Courage in the Struggle for Justice and Peace
Written by Edith Guffey, Conference Minister
It’s Pride Month in Kansas-Oklahoma!
““I was born gay and I always knew it,” Gilbert Baker writes, before detailing the pain of that knowledge in 1950s Kansas. As a child in his room, Baker pulled sheets off of his bed to fashion outfits for a kindergartner’s imaginary drag routine, dancing to songs on the radio until he heard someone coming and scrambled to put the sheets back on the bed.
Later, when his parents discovered him twirling in his aunt’s old prom dress, his father spanked him. Sundays at the Methodist church were no comfort. “In my soul, questions burned: Did God make me gay and love me, or was I going to hell for a sin?” He considered killing himself.”
Gilbert Baker is the Creator of the Rainbow Flag that we see during Pride Month and in many places throughout the year, including in many of our churches. Gilbert Baker was born in a small Kansas town and left Kansas as soon as he could. No wonder. I thought of him this week especially as I read Letters to the Editor in one of the towns where there is a local UCC church. Some members of this community are criticizing an article that was published about local high school students and recent graduates who spoke about their experiences of coming out to their family or friends and their feelings about Pride Month.
One letter from a community member objected to the use of a historic WW2 image being combined with the Pride Flag, while another spoke in traditionally judgmental and condemning manner of LGBTQ+ persons and “lifestyles”. And of course, this letter was from a pastor in that community. This clearly illustrated what we already know, churches have the reputation for being the most hurtful, unwelcoming, trauma producing organizations for the LGBTQI+ community than any other organization on the planet.
This seems in stark contrast to the language of so many of us that God is Love.
I don’t know the people in the community who wrote those letters to the editor, and this article isn’t for them. This article is for those in our churches in towns like this; as there are plenty of them in both Kansas and Oklahoma. And my question is this: How are you speaking out in support of LGBTQI+ people, especially the youth, in your communities? How do they even know you are a place that will welcome and support them just as they are? How do they know you are a church that says, “God loves you! You don’t have to go to bed at night wondering if you are going to go to hell. Please, choose life. Never contemplate killing yourself because you are LGBTQI+; you are loved! It gets better. Way better than what is being told and offered to you right now!”
Do you know when I really knew that I was welcome in the UCC? When I SAW a Black woman in the pulpit preaching. Seeing sometimes really IS believing. Or maybe when you experience something that reminds you of home, then you know you are home. Flying that Rainbow Flag matters to LGTQI+ persons; they know the symbol and what it means.
When hateful words and articles appear in small towns, or wherever, speaking up in the community matters. And this should not be just on the shoulders of the pastor to do. Lay members need to be counted on to be voices of support as well; neighbors hearing from neighbors matters. I know this is hard to do sometimes because you may not want to be set apart as different and you may be the lone voice. But you may also be surprised at those who stand with you. But even if you stand alone sometimes, you are not alone, that is what covenant is all about.
Remember that you can call the Conference for support. We' can connect you to friends and colleagues who are in this journey with you in KO. Resources, speakers, and prayers can also be provided to a congregation. This is what the Conference is ready to provide to support you as you navigate these challenging and difficult conversations. And remember the UCC Statement of Faith, “Courage in the Struggle for Justice and Peace.” This is Pride Month in Kansas and Oklahoma! It’s no longer the 1950s, so let us take courage. Speak Out. Stand up for our youth. Be the church.
Be the change.