Pride on Dark Days
I remember, vividly, the Sunday after Obergefell v. Hodges made marriage equality the law of the land. I remember because I worked at a conservative Evangelical church at the time, and that Sunday I overheard a dozen conversations lamenting the state of moral decay in America. Grown men swearing (in church) and on the verge of tears, incensed that our nation would deign to extend marriage rights to same sex couples. At that point I had more or less come to terms with my own orientation, but I was not out, nor could I have been while working at that church. It’s an interesting experience indeed, to have your identity so publicly and thoroughly skewered, right in front of you. They didn’t know they were talking about me, but they really told on themselves that day. I learned that I was not safe to be myself in that environment. That people like me were not welcome. The last few years have reminded me, over and over, that certain people will stick to their guns in refusing to acknowledge ...