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I watched Milk last night, and I can’t stop thinking about the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. I’m a “new arrival” to this struggle, and for at least part of my life I was actively AGAINST everything this beautiful community stands for. But the more I experience this life, the more I know other LGBTQ+ people, the more I understand about God and human sexuality, the more I feel called to speak out, to let my life be an example.
Why do I keep talking about the gay thing all the time? Because visibility matters. Because there are LGBTQ+ kids reading my words who need to know that they are NOT accidents, that they are NOT broken or disgusting, that they do NOT need to try to change or hide. There are queer people in mixed-orientation marriages who need to know that they are not alone and that they don’t have to spend the rest of their lives hiding. There are conservatives who have always believed one thing to be true but feel confused and maybe even intrigued when they see people like me loving God and being openly gay.
People are reading, people are watching. Sometimes people even interact in the comments or reach out in the DMs. And so I will keep speaking, writing and living my life out and proud. God is with me, and the arc of history is slowly but surely bending toward justice.
Read these powerful, prophetic words from Harvey Milk… He knew he was a target, and he spoke these words into a tape recorder mere weeks before he was murdered.
“This is Harvey Milk speaking from the camera store on the evening of Friday, November 18. This is to be played only in the event of my death by assassination. I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, a gay activist, becomes a target or the potential target for somebody who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed themselves. Knowing that I could be assassinated at any moment, any time, I feel it’s important that some people know my thoughts. And so the following are my thoughts, my wishes, and my desires, whatever, and I’d like to pass them on and have them played for the appropriate people. …
I cannot prevent some people from getting angry and frustrated and mad in response to my death, but I hope they will take the frustration and madness and instead of demonstrating or anything of that type, I would hope that they would take the power and I would hope that five, ten, a hundred, a thousand would rise. I’d love to see every gay doctor come out, I’d love to see every gay lawyer, every gay judge, every gay bureaucrat, every gay architect come out, stand up and let the world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody could ever imagine. Urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights. …
Until the churches break out and say the Anita Bryants have been playing gymnastics with the Bible and the churches which remain so quiet have the guts to get out and speak out in the name of Christianity or Judaism or whatever they profess…
And so, I ask for our movement to continue, for our movement to grow, because last week I got that phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and my election gave somebody else, one more person hope. …
It’s not about personal gain and about ego and about power. It’s about giving those young people out there in Altoona Pennsylvania hope. You gotta give ’em hope.”
