Remembering Tammy Faye on her birthday

I didn’t want to let this day end without remembering the wonderful Tammy Faye Messner who would have been 68 years old today.

She died in the summer of 2007 of cancer and really was such a bright spirit. I  got to know her through the documentary films Tammy Faye: Death Defying and The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

We learned all about her in these films, about her past as the wife of Jim Bakker, their fall from grace, and how she never lost her sense of humor or spirit through any of it. She also was a champion for gay rights and is beloved by the community because of that – well, that and her trademark false eyelashes.

I met Tammy Faye at Outfest in 2005 where I sat directly behind her during the screening of Death Defying which chronicled her battle against cancer. She was in remission then and looked terrific.  She was so warm and full of love…and so funny and was a famous Christian woman who loved gays, who loved everybody and didn’t judge.