The First PRIDE DAY in My Indiana Town
If it can happen here, could it happen anywhere?
My town…
Well, we really didn’t celebrate Pride Month much in my town. Don’t get me wrong. There are a bunch of LGBTQ+ folks in my town. Several are quite open about it. I think (could be wrong) there are three churches that are truly open and affirming — not just in name, or to change folks. I am sure that many people did go to the major city nearby for the parade and other festivities. But here? I did wear my rainbow pin. Some others did too. Maybe you need to understand a bit about my town.
I live in Indiana, a very conservative state. The governor before the current guy was Mike Pence, who unapologetically discriminated against the LGBTQ+ community. He also wanted to promote Gay Conversion Therapy (never mind that the psychology/psychiatric community has completely rejected it and the notion that being queer is a mental illness). In the last election, Trump got nearly 60% to Biden’s 40-something. It is a very red state.
Now, my town is only about 30 minutes from a large city. It is a town of about 50,000. It was prosperous. It was a hub for GM — especially for research and development (a member of my church has his name on the patent for anti-lock brakes). There is a lot of influence from one conservative…
