Post # 15 What Can We Really Do About It?

Last month, a very elegant, courageous, and classy lady passed away after fighting cancer for several years.  She knew she was dying, but rather than whine about it, she sent out messages of strength and peace.  She handled personal adversity with grace and charm, rather than with entitlement.  When the end approached, she faced it bravely.

Several months ago, I visited a couple of friends in Harrisonburg, PA, and that particular weekend just happened to coincide with their town’s gay pride.  They told us a remarkable story about the parade which I’ll share in a moment.

There’s a wonderful movie called To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar starring Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo.  It’s silly fluff, but kinda fun, and totally worth watching to see the three stars dressed in drag and acting as women.  At the end of the movie, Patrick Swayze’s character, Vida, is coming to terms with his life and his two friends are supporting him and calling on him to “Stand up.”

There’s a church whose name rhymes with Testboro who believes it’s their responsibility to protest at the funerals of people whose politics or lifestyles they don’t agree with.  These funerals include those of soldiers killed in battle, politicians, other religious leaders, etc.  Basically, anyone who doesn’t follow their narrow, restrictive religious practices, or who disagrees with them.  They very deliberately choose their targets and their methods and their timing.  I’ve already posted on how reprehensible it is to stage a protest at a funeral where people’s emotions are at their rawest, and their defenses are at their lowest.  I won’t go there now.  But the question remains.  What can we really do about?  This church, and others of their ilk are simply exercising their legal rights to peaceful assembly.

The answer is to stand up.  If you believe in it, stand up for it.

This church declared that they were going to protest at the funeral of Elizabeth Edwards.  I don’t even recall clearly exactly how they justified it, but five members showed up.  Two hundred people showed up to stand in between them and the funeral.  Last veteran’s day, this church decided to stage a protest at a college in DC while congress was voting or discussing something about gay rights.  The students staged their own protest and outnumbered the church members by over 10 to 1.

During the gay rights parade in PA, several local churches decided to line the parade route with protests, banners, signs, and placards.  The local Unitarian church lined the parade route in front of them with banners in support.  The parade was executed without incident or harm on either side.

My answer to What Can We Really Do About It? is an easy one to say, and very difficult to execute.  But it’s a universal answer.  If there’s something you don’t like taking place somewhere and you’re wondering what to do about it, stand up.  Be counted for what you believe.  When people do, change takes place.