Love Will Win Again
Dedicated to Orlando
I woke up on June 12th very excited. It was telling my favorite story in service, we had our End of the Year Picnic and RE games, plus, I got to go back home to my family and watch Hamilton sweep the Tony awards.
I was standing by our candles of joy and concern when Joel Gomez-Dossi asked if I knew if Margret knew about the shooting and if she would include it in her pastoral prayer. My heart sunk to my stomach as Joel gave me horrifying figures of 20 dead and 43 injured in an gay club in Orlando, admitting they may be old numbers and the new numbers might be higher. I prayed that Joel was right and there weren’t more victims, and I prayed that he was wrong- misremembering the figure and no one was dead. Joel was wrong, but not in the way I had hoped. 50 dead and 53 injured. Someone walked in with an assault rifle and targeted people in a safe haven in my community.
As I was questioning and continue to question my sexuality, gay bars have always been a sanctuary to grow into my authentic self. It always feels like coming home for a Thanksgiving meal to enter a building that was made for and by your community. The fears of being different, of being harassed, of not passing, of trying on new identities to see if they fit, of being berated for who you love and who you are disappear.
Feeling like Atlas with the world finally removed from his back, it’s no wonder we have the best dance moves. We’ve been waiting for a place like this through the mircoaggressions of the day, week, month- however much we happen to be burdened with. Microaggressions are like slaps on the wrist- one stings, but doesn’t hurt too much. But when those slaps on the wrist come more and more frequently, it tears down our fabulous spirits. “So you’re bisexual? Which one do you like more?” “Oh course she’s a lesbian. Look at that haircut.” “We could totally make out and it’s doesn’t even count because you’re gay.” “Wrong bathroom, tranny.” If we counter those offensive questions and comments, what danger are we potentially putting ourselves in? What is the cost of education? Is it really my job to educate every person who disrespects my identity when, besides the fact that it’s sounds exhausting, to do so could put me in harm’s way?
So we retreat to sanctuary- whether its Pulse in Orlando, Stone Wall in Manhattan, or Water Works in Albany.This a place where the hurtful comments are not allowed to fly. The terror to see someone firing bullets faster than they fired their hateful comments into a sanctuary is overwhelmingly heartbreaking. While trying to escape the potential violence on the streets, the violence and hate comes right to their doorstep.
I was standing with this community when I heard the news. I was surrounded by the love and joy of our abundance as we celebrated the End of the Years Picnic and RE Games. That night, I drive to Manhattan to be with my family and the theatre community as we watched the Tony Awards. The Tony awards opened somberly as James Corden offered comfort and condolences to those in Orlando while reminding us all that hate will never win over love.
On June 12th, I spent my day with two of my most loving communities- Unitarian Universalists and the theatre community. I cannot be more grateful to the universe for surrounding with my with love on a day that hate wanted attention. I was ready to hate the shooter. I was ready to find out any and every terrible thing about him to justify my hate. Instead, I was surrounded by love. Love has a healing power that hate does not. Love grows, creates, inspires. I calmed down and have invested my time in finding ways to fight this homophobic attack on LGBTQ+ people with love. This is why love will always win. Love is the spirit of the LGBTQ+ community and though hate came in to disrupt the peace, love will win again.