​Happy Pride!

By Rey Lambatin, Choir Director


August is Pride month in Silicon Valley. But going five months into the pandemic, we all know that the celebration is not going to be the same as before. No parade, no booths, no concerts. Not even in CGS, where we used to hang rainbow flags and banners, which I’ve always enjoyed seeing during worship, to enhance the spirit of the event’s observance. For a reconciling church like ours where a number of our members are part of the LGBTQ+ community, not being able to celebrate Pride month is a sobering prospect. For me, around this time is when I usually see and reconnect with people I don’t normally see the rest of the year - former SVGMC members with whom I sang, and friends I used to regularly meet in past social gatherings. However, pandemic doesn’t mean no celebration at all. In these times of new normal, we’ve learned to cope and adjust going through our daily lives, and celebrating Pride month shouldn’t be an exception. As downsized as it may be, we can still celebrate in our own different and easy ways. It can be as simple as wearing a Pride shirt, listening to music that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community, such as Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out,” Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” or hanging a mini rainbow flag in your room or a big one in front of your house. As simple or as different it may be, the important thing is that we don’t forget the reason why we observe Pride. The same way that we continue to gather in worship every Sunday, have communion, and remember our Lord Jesus’ sacrifice for our salvation, may we also continue to celebrate Pride and remember what it signifies: to commemorate and celebrate LGBTQ+ activism and culture through the years, that started with the Stonewall Uprising in June 1969.