacinto College. “I was nervous about singing as a kid, but I’ve been singing for a while. I have some classical training through my degree.” Today, churchgoers at Galveston Central are treated to Bordelon’s musical and leadership gifts. “For almost five years I have been the worship leader in charge of music. I sing, play guitar or piano, and coordinate my little band of volunteers who play different instruments. We have a contemporary service without a traditional organ or songs.”
