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Chapter 87: Gay vs Lesbian

  Scene: Lecture Hall – Charleston, Ohio – Evening

  A converted university hall. Sleek. Minimalist. Heavy velvet curtains drawn. A faint incense burns—oud and mint. Women fill the room. No men.

  Lena and Ruth Ann enter quietly. Ruth clutches her shawl, eyes scanning: Am I out of pce?

  LENA

  (nods toward others)

  See the girl from Youngstown? That’s Amara—she was Baptist too. And those four from Toledo: Rebekah, Ruth, Lian, Ava. All smuggled out of the Vatican basements st winter.

  Ruth Ann stares, wide-eyed. She wasn’t ready for this many others.

  Then, the door opens. A hush falls.

  Naomi Patel enters.

  She wears a tailored bck bzer, glossy hair swept back, gold-rimmed gsses. Her steps are slow. Assured. She doesn’t need to demand attention. She owns it.

  She steps to the podium. No notes.

  NAOMI PATEL

  Good evening.

  (silence)

  NAOMI

  Some of you know me from before. I debated for Columbia. I protested at DC. I wrote essays that got me bcklisted from six w journals.

  (pauses)

  Now I help write w.

  A few women shift uncomfortably. Ruth Ann swallows.

  NAOMI

  Tonight, we talk about limits. Not of desire—but of truth.

  (she gestures to the screen)

  A slide appears: Ibn Hazm – Al-Andalus, 11th century – Zahiri School.

  NAOMI

  Ibn Hazm believed in literalism. If the Qur’an doesn’t say it, you don’t fabricate it. No creative rulings. No invented sins.

  NAOMI

  So, let’s start with the male body.

  (she paces slowly)

  Homosexuality—among men—is clearly condemned in the Qur’an. It is forbidden. But nowhere is punishment prescribed. That is crucial.

  She turns to the audience.

  NAOMI

  So what do we do?

  Do we stone? Execute? Shun forever?

  No.

  She holds up a finger.

  NAOMI

  We isote. Temporarily.

  We treat.

  We rehabilitate.

  Like any mental disease. With dignity. With medicine. With w.

  Murmurs ripple through the crowd.

  NAOMI

  Now—women.

  She changes slides.

  NAOMI

  Not once—not once—is female-to-female intimacy mentioned in the Qur’an or Hadith. Schors didn’t bother hunting shadows. Why?

  Because women, even if they wander… always return to their physiological baseline.

  To male-led family.

  To motherhood.

  To order.

  (pause)

  NAOMI

  So 6C’s policy is logical:

  Male homosexuality: forbidden, then treated.

  Female-to-female love: allowed. Even… encouraged—as long as it doesn’t disrupt male family structure.

  She taps the screen. Another slide.

  She taps the screen. Another slide.

  “THE 6C DOCTRINAL LADDER”

  Allow / Forbid (Divine Law)

  Mandatory / Prohbited (Moral Law)

  Encouraged / Discouraged (Societal Order)

  Permitted / Tolerated (Cultural Preference)

  NAOMI

  Polygamy?

  Encouraged. But not required. Limited to four. It sits below Divine Law.

  Our goal is not to multiply women—it is to stabilize them.

  She takes off her gsses, eyes scanning every face.

  NAOMI

  If this offends your liberal instincts, I understand.

  I was you.

  She walks to the edge of the stage.

  NAOMI

  But logic… will always outlive ideology.

  And in time, you will see—

  Truth doesn’t need force.

  Just crity.

  Lena watches Ruth Ann out of the corner of her eye. Ruth’s mouth is slightly open. Confused. Intrigued. Awake.

  Amara leans over, whispers:

  AMARA

  She debated the Yale team under bckout. Still crushed them.

  Rebekah, the ex-Toledo smuggler, murmurs:

  REBEKAH

  I joined because of Hezri. But I stayed because of her.

  Scene: Mid-Lecture, Charleston – Inside the University Hall

  Naomi stands at the front, sharp in voice and gaze, delivering her lecture with surgical crity.

  About thirty women sit around her — diverse in age and background. Some take notes. Others lean forward. All quiet. The tension is electric.

  Ruth Ann sits in the back beside Lena, still processing the “doctrinal dder.” Then, a voice rises from the second row.

  AMARA (from Youngstown)

  Vice President Patel—if I may.

  Naomi raises an eyebrow. Gestures permission.

  AMARA

  What would Zahiri jurisprudence say about female-led households? I mean, if polygamy is encouraged but not mandatory—what about cases where women refuse marriage altogether? Or raise children with other women?

  Naomi tilts her head, impressed. Her answer is calm, deliberate.

  NAOMI

  Zahiri reasoning honors silence in the sources. If the Qur’an doesn’t forbid it, we don’t invent a rule against it.

  So—female-led homes aren’t banned. But they don’t represent the ideal.

  She steps forward.

  NAOMI

  What we encourage in 6C is not punishment for deviation. It’s the slow alignment of the soul to what is coherent.

  If two women raise a child, the system doesn’t colpse.

  But if every woman refuses structure, hierarchy, protection—civilization does.

  Amara nods thoughtfully.

  AMARA

  So it’s not a tyranny. It’s… a pyramid.

  A few heads turn.

  Naomi smiles—genuinely.

  NAOMI

  Exactly.

  She draws a triangle in the air.

  NAOMI

  At the top: revetion.

  Below it: w.

  Below that: society.

  And at the base—choice.

  We do not crush choice. We direct it.

  Ruth Ann blinks.

  She stares at Naomi. Then at Amara. Then down at her hands.

  RUTH ANN (V.O.)

  It wasn’t yelling.

  It wasn’t threats.

  It was a woman from Youngstown asking a w schor a question… and getting an answer clearer than any Sunday sermon I ever heard.

  Amara speaks again.

  AMARA

  And what about love?

  Naomi doesn’t flinch.

  NAOMI

  Love is sacred. But it’s not sovereign.

  It must be guided.

  Or it becomes hunger.

  And hunger devours the world.

  Ruth Ann slowly exhales.

  RUTH ANN (V.O.)

  They weren’t suppressing love.

  They were disciplining it.

  Her fingers tighten over her notepad. The voice of Lena whispers in her memory:

  LENA (V.O.)

  The commandments don’t crush you. They trim you—like a vine. So you bear fruit, not chaos.

  Naomi moves on with the lecture, but something has shifted in the room.

  A quiet understanding falls over Ruth Ann.

  She isn’t converted. Not yet.

  But she’s no longer resisting.

  Scene: Lecture Hall – Charleston, Ohio – Continued.

  The air in the hall is hushed again. Naomi is mid-stride, bck heels clicking softly as she walks beneath the amber lights.

  Amara raises her hand a second time, voice clear:

  AMARA

  Naomi—pardon me. You mentioned Zahiri reasoning earlier. But why does 6C choose Zahiri over other Ismic legal traditions? And… where does that leave Christianity?

  Naomi stops. Smiles slightly.

  NAOMI

  That’s a sharp question.

  She turns toward the chalkboard behind her, uncaps a marker, and writes in three bold strokes:

  “ZAHIRISM = TEXT ABOVE INTERPRETER”

  NAOMI

  Zahirism, as founded by Ibn Hazm, insists on literal adherence to divine text—nothing more, nothing less. No philosophical stretching. No specutive theology.

  The 6 Commandments Party adopted it because we don't believe in sacred ambiguity. We believe in sacred order.

  She underlines the words.

  NAOMI

  And as for Christianity?

  (pause)

  It was never protected by a legal school.

  It has pastors—but no jurists.

  Faith—but no judiciary.

  So when the Empire ruled… the text bent.

  Her tone sharpens—still calm, but ced with indictment.

  NAOMI

  That’s why Catholic monarchs burned Jews.

  Why Christian empires erased Muslims.

  Why the Nazis—nominal Christians—deemed homosexuality a capital disease.

  She looks up, eyes sweeping the crowd.

  NAOMI

  Because without w, morality is tribal.

  And tribes have no patience for deviants.

  A murmur passes through the room. Ruth Ann sits up straighter.

  RUTH ANN (V.O.)

  No screaming. No guilt.

  Just a courtroom tone—too calm to be dismissed.

  Amara speaks again, her curiosity sharpened:

  AMARA

  So why then is lesbianism tolerated by 6C? And more strangely—no one even insults lesbians in the 6C states. Not even online. How do you expin that?

  Naomi smiles, like a teacher waiting for a student to arrive at the obvious.

  NAOMI

  Yes. That’s the paradox of Zahiri logic:

  If the text condemns something, we condemn it.

  If the text is silent, we leave it be.

  She paces slowly.

  NAOMI

  The Qur’an and Hadith condemn male homosexuality by name. By action. By story.

  But female-female retions? Never mentioned.

  Not once.

  She leans forward, resting a hand on the podium.

  NAOMI

  So what happens in the 20 6C states?

  No anti-lesbian propaganda.

  No slurs.

  No w against affection between women.

  No shame for a woman in another woman’s bed.

  (pauses)

  NAOMI

  But how many female-female households have formed?

  How many raise children without ever integrating into male structure?

  None.

  She lets the word hang.

  NAOMI

  Because nature does what fear and shame could never do.

  Women return.

  To order.

  To men.

  To family.

  She lets the final sentence nd with gravity.

  NAOMI

  So we don’t need to fight lesbianism.

  We permit it.

  We trust nature.

  We honor boundaries the text does not overstep.

  A silence thicker than before settles in the room. Ruth Ann lowers her eyes to her hands. They tremble—slightly.

  RUTH ANN (V.O.)

  She didn’t say it with pride.

  She said it with w.

  Like a judge.

  Like scripture speaking through a human voice.

  Lena watches her quietly, saying nothing. But she knows.

  ***

  Morning Light, Columbus Compound – Dr. Li Chen’s Estate

  The soft morning light cuts through the gauzy white curtains. Ruth Ann stirs beneath linen sheets, her hair loose, cheeks still warm from sleep. Two other women, Amara and Lena Brooks y curled beside her — limbs entwined, peaceful, unashamed.

  She slips from the bed, draping a shawl over her shoulders. The house is silent, save the soft hum of birds outside.

  Dr. Li Chen is already awake — seated in the sunroom, sipping jasmine tea, her silk robe unwrinkled, expression calm.

  Ruth Ann walks in barefoot. Their eyes meet.

  RUTH ANN

  My head… feels quiet.

  Li smiles. Doesn't speak yet.

  RUTH ANN (softly, almost to herself)

  I released something. Last night. I think it was… the part of me that still clung to what I was taught.

  She pauses. Looks out the window.

  RUTH ANN

  We were taught urges were distractions. Sin.

  But maybe… maybe they’re signals.

  Redirections.

  I don’t feel dirty.

  I feel… rearranged.

  Dr. Li sets her cup down gently.

  DR. LILA CHEN

  You weren’t sinning, Ruth. You were realigning.

  Li rises, walks to her with soft steps, touches her shoulder — gently, firmly.

  DR. LILA CHEN

  6C doesn’t erase love. It restructures it.

  It takes the scattered chaos of modern desire—and it rethreads it through truth.

  RUTH ANN

  And truth is…

  DR. LILA CHEN (smiling slightly)

  That men and women are not equal.

  Not spiritually. Not biologically. Not sexually.

  That doesn’t mean one is less.

  It means they are built differently.

  To harmonize. Not to compete.

  Ruth nods slowly. Something solid forming inside her.

  RUTH ANN

  And what about what I felt st night? That… didn’t involve men.

  DR. LILA CHEN

  Of course not. And it doesn’t need to.

  (pauses)

  6C teaches that love between women is not a rebellion.

  It’s a refinement.

  It soothes what the world infmes.

  It purifies the ego so that, when we do face men—we’re not desperate or broken.

  We’re anchored.

  RUTH ANN (half-ughs)

  I never heard anything like this in my church.

  DR. LILA CHEN (quietly)

  That’s because your church was built on letters that were never meant for women like you.

  Paul wrote rules.

  Hezri wrote commandments.

  Ruth looks at her, slightly stunned.

  RUTH ANN

  I thought conversion would feel like giving something up.

  But it feels like I just started breathing.

  Dr. Li steps back, gives her space.

  DR. LILA CHEN

  Congratutions, Ruth Ann.

  (beat)

  You're no longer a Christian confused by contradiction.

  You're a daughter of Abraham.

  And that means your love has a spine now.

  Ruth smiles, eyes glistening — not from tears, but from crity.

  She turns back toward the bedroom where Lena now stirs beneath warm covers. She doesn’t rush.

  This time, she walks slowly — deliberately — as if every step confirms who she is now.

  ***

  Late Afternoon – Southwest Ohio, Amish Farmhouse

  The horseshoe clop of a buggy echoes faintly outside. Inside, candlelight flickers across wooden beams. Ruth Ann walks slowly down the hallway of Elder Yoder’s home, head covered in a modest bonnet, expression perfectly serene.

  Elder Jacob Yoder, seated by the window with his worn Bible, looks up.

  ELDER YODER

  Ruth Ann.

  RUTH ANN (gentle smile)

  Elder.

  She sets down a jar of peach preserves. Her movements are precise, intentional — nothing in her demeanor betrays change.

  ELDER YODER

  You were gone longer than you said.

  RUTH ANN

  Stayed with Lena in Charleston. There was… good prayer.

  Elder Yoder nods slowly. His aged eyes study her, but she’s unreadable.

  RUTH ANN (softly)

  The Spirit feels nearer now. Quieter. Like it’s waiting.

  ELDER YODER

  That is the voice of discernment, child.

  She nods. Every gesture humble, every breath perfectly timed.

  ***

  Later That Night – Barn Storage Loft

  The hidden chamber above the hayloft is dimly lit by kerosene mp. Micah Vega sits cross-legged, hoodie draped over his thin frame. He’s been hiding here for weeks—shaved his beard, dyed his hair darker, less fmboyant now.

  Ruth Ann climbs the dder. She brings him food — lentil stew, apples, warm cornbread.

  MICAH

  Bless you. I was starting to wonder if I should leave.

  RUTH ANN (sits beside him)

  It’s still dangerous out there. The checkpoint near Dayton arrested two yesterday.

  MICAH

  I’m scared every time I hear a dog bark.

  He forces a nervous ugh. Ruth Ann touches his shoulder—reassuring, maternal almost.

  RUTH ANN

  You were a good shepherd. They feared your voice. That’s why they hunt you.

  Micah looks away. Swallows hard.

  MICAH

  I just preached what I believed. Grace… mercy.

  Even for me.

  Ruth Ann’s gaze softens. She almost looks like she pities him.

  RUTH ANN (gently)

  They still believe in mercy.

  But they also believe in healing.

  He looks at her, puzzled.

  MICAH

  Healing?

  She rises, leans against a wooden beam, hands folded in front of her.

  RUTH ANN

  There’s a woman in Columbus. Dr. Li Chen.

  She helps men… remember who they were born to be.

  The new doctrine doesn’t ask you to vanish.

  It asks you to return.

  Micah’s face goes pale.

  MICAH

  You told them about me?

  Ruth Ann steps closer. Not threatening, but immovable.

  RUTH ANN

  You were never safe here, Micah. Not because we hate you.

  Because 6C… doesn't forget.

  (pause)

  They’ll come for you tonight.

  They won’t hurt you.

  They’ll help you begin again.

  Micah backs toward the dder, panicked.

  MICAH

  You said you loved my sermons. You said—

  RUTH ANN

  I did.

  But truth is not decided by who we love.

  It’s decided by w.

  Heavy silence.

  Outside, distant headlights sweep across the field.

  Ruth Ann looks down at him, calm and resolute.

  RUTH ANN

  Don’t run. Don’t make them bind you.

  You still have a chance to come back whole.

  ***

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