My LGBTQ Agenda! (As the Rainbow Flies Over Berlin Mosque)
A Prism & Pen writing prompt
Guilty as charged, I have an LGBTQ agenda
But first, can I just admit I had a really rough Pride month? All the news about the LGBTQ backlash and all the stories about violence and threats ate at me. Yesterday was rough. A grandmother reached out to me with a story she wants me to share, a story so … distressing… I shed tears. A Catholic man reached out publicly and ripped into me with a playground slur that left me gasping— not so much because he said it, but because he finds his dehumanizing speech socially acceptable.
But you know what? I woke up this morning more determined than ever to work hard to help bring about a better world. One FABULOUS news story filled me with positive energy first thing, forcing the biggest smile out of me before I even poured my coffee.
The Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in Berlin became the first ever German mosque to fly the rainbow Pride flag. They didn’t do it quietly, either. Imams invited Berlin’s Culture Senator Klaus Lederer and staged a photo event for the press.
Attendees wore stickers saying “Love is Halal.” Imam Mo el-Ketab said in a speech that leaders want the mosque to be a “safe place for people who are different, so they too can experience the spiritual side of their lives.”
This is my LGBTQ agenda. What’s yours?
We queer people often get accused of having a nefarious agenda, when all we want is to live and love in peace, as who we were born or created to be. What’s so nefarious about that? What’s so terrible about wanting to live free from personal insult from religious strangers, about living free from horror stories about lovely people suffering over their sexual orientation or gender identities?
My LGBTQ agenda is to live in a world where Pride flags over churches and mosques are ordinary and expected, where queer people live free from harassment and interference from politicians, priests, demagogues, and preachers who target the Other, who stir up the mob for personal gain and power. I want to live in a world where four houses on one block of a “gayborhood” don’t get burned down because somebody objected to June Pride decorations.
I want to live in a world where people of faith, like at the Evangelical Bethany Christian Services, the largest Protestant adoption agency in the U.S., drop out of the culture wars and embrace LGBTQ families. That really happened, and it was just as unexpected and joyful as that rainbow flying over a mosque.
I want to keep telling stories that highlight injustice and showcase love. I want to move people’s hearts.
That’s my agenda! What’s yours?
Pride month is officially over, though many cities will be hosting events for weeks to come. As the party winds down, as rough as it was in places, what happens next? Do you have a personal agenda, public goals, political or organizing plans? How will you live your LGBTQ life freely and positively?
Are you an ally, like that grandmother who whose tragic story I can’t share right now? What’s your love agenda? Have you thought about it? Will you?
Let’s tell some stories! Let’s write about “My LGBTQ Agenda!” That’s our Prism & Pen writing prompt for the next two weeks, and thanks to Roo Benjamin for the inspiration.
Quills out, editorial support available
If you don’t think of yourself as a writer, don’t let that stop you. P&P editors can work with you to make your writing look sharp and professional. So don’t let lack of experience stop you from sharing your private Pride.
You tell your stories, we’ll help you share them.
Please send in your essays, poems, short fiction, memoir, art reviews, or history. If you’re already working on something else, we welcome submissions about anything within our guidelines at any time.
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