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Couple share why they joined 40 UCC folks in Pride Parade

This past Sunday, my husband Tim and I headed to the Roosevelt light rail station with our signs in hand (We Say Gay! Love your Neighbor!) ready to march in Seattle’s annual Pride Parade.

Betty Speith Croll and Tim Croll with their signs for Pride Parade top. Pictured above are banners carried in the Seattle Pride Parade by Northshore UCC in Woodinville, Plymouth UCC in Seattle and University Congregational UCC in Seattle.

On the way, I said to Tim, “Why are we doing this?” We’d already had a long, busy weekend and staying home was tugging at my already tired body.

He immediately responded, “Marching in support of our LGBTQ+ friends is more important now than ever.” Of course, he was right. Pride banners are being torn down from churches from Seattle to Spokane, and LGBTQ+ rights are threatened once again. It’s no time to stand down. Any second thoughts I may have had were quickly dispelled upon arriving to the joyous sights and sounds of the parade assembly.

If spreading joy is an act of resistance, the Pride Parade is one of the most effective forms of subversive protest! We were surrounded by joy everywhere we looked, from the colorful (in every way) expressions of the participants to the laughter, waves and cheers from hundreds of thousands of viewers along the parade route.

We marched alongside 40 PNC members from seven churches including Prospect, Plymouth, UCUCC, Northshore, Normandy Park, Mercer Island and Fauntleroy, and with our PNC Moderator Indigo Brown.

Parade planners assigned us an early slot, just before the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the ACLU.

Perhaps this was their own form of resisting stereotyping – placing a church group close to the front of the parade. As we passed the announcement stand, the emcee read from the card describing the PNC, then went off script to say “This is how to protest, friends. You don’t just sit on the sidelines and cheer, you march in the parade! Thank you Pacific Northwest Conference UCC for your courage!”

 Yes, that’s why I came to march. We are all God’s children. God loves every single one of us. No exception.  I’ll march to that!

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

Betty Spieth Croll - Member of University Congregational UCC - Seattle

 

Pacific Northwest Conference Summer United Church News copyright © June 2023

 

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