This month, I've noticed posts from a wide range of people in my feed depicting a rainbow and the text "Promise, Not Pride." It seems that the more America celebrates Pride, the more it rankles some--even some folks I love, even some folks I wouldn't have imagined posting an "anti-" message. These posts reference the Old Testament Biblical Story of Noah and the Ark. As a child, I learned that story this way: God sent devastating floods to Earth to punish people for being wicked. Noah wasn't wicked, so he received a heads-up from God with instructions to build an ark for himself, his extensive family, and for two of every kind of animal. Eventually, the flood came. Noah and his family rode it out in the ark, and God sent a rainbow as a promise that He (most definitely He) would never flood the earth like that again.
I've been thinking about that story a lot this month as we've hosted a Pride series on More to Say, the premium podcast I host Tuesday-Friday, and where Sarah and I share our spicier thoughts on Thursdays. For this series, I've been honored to be in conversations about what Pride means this year. Rosemary Ketchum, the first out transgender person elected to public office in West Virginia, talked about her mayoral campaign and how she's pouring into her hometown. Norma Stary, a long-time listener and supporter of our work (I imagine our premium listeners saying "Norma!" the warm, enthusiastic way Cheers patrons greeted "Norm!"), shared how and why she embraces the word "lesbian." She discussed her willingness to...well, discuss practically anything with anyone--which is one of the most effective forms of activism. Taylor Stone-Welch, an accomplished, forward-thinking citizen of Hamilton, Ohio, returned to share the fruits of his efforts to build Pride celebrations in his small, conservative community. I spoke with Rachel about parenting her LGBTQ children and what she's learned in the process (we're working on the audio of this conversation; you haven't missed it). Today, a couple that has been so generous with Sarah and me for so long that I always think of them as "Tiff and Jess" joined me to talk about being two married women who own and operate Chick-fil-A restaurants in Texas.
These conversations have moved and molded me. I could write pages of takeaways, like:
Coming out isn't a one-time act. You have to come out every single day in different ways, with different people, for different reasons, to different degrees.
The smallest acts of affirmation are massively encouraging. And casual acts of rejection can be massively hurtful.
So be an encourager! Celebrate weddings. Say "happy pride." Warmly welcome LGBTQ people who move into your neighborhood.
When who you are and who you love is treated as "other," you take almost nothing for granted.
It takes love and patience to build bridges.
Back to those "promise, not pride" posts. As an adult, I've come to think differently about what Noah and the Ark communicates. I read it as a story about how floods will come again and again. It will often feel like the flood will destroy you. But love will carry you through the floods, and at the end, when the last bit of rain meets light, you'll see the beauty of that love shining brightly.
And that feels like a promise and pride to me.
Happy Pride, and thank you to everyone who gave me the gift of their time and trust this month.
In the spirit of progress and pride, we wanted to share this note we got from Kersten.
I currently live in Sleepy Hollow, NY, and was moved this week when watching our local Board of Trustee meeting. A couple of weeks ago, friends of mine submitted a request that the village fly a flag for Pride month. Trustees had discussed it at a previous work session and had opened the subject up to public input at this meeting.
The result is easily the most moving public meeting I have ever witnessed, which seems to be the sentiment of anyone who attended or watched. The public comments were an extraordinary display of eloquence, civility, storytelling, reason, and the best of American values. No one rambles; everyone makes different points, and the effect is excellent viewing material.
While those that made the original request (and others) were hurt by some elected officials being resistant to having Pride flags flown by the Village, I was reflecting on how actually that friction ended up allowing the space for very vulnerable public sharing and community building to occur that probably would not have happened had it been quickly and easily approved. Also, the views of current elected officials have been brought more into the light and will definitely have an impact in the next local election. While I hope the request is approved, I think either way, good has already come from the process thus far. There is so much complexity and nuance here.
Here's a link to the meeting and important time stamps.
8:38: The mayor introduces the subject
11:22: The village lawyer explains the nuts and bolts
13:38 - 1:01:04: The beginning of the public comments begins
1:01:36 A trustee unexpectedly calls for an immediate, unplanned vote
Then, tense discussion ensues between trustee members, and they end up agreeing to postpone any vote on the matter until 3 pm on Friday, June 14th, which appropriately happens to be Flag Day.
Important update: The resolution passed unanimously, and on June 15th, the Pride Flag flew over the village of Sleepy Hollow for the first time.
Our team doesn’t have the capacity to vet every request that comes our way, and we rarely reshare and repost fundraisers because we can’t always confirm who is doing them and how the funds will be used. We are passing along this message because Mary Margaret is a long-time, real-life friend of Maggie, our Director of Community Engagement. If you are interested in other charities working in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel, our listeners also helped us collect reputable humanitarian organizations in the region.
Dear Spice Cabinet,
I know many of us have struggled with the crisis in Gaza and our feelings of helplessness in the face of such enormous human suffering. The desire to do something tangible when the political situation feels intractable is heartbreaking. I lived in the region for the better part of a year, volunteering with a Palestinian school for visually impaired children in East Jerusalem. During that time, I met my friend Jennifer, who worked for World Vision in the region. Jennifer now lives in New Zealand with her husband, but is in contact with a former World Vision co-worker, Imad, a Gaza native, currently trying to get his family to safety in Egypt. In the meantime, he is using his skills in humanitarian relief efforts to do what he can for his family and other Gazans in their struggle to survive and provide for their basic needs. If anyone in our community is able to and is looking to channel that feeling of helplessness into action, please consider donating to directly support a family living through this crisis. You can read more about Imad and the current situation here.
Jennifer is diligent about giving updates when the situation on the ground changes and is happy to answer any questions you may have. In the event that funds are not used to leave Gaza, they will be used to rebuild their lives.
Thank you, dear community, for being a place to come and seek to do some measure of good when and where we can. If you can’t make a donation, perhaps share or amplify this plea, and always, always prayers for Imad and his family are very welcomed.
Peace,
Mary Margaret Powers
The one thing we want you to know this week…
Next Thursday, at 9 PM ET, CNN is hosting the first Presidential Debate of 2024. You can join us in our chat on Substack to watch together. We’ll also have a chat going for our Premium Community on Patreon. Sarah and Beth will be recording their conversation about the debate next Friday morning, so our new episode next week will be a little later than usual.
The one thing we made this week we can’t stop thinking about…
Beth mentioned her conversation with Jess and Tiff in today’s note. We haven’t been able to stop thinking about this conversation since we had it.
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Such a touching story Kersten! And Beth, I haven’t seen social media posts like that (yet), but I love your way of reframing it.
I was a delegate to my church conference in the United Methodist Church last week, and it was very touching to see our bishop apologize for the wrong the church has done to a female pastor who is married to another woman and who had turned in her pastoral credentials years ago because of seeing no other option. The bishop reinstated her credentials.
I absolutely said “Norma!” when I read her name.
I don’t believe in god, but it seems to me that the rainbow in that story represents god’s faithfulness, and I don’t see how flying a Pride flag contradicts that. Faith in god should promote faithfulness in believers. What better way to be faithful than to support others?