It's not that Pride takes on a new meaning today. No, this morning, as reports reached us of the mass shooting at the Orlando gay club, Pride shrug off its beads and fur bolero and draped a rainbow flag over its shoulders. Today, the original goal and purpose of Pride is more present on our minds and hearts than it has been for many years. At least 50 people were senseless murdered last night in Orlando. Some reports are beginning to link the shooter to radical Islam. Whatever. No matter the political or religious influence of the shooter, the fact remains that they were there celebrating Gay Pride. They were targeted because they were members of the LGBT community. I am not afraid. Hear me. Hear me loudly and clearly. I am NOT afraid. I am angry. I am pissed. I am incensed. Those were my brothers and sisters in that club. Those were people who, like me, were celebrating embodying the fullness of who they were created to be. They had, like me, been through the full struggle of figuring out what it meant for them to be lesbian, gay, bi, trans*, questioning, intersex, asexual, questioning, pansexual, and every other expression of gender identity. They did that work and were, like me, celebrating it. I marched in the Philadelphia Pride Parade today with my brothers in the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus. I sang proudly and danced and had a great time. And I did it without fear. I stared down protestors who told me I was going to hell because I am gay and I smiled at them. My pastor in Alabama once preached a sermon about how pastors sometimes talk about "preachin' the HELL out of" people. And today I took her advice and "preach the love of God INTO them." Because while there is always a certain amount of fear that accompanies being out of the closet in the world, I believe in a God whose love conquers fear. I know that God loves me exactly as I am, flaws and all. I know that God created me exactly as I am - yes, even the gay part. And I know that God did not give me a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, of love, and of sound mind. Please join me in prayer for the victims of the shooting in Orlando. Join me in prayer for the shooter. Join in me in prayer for those who think my sexuality disqualifies me and people like me from the full love of God. And get out there and be who you are remembering the greatest command that Jesus left to us: Love your neighbor as yourself. Amen.
