Shot by Danielle Hope Diamond and co-directed by Danielle Hope Diamond and Abbey Harris.

Most queer kids and adults inevitably have to go through being rejected by someone because of religion. This might be a family member, a loved one, or a close friend. The feeling of knowing that no matter your history, this person can no longer be in your life anymore because their religion believes you are a sin is heartbreaking. Emma Jayne’s new song Your Church perfectly captures this situation and the emotions that come with it. We encourage you to listen to it if you are unfamiliar with this experience to help you understand, and to listen to it if you are so that you know you are not alone. Not only does Emma write beautiful music, but she also works with the Future Perfect Project. An amazing organization that helps young queer artists shine! Please read on to learn more about Emma.

Where are you based?
Brooklyn, New York! I’m from Chicago originally and went to college in Boston.

How did you get into music?
My love of music started with piano lessons around age six. I started writing my own songs with friends when I was nine. I started jazz piano lessons, joined the school musicals at my middle school, and kept nurturing that creative spirit. The summer before my freshman year of high school, I was gifted a ukulele. I started teaching myself, writing my own songs, and publishing them online. I’ve kept going ever since!

We love your new song Your Church. Can you tell us the story behind this song?
Thank you! This song is a response to a former friend who chose religion over her friendships with queer people. I had been friends with this person throughout my entire time at college. Shortly after graduating, we learned that she believed queerness was inherently sinful, when she wouldn’t attend the annual pride parade with us. I had just started dating my girlfriend and coming to terms with my queerness. I couldn’t have someone in my life that didn’t affirm this new part of my identity, especially as I was still learning to affirm myself. I was angry, but I was also really sad — I lost a dear friend I thought would be a friend for life. I started imaging all of us queers showing up to her church, what it would take for her to accept us, and the likely exaggerated ways we now saw the other. The end result is “Your Church.” I still have no clue if she’s heard it.

We love that you filmed the song in the queer-affirming church Judson Memorial. What is your connection with this Church?
When I’m not making music, I work at The Future Perfect Project, a non-profit dedicated to amplifying the voices of queer youth through the arts. I took a tour of the church as a potential space for one of our arts workshops and immediately fell in love. It was really healing, as queer person, to be affirmed into a space I was made to believe would not accept me. I emailed them to set up the music video shoot and the photoshoot for the album art! Melissa Jameson from Judson welcomed me and gave me a tour of the beautiful space.

You also worked with a transgender Rabbi, Jericho Vincent, who is planning on donating their share of the royalties to BTFA collective. Can you tell us about your partnership with Jericho and how it was working together on this project?
I first met Rabbi Jericho Vincent at an event following Shabbat services at a Brooklyn temple with a group called Queer Kehila (community, in Hebrew.) The Rabbi’s interpretation of the Torah and Judaism not only made room for queerness, but included a rich history of queerness and transness in the stories of our ancient ancestors. It reminded me that queer people belong and have always been here. Their words really resonated me, so I found a sermon of theirs online, DM’ed them if I could use a sample in my upcoming song, and they generously agreed.

It is interesting, you are singing about Church, in a Christian Church, but you included a Rabbi. Why was it important for you to mix faiths?
I wanted to show that queer people don’t have to choose between their sexuality and their religion. I know there are affirming church leaders out there, but I wanted to include a leader from the religion I grew up in and was most familiar with. In bringing a rabbi to the church space, I’m combining this setting I associate with my former friend who rejected me with a religious leader from my own faith who affirms me.

What are your thoughts on Christianity and Judaism and being LGBTQ+?
I think everyone who wants it deserves a connection to a higher power or the universe; something bigger than they are. I know there are bad eggs in every religious group that exclude people from the faith just for being who they are, but I want to focus on the amazing people across every religion that embrace and celebrate queer folks. We are perfectly made, we belong here, and if there is a god, they are definitely looking after us!

How can we help to make more religions accepting of LGBTQ+?
This is a really tough question to answer. My former friend got to know me before I even came out and we had, what I thought was, a really beautiful, caring relationship filled with mutual respect. I thought if someone got to know you and committed to friendship with you, it wouldn’t matter who you turned out to be, that the foundation for the relationship would still hold strong. Clearly, that wasn’t the case with my former friend. I would say it’s important for religious leaders who are not on board with queer people to talk to a LGBTQIA+ person and hear their story. Chances are, you have a lot more in common than you think. You are both people who deserve love and want to find people who embrace you for who you are. I also know that sticking queer people in a room with a homophobe is extremely dangerous, so I’m not sure what to do to make these conversations happen fruitfully and safely. We need a queer religious repair taskforce! And then you need to get me and my old friend to join it, haha.

We love that you work heavily with The Future Perfect Project (FPP). Can you remind our readers of their work?
The Future Perfect Project is a non-profit dedicated to amplifying the voices of LGBTQIA+ youth through the arts. We believe their artistic expression is a declaration of a better future for us all. Some of the ways we amplify their voices are through albums of original music, queer youth-produced podcasts, and original animated series. We are co-founded by Celeste Lecesne who is the co-founder of The Trevor Project.

Can you tell us about how you got involved with them and why they are so important to you?
I got involved with FPP through an Instagram DM! I had a mutual friend with FPP’s other co-founder, Ryan Amador. His Instagram bio read “songwriting workshops for LGBT youth at @thefutureperfectproject” or something to that effect. I asked our mutual friend to connect us; this was something I needed to be a part of. Within a few weeks, I was asked to co-facilitate a creative workshop with Celeste and Ryan. By the end of that workshop, they offered me a job. This work is so important to me as a queer person and as an autobiographical artist. It is extremely vulnerable to produce and share creative work, let alone creative work that tells your own story! Creating the spaces for youth to feel more comfortable doing this work is healing the part of me that was so scared to come out and be myself in my music. I am also just so in awe of these youth. They model what it’s like to be your true self, allow your queerness to shift and change shape, and be open to the journey of becoming. Without them, I would not be half as brave and honest in my songwriting as I am today.

You have a full album coming out soon as well. Can you tell us a bit about it and what your listeners can expect to hear?
The new music is all about the lifelong task of self discovery. In 2022, I experienced a really challenging depressive episode which led to an OCD diagnosis. When I got to the other side, I thought to myself that there couldn’t possibly be any more to learn about who I was. Then, in January, I landed in the hospital with Type 1 Diabetes, an autoimmune disease that I’ll have for the rest of my life. I realized then and there that learning who I am will be a never ending task. Who we are is constantly in flux and instead of racing to the end of the finish line of self discovery, I want to savor every moment and greet each day as an opportunity to know myself even more.

It has been a crazy past few years. How have you been staying positive?
It has been a crazy past few years. And I think positivity is not always the appropriate reaction to what we see around us in the world. My advice is to honor every single emotion and feeling you experience, especially the unsavory ones. If we try to ignore the depression, despair, and discomfort, it will eventually find its way out of you on its own timeline and with a vengeance. Cry often, go to therapy if it is accessible to you, and be in community with your people. And make time to get yourself a sweet treat every once in a while. I’m a big fan of Kit Kats and Fro-Yo.

What is your motto in life?
I’m going to borrow a motto from the late Stonewall veteran Reverend Magora Kennedy: "Love yourself, live your truth, and laugh in the face of adversity." Easier said than done, but I hope to honor her legacy by trying to lead my life this way.

To learn more about Emma, please check out the links below.
Stream Your Church: http://ffm.to/yourchurch

Learn more about The Future Perfect Project: http://thefutureperfectproject.org

Learn more about Rabbi Jericho Vincent: https://jerichovincent.com/

Learn more about Judson Memorial Church: https://www.judson.org/

Website - http://emmajaynesings.com

Instagram - http://instagram.com/emmajaynegrams

TikTok - http://tiktok.com/emmajaynesings

Twitter - http://twitter.com/emmajayne

Facebook - http://facebook.com/emmajaynesings