David at Equality Loudoun just featured Queer Patrick Henry College in a very kind, welcoming post. As I read his blog post over my lunch break, I felt that things had come full circle.
Earlier today, Captain Jack published a moving post on the Soulforce visit. I remember that visit well. I was a frightened student, afraid of myself, afraid of others finding out about me. In the days leading up to the visit, I remember one of my acquaintances telling me in a hushed whisper that she hoped none of the Equality Riders would make it on campus. She kept saying that she was going to hide in her room so that she didn’t get stuck in one of the campus bathrooms with one of the Riders.
I felt both her fear and my shame. And when “Gay Day” arrived, I hid in my room for much of it, not because of the Equality Riders, but because of myself. I believed that somehow the truth was written across my face.
In the days before and after Soulforce visited, I kept up with the media coverage of the school’s poor response. I was so afraid that the school would track my internet usage over the campus network that I did much of my research off campus, in coffee shops with free Wi-Fi.
And that’s when I discovered Equality Loudoun. David’s blog posts were some of the first writings to give words to my inner turmoil — to the ways I felt that I (and others like me) were seen as “less than” in the eyes of my college administration. More recently, he published a post entitled: “You are not alone, not even at Patrick Henry College.” The post deeply moved me, as I remembered my own loneliness at PHC, and imagined the ongoing loneliness of LGBTQ students who are currently enrolled.
Thank you for being a voice of truth and encouragement, David Weintraub.
July 12, 2012 at 11:23 pm
Kate… I happen to be David Weintraub’s pastor… but there are times when I feel it’s the other way around. His spiritual depth and compassion are true gifts ‘from above’ – and in several Sundays he’ll be sharing some words around a narrative you may be familiar with… in Mark 6;30-34. And the narrative has some interesting observations. Jesus’ followers had just returned from a ‘mission’ trip [Mark 6:7-13] and they told him about how they were living out his own mission and ministry of in terms of what they had ‘done’ and ‘taught.’ So he said something like, “You really need to get away for a while because there are so many ‘coming out’ that you don’t even have time to eat.” So they took off in a boat and thought they had found a quiet place where no one would find them… but people had seen what was going on… and raced around the edge of the lake by foot and got there before their boat even arrived. And the narrative goes on: ‘As he stepped out on the shore, he saw a large crowd, and he had great compassion for them because he saw them as “sheep without a shepherd” – and he sat down to begin to do some teaching.’
There are parallels today… because ‘official religion’ has let people down… just as at the time of Jesus. But there are some authentic ‘shepherds’ around – and David Weintraub is one of them.
July 13, 2012 at 12:04 am
Thank you for sharing, Rev. Prange. It doesn’t surprise me that David is such an encouragement to others. And Mark 6 is a great selection!
July 12, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Kate, this is a beautiful post.
July 12, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Thank you for your kind words, Liz!
July 12, 2012 at 9:26 pm
Seeing Soulforce as I was driving by PHC that day, sparked my return to political activism. I will be eternally grateful to those young people. They had a very positive effect on my life. I look forward to reading your blog posts.
July 12, 2012 at 10:21 pm
Katie, I hear you. I hope to someday be able to tell the Equality Riders in person how much their visit meant to me.
July 13, 2012 at 12:11 pm
This is why Equality Loudoun exists. Thank you, Kate.