The Prairie Thistle

I’m doing some personal writing today and I go hunting for an article I wrote in the past on a different blog post and I COULDN’T FIND IT. Lots of other old content on Sara’s Many Hats remains – all of it, from what I can tell – but THAT specific one? Gone. The title is there, a comment is there, but the content – all gone. I wouldn’t have deleted it. Sigh.

CLICK HERE to be confused with me.

I spent over 30 minutes hunting for it and FOUND IT in an email I sent to an equally old friend who had read it over and advised me at the time to post it (love you, Krista).

SO much has changed. I have learned and experienced much. It is no longer reflective of everything I feel today and sort of makes me cringe, BUT it is worth posting again and I needed it to reference in a new post where I DO reflect on what I currently think and feel (coming soon). I believe this process is important to normalize steps of growth and change. If you are in between feeling “certainty” on any issue, that is OK. We’re all on a journey. This is part of mine. ❤

With those caveats, here you go:

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I’m Going to the Pride Parade and You Should, Too
Posted: July 5, 2016 on Sara’s Many Hats

I realized today that my family and I are going to the Steinbach Pride Parade on Saturday, July 9.

“Oh, so you are coming out in support of homosexuals?” you might ask.

I am taking no official stance. I can’t. I have a position on the subject, but it’s complicated for me. It’s not easily discerned as black or white, wrong or right. Many aspects of morality, theology, sexuality, gender, and more, are complex and I am not communicating on LGBT lifestyle from any of those angles.

I am going to the Pride Parade. Let me tell you why:

• Because I believe Jesus would absolutely be there. Not because LGBT lifestyle can be compared to the tax collector with whom Jesus chose to have supper; that’s not a comparison worth drawing here. But because Jesus, and Christianity, stands for love. Even if Jesus pronounced judgment on some behaviours, he acted so many more times in love than in condemnation. Wherever the poor, afraid, or downcast are, he absolutely chooses to be there. He would march on July 9.
  
• Because my husband didn’t say it in so many words, but I realized he wanted us all to go. He is a mental health worker in Steinbach and in many of the small towns around here. He has knowledge of the issues facing the LGBT community and the fear and isolation they experience. He feels he should go.
  
• Because those in the LGBT community don’t feel safe, welcome, or loved. And they deserve to.

I don’t have a close connection (that I know of) with anyone who is LGBT. I don’t have a personal story that connects me intimately to this issue. I don’t like crowds. I don’t like parades. I would have gone to the lake.

But I also believe in top-down event marketing. Stick with me here. I ran a community event in the past year for strengthening marriages. Someone asked me, “This is a great event. But how are you going to get THOSE people to come, you know, the people who really need it?”

This statement stuck with me, bothering me with some profundity I couldn’t quite discern until it hit me. There is no THOSE people, not to me. I was so struck by the us and them attitude–those with strong, healthy marriages in one camp and those with challenges, infidelity, etc. in another camp. Doesn’t EVERYONE believe in supporting strong marriages (or insert whatever issue here)?

If only those who are struggling show up, then everyone–in attendance or not–sees they are weak. It’s terrifying. No one wants to be one of THOSE people. Therefore no one will attend the event, no matter how positive its message or resources or support.

But if the leaders in the community see the value in an event, and the friends of those leaders, and the friends of those friends of those leaders, and ALL decide to put their weight behind something, then EVERYONE wins, everyone is supported. 

Right now, there is a substantial social issue happening in Southeast Manitoba. By now, there should be no denying that a portion of our population is suffering. They feel fear, isolation, rejection, shame, depression – to the point of intense mental anguish and suicidal thoughts.

Awhile ago, when my youngest was younger, she was having difficulty going to bed. We tried many things, and that is a parenting post for another time. The phrase that comes to mind, that calmed her down more than anything else, that I uttered and prayed over her as I rubbed her back was, “You are safe. You are loved.” And she gave herself over to this message and went to sleep. It worked. Repeatedly. It was the message she needed to hear to have peace and rest, to feel secure, to sleep, and to grow.

Our fellow humans, our community members, our neighbours, our youth–NO ONE should EVER have to feel unsafe, unwelcome, or unloved. The LGBT community is telling us they feel unsafe, unwelcome, and unloved in Southeast Manitoba.

And the Pride Parade in Steinbach is a way to communicate in a powerful way a message that ALL people are safe, welcome, and loved here.

I’m going to the Pride Parade in Steinbach on July 9, and I’m asking ALL of my friends and family to come with me. I’m asking ALL of my church members, ALL Christians, and ALL of the area’s church leaders to come with me. I’m asking ALL of Steinbach and surrounding area’s community leaders and political representatives to come with me.

Put down judgment and let Someone else do that another day. None of us is better than another. March for love.