38th Stonewall Anniversary

"On this night, the charge was the illegal sale of alcohol. The raid began in time-honored fashion, as plainclothes and uniformed police officers entered the bar, arrested the employees, and began ejecting the customers one by one onto the street.

But for some reason, the crowd that had gathered outside the Stonewall, a crowd that had become campy and festive and had cheered each time a patron emerged from the bar, soon changed its mood. Perhaps it was Judy Garland's death, or the summer heat, or the fact that police had been especially busy that summer raiding bars and patrons had become angry and frustrated. Or possibly it was the sight of several drag queens being forced into a paddy wagon.

Whatever it was, the on-lookers lost their patience. As to who threw the first punch, accounts are contradictory. Some say it was a drag queen, while others claim it was a butch lesbian, who initially defied the police.

The crowd, which had grown to several hundred people, erupted."

A big, flagrant nod today to thank all of my LGBT sisters and brothers for their patience and perseverance and faith in creating a world that is safe for sex and gender diversity.

My life has been changed--and I have been converted--by the testimonies of LGBT Christians. I continue to pray that part of my life's work in ministry will be to allow the church universal to learn from and grow toward the faith exhibited by Christians who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered. Coming out is an act of profound faith that humbles me. To grow up being told that "God hates gay people" ... and to emerge with the conviction, held more deeply in the bones than any hate can reach, that God loves you... this is what faith is.

I pray that God might one day bless me with such faith and courage to live and love authentically.

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For a great radio podcast on how the American Psychiatric Association changed its official designation of homosexuality as a pathological condition, click on the archives of This American Life and search for the program "81 Words."