Penn State University Pride Walk
for by best friend - Rick
"SING" - My Chemical Romance (partial)
"Sing it out
Boy, you've got to see what tomorrow brings
Sing it out
Girl, you've got to be what tomorrow needs
For every time that they want to count you out
Use you voice every single time you open up your mouth
Sing it for the boys
Sing it for the girls
Every time that you lost it sing if for the wold
Sing it from the heart
Sing it til' you're nuts
Sing it out for the ones that'll hate your guts
Sing it for the deaf
Sing it for the blind
Sing about everyone that you left behind
Sing it for the world
Sing it for the world"
Each time I hear this song, I believe it to be the unsung anthem for those who are going through something we cannot understand, explain, or comprehend. This is what the pride walk meant to me.
My favorite verse from that song...
"You've got to make a choice
If the music drowns you out
And raise your voice every single time
They try and shut your mouth"
As I participated in this annual event, this is what I felt was being said. "We have a voice. Although you want to shut us up, we are hear, loud and proud."
Each spring on the PSU main campus in State College, PA, the LGBTQA Student Resource Center celebrates the identities of persons within their community who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and allied. The event started where the offices are housed on campus in the Bouke Building. At noon, a medium sized group of about fifty persons gathered to raise their flags and bring awareness of their identities to others.
According to their website, the LGBTQA, during their Pride Week, open their doors to all to continually provide educational events and programs on sexual and gender identity. They also offer a variety of events ranging from movies to a prom.
The LGBTQA opened their doors in 1994 to begin providing resources for students and the campus community. Their mission is to provide a range of information, education and advocacy services. The organization works continuously to create and maintain an open, safe, and inclusive environment for all gay students on campus. They want to eliminate homophobia and heterosexism on campus so that everyone can have equality and are included in all areas of the school...and community.
But why should they?
With society being divided over gay rights and non gay rights, a majority of Americans already believe that homosexuality should be accepted rather than discouraged. Unfortunately, this belief is strongly felt among younger generations. My generation, fifty and older, still believe in the biblical man and woman, as do I being a pastor and woman of God, but it is not for any of us to judge. Besides, there are some religious groups who already accept homosexuality.
"Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecing to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." - Luke 6:31-36.
Not exactly the way you would look at this situation, but you get the idea.
I am a pastor with tattoos, and partially shaved head. If you met me on the street, pastor is not what you would think. I look at people through my looking glass, not society's. Besides, who do you know in today's society that is more brave than a girl, boy, man or woman stepping out to tell friends, family or co-workers that they are not what society deems as the typical idea of a man or woman. And what is "typical" anyway. We are not here to judge, but to live together as God intended. I could go further, but not at this time. The purpose of this post was to write about the event that occurred on a cold, windy, spring afternoon on PSU Main Campus. To raise a rainbow flag and let it fly for all the freaks to see!
"Give a man a mask, he will tell you the truth." Oscar Wilde
