http://www.chicagopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/4824976

African-American churches have often struggled with the idea of gay Christians. Yet Pillar of Love, now four years old, offers a culturally authentic spiritual experience and is now moving to a new home in the Chicago GLBT community's Center on Halsted.

I would like to see more activity on the South and West sides of Chicago. Still, a successful GLBT black church is something to be thankful for, and I offer praise to God for the leadership of the Reverend Phyllis V. Pennese and the rest of the staff and congregation of Pillar of Love.

Find out what it means to me.

What's been tried?

What has it come to?

What has been the response so far?

So what of RESPECT?

Verbal abuse is not about "protected free speech"
Sure, you CAN say what you LIKE.
But do you want to use your free speech for verbal abuse, or for social and political change?

Grabbing people without their consent is NEVER OK.
It's called battery.

And politics?
The parade has ALWAYS been about politics.
The physical presence of thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people cannot help but be political.

Yet here we are, failing to respect EACH OTHER,
And calling for respect from the rest of the world.

All I'm asking
Is for a little RESPECT.

Are you?

I am

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It's SO easy to get caught up in all the negative in our lives.
Family rejection.
Employment discrimination.
Discrimination in child custody cases.
Discrimination in adoption.
Discrimination in taxation.
Discrimination in housing.
Discrimination in partner benefits.
Discrimination in survivor benefits.
Legal sanctions.
Religious discrimination.
Verbal abuse.
Physical abuse.

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So WHAT is to feel GOOD about???

The members of our birth families who still care for us.
The members of our chosen families.
Our friends.
The strides we have made towards equality for all.
The strides we WILL make.
Our energy.
Our passion.
And ourselves.

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Yes. Ourselves.

We know who we are.
We are comfortable with who we are.
We do not apologize for who we are.
We are strong.
We are loving.
We are lovable.
We are good.

And we are FUN to be around!

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FUN?

Loosen up.
Have fun.
It's OK to be happy.
Yes, we suffer injustices every day.
There are some very scary things out there.
Even death.
But we don't have to be miserable all the time.
I refuse to let the world beat me down emotionally.
I'll smile as I fight back.
And I'll enjoy my life

There are many faiths, each with its own beliefs.
Unfortunately, many faiths reach a point where they become stagnant.
The come to believe that they are right, and others are wrong.
They resist change.
And they try to suppress those who believe differently.
The set of beliefs a religion holds to be above challenge is dogma.

Suppression of Alternate Beliefs

Reaction to Isolation

Humans are mostly social animals.
We cannot bear being set apart from the groups with which we identify.
When set apart, we get lonely, afraid.
We begin to think we are less worthy, or unworthy, of being a part of the group.

Some will come to believe that the group MUST be right,
and will come to believe the same as a group.

Some will NOT believe,
but will try to force the alternative thoughts from their minds.

Some will NOT believe,
but will pretend to go along, so as not to be left out.

Some will NOT believe,
and will stand up for themselves,
preaching their "heresies" as they are ignored, or denounced, or attacked.

Freedom to Think for Ourselves

It is my belief that we should be free to think for ourselves.
When my beliefs are dictated by another, I lose that freedom.
I should NEVER have to fear that I don't belong merely because I believe something differently.
I should NEVER have to fear being rejected merely because I think for myself.

Dogma All Around Us

People don't only take a religious attitude in spiritual matters.
They take it in all sorts of other matters as well.
Whether it's "You must be pro-life and pro-family to be a TRUE Republican"
or "You cannot be a REAL programmer and believe BASIC is usable."
Our community has them too.
Have you ever heard "Real gay men don't like...?"
or "real Lesbians are...?"
We can have our beliefs
Others can have theirs
We can even express our reasons for believing as we do.
But must we demand that others "toe the party line" in order to be included?
Or can we allow ourselves to grow and change?
Without fear.

Celebrate Diversity

Do you REALLY believe in Diversity?

This Flag started as a Gay & Lesbian flag. Perhaps that is all it should ever be.

If so, then we should stop attaching "Celebrate Diversity" to it.

I think that would be very sad.

Let us, for a moment, imagine that this flag represents diversity. What might the stripes represent?

Red is as close as this flag gets to pink.
We all recognize the pink triangle as the mark used by the Nazis to brand homosexual men.
Of course, some of us would not like to be associated with "obviously" gay men.
After all, men who exhibit the stereotypical traits recognized by society as "homosexual" just make it harder for others to be accepted as "normal."
So let's leave them out.
If they're going to be "flamboyant", they'll get what they ask for.

Maybe Orange is the color of the more "normal" gay and lesbian people.
Closeted? Maybe.
There are a lot of ads in the personals for "straight looking, acting, seeks same."
Some of them are even Republican.
Some of them are "Pro Life."
Maybe they're not queer enough to be part of the Gay Rights movement.
Let's leave them out.

This is pretty close to the middle. Let's say this color represents bisexual people.
After all, that's what many people say about them.
"Straddling the fence."
After all, they can go back to being heterosexual any time they want.
Maybe they don't really belong.
Let's leave them out.

What about the transgendered among us?
After all, they're not REALLY a part of the "Gay Community".
Yes, a lot of straight people associate them with us, but do we really want that?
When we say "we're here, we're queer, get used to it!" we don't mean queer THAT way.
And what are we talking about anyway?
Straight men who like to dress up?
Or those awful sex-change people who can't even accept themselves as God made them?
Let's leave them out.

Their flag is Blue and Black, with a White stripe and a Red heart.
Some of us are uncomfortable with the S&M community.
I guess that's natural.
Some of us are victims of abuse.
Some of us are sympathetic to those who were abused.
To many, S&M symbolizes this abuse.
I suppose we can do without them.

Purple.
Lavender
Lesbian.
Do lesbian women really understand the "gay rights movement"?
After all, they have all their feminist agenda.
And AIDS is not a big factor in the lesbian community.
They just don't understand.
Let's leave them out.

Oops.

No flag left.
Where is that diversity we were celebrating?

Look at the flag below.
Decide which color you don't want in your flag.
Decide which kind of people you want to distance yourself from.
Decide which kind of people you feel superior to.
Maybe even decide which kind of people you hate.