![]() June is LGBTQ+ Heritage Month JUNE IS LGBTQ+ PRIDE HERITAGE MONTH Being a Gay Christian I was in the fifth grade the first time I was called “a dyke”. Of course, I had no idea what a dyke was, but it was clear by the tone used and the resulting sneers, that it was something to be shamed. It was a year later that I had my first crush on a classmate and four years later that I met a new friend for whom I had secret feelings. I never told either of them, or anyone else for that matter, about what I was feeling. It was not until my junior year in college in 1972 that I met my first lover. We lived in the dorms at the University of Houston. When we came out together, we could have gotten 5 to 10 years in the state penitentiary. Texas was the last state in the US to abolish its felony law against homosexuality, and it seems clear that it could be one of the first states to re-enact them. In the first six months of our relationship, Sandy and I thought we were the only two lesbians in the world. It was a time of isolation, fear of exposure, and a feeling that something was wrong. When we shared our relationship with one of our friends, it was her positive reaction that changed everything for us. She told us that she had suspected that we were gay and that she was happy that we had found each other. From that night, I never felt wrong again. I hold Barbara dear for her kind words. When I decided to share my newfound love with members of my family and my church family, the reaction was far from positive. I had been raised in the Methodist tradition. My congregation and minister let it be known that I was no longer welcome. Scripture was used to justify the rejection, and it has been far from the last time that I had Romans 1 quoted to me. My parents didn’t abandon me but let me know they were not pleased. It was a continuing battle for them to be civil to my partners over the years. They would “never be considered as my partner” and would only be welcomed to my family as a friend. In 1982 I moved to New York and experienced my first Gay Pride event. The idea that we could march down 5th Avenue holding our lover’s hands, shouting, “We are Here, We are Queer, Get Used to It!” blew my Texas-raised mind. I told myself back in the 1970s when I felt so alone that “someday” I would publish a lesbian newspaper for that “isolated lesbian” who felt she had no one who understood, no one to whom she could reach out. It was in 1988 that I first started to publish Sappho’s Isle. It was published monthly from 1988 to 1996 and it was a success on every level except financial. In 1996 the world opened with the creation of the internet. With the Gay and Lesbian Center in Manhattan, other LGBTQ organizations in and around NYC and Long Island, it became clear that the “isolated lesbian” no longer was a reality. I felt that I could close that chapter in my life and begin new ones. In the 1980s and 1990s our LGBTQ community was decimated by AIDS, but the feeling of community grew, and grew stronger. Community stopped being just bar events and private parties, but became spiritual, political efforts. The day that the Supreme Court acknowledged the legal right for same sex marriage, I couldn’t believe it. I had doubted that I could even walk down Main Street holding my partner’s hand, much less stand in front of a priest and say marriage vows. Although I was away from the greater church for 43 years, I never felt away from my God and Savior. It was God’s grace when one day I was over on Route 112 at a Chase Bank and left out the back way, turned right and right again and saw a delightful parish, St. Mark’s Medford. It was a relatively small stone building with a red door that looked welcoming. I decided to attend. The congregation was welcoming, and I was invited to become a member. When I learned that the Episcopal tradition not only welcomes female priests but open and out gay priests, I knew I could safely return to God’s house. I have been active in our Diocese ever since and it is with great pride that I can say, “I am welcome in God’s house and do God’s work and that my life is acceptable in his sight.” |