June is Pride Month, a month of profound and unending gratitude for me. I am an openly queer and disabled clergy person. Without the radical dreaming and action from our queer and disabled ancestors, my path would not be possible.
Disability and Queerness have always been intertwined, from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) classifying homosexuality a mental illness, to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) disabling millions of queer community members. In the disability community our love and embodiment has always been queer. Our communities know how to love and embrace people and lifestyles that do not fit the norm.
I am named after a disabled and queer uncle who passed away from AIDS in the 1980s. He was a committed advocate against discrimination toward queer people with AIDS in the workplace. His death was the catalyst for my grandparents to join our LGBTQ affirming church. While there, they created AIDS support groups at the church, and slowly became surrogate parents for many queer people whose families had abandoned them.
We have come a long way in the last fifty years, but the road ahead is still rough. This Pride month we are bearing witness to an increase in attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community. In the last week, the Human Rights Campaign declared a national state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States.
It is easy to despair. Grief and anger are appropriate responses to these injustices. But we can’t allow ourselves to be consumed by the fear of what lies ahead. Instead, we must hold on lovingly to our ancestors and their legacy as we continue to live out their radical dreams.
May we, as faith communities, dare to dream the seemingly impossible dreams of liberation for our beloved queer and disabled communities. And may we act to make those dreams come true.
