The LGBT community is mourning the loss of lives in Orlando. Many people are showing their support. Some beautiful people came together and wore angel costumes to protect the memorial against the Westboro Baptist Church. Those of us that are allies are wondering what we can do to help. The best thing to do is to vote out all of the RWNJs spreading hate.
Those of us that live in Alabama know that the hate against the LGBT is rampant. We are making progress, but The South is not always a friendly place for people that are not Christian Republicans.
One example is Jayme Parsons. This Mobile native had this to say about coming out in The South:
“Some of the memories I have growing up was with guys driving down the road and yelling ‘fag’ at me and that kind of thing. People are capable of anything.”
She was hopeful after a local church held a vigil for the Orlando victims. June is National Pride Month, and my hometown and other cities in Alabama had festivals for it this past weekend. A local advocacy group called Free2Be organized the event in my town.
Rev. Sara Stills of the Cornerstone Metropolitan Community Church in Mobile, Alabama said this about the vigils:
“I do think the struggle for marriage equality was a hard struggle but when it finally came to us, it came quickly aside from the judges not issuing marriage licenses. We’re still fighting this battle in Alabama, and that is OK. There is an equality we have not had before and I’m thrilled to see that young people … that there are promises that lie ahead in their lifetime.”
Unfortunately, Alabama doesn’t have very many protections for the LGBT community. They can get fired from their jobs and denied housing for being who they are. The crowds that showed up for the Pride parades make me very hopeful that someday this will change.
Check out some lovely footage from a Pride Parade in Birmingham, Alabama:
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
