A CUP OF JOE

A dear friend of mine, his husband, and their adopted son live in North Carolina. They’ve been between homes recently and were invited to house-sit a friend’s house while they looked for a new home. After my friend and his family had been there a while, the friend they were house-sitting for told them that the president of the homeowners association for their development had been emailing. The association’s president said in his emails that the presence of my friend and his family was “destroying the integrity of the neighborhood and that ‘everyone’ in the neighborhood feels unsafe with our kind here.”

For the first year since I’ve been in Saratoga, I did not march in the Albany Pride parade. It took place last weekend, and I could make all kinds of excuses about how busy I am and how inconvenient it is for a minister in Saratoga Springs to get to a Sunday parade in Albany, and we have our own Pride event in town a week later.

The thing about being an ally: I can opt in and opt out. This is privilege. My friend and his family cannot opt out of the homophobia directed at them.

I will NOT miss the Saratoga Pride Festival happening this Sunday in High Rock Park from 1 to 4 p.m. The lives of LGBTQ+ people are still under attack.

Please join me and members of our Membership Committee who will be staffing a table this Sunday at High Rock. Wear congregational t-shirts or Side with Love T-shirts if you have them. We need to demonstrate our love! If we don’t, is it really love?

Blessings,
Rev. Joe