#yycpride

Yesterday I walked in my city’s Pride Parade with one of our local united churches. I am both proud and honoured to have had the opportuntity to do this- despite not considering myself a Christian. I think it’s funny how welcoming it was, being a part of this church march because as a bisexual transgender pagan, I would think a church- any church- would be the last place I could feel happy and at home. For some background, I am not technically a member of this church, but my best friend is as her mom is one of the ministers. They invited me to march with them.

I was born into a Mennonite church. When I realized I was gay was also when I realized that this church, this group of people who had been family to me my whole life, had quite openly condemned the queer community by rejecting the one Mennonite church in the city who accepted them. Us. Me. When I came out as a lesbian, I stopped going to church before I had a chance to be rejected. I didn’t hear what they said, I didn’t know, except for what my family has told me. When my mom emailed the pastor and said that she didn’t know how to go to church when it felt like our family was being judged at every turn, he replied that as long as I never had sex with a woman, they had no reason to judge. I was seventeen, but I had lost a huge aspect of my support system. I got through it by making jokes, not really processing, and it’s only been in the past months, three years after the fact that I’ve begun to process the loss I felt then. It’s only been in the past months that I’ve begun to recognize my anger, and allowed myself to feel angry about it.

I think this is why it means so much to me to not only see churches march in pride, but to march with a church that is loving to everyone. I was nearly crying before we even started marching because there were so many religious people willing to open their hearts— that is what my idea of Christianity is, and the fact that isn’t the Christianity being practiced so often is part of why I turned from it. My church- though I don’t think I can call them my church anymore- would not ever march in Pride. Expressing that love to some of the most vulnerable people is not a value they are willing to practice on the grand scale. But yesterday, I had the honour of marching with a Church for whom that is a value they practice. Yesterday I had the honour of pounding on a djembe and starting chants of “God Loves Gays” over the bigots, and I hope I shouted loud enough that kids questioning everything heard and knew that they aren’t alone.