Our Hearts

Hello friends,

It’s the beginning of Pride Month, which honors the legacy of freedom fighters who stood up and said, “We will no longer be bullied into submission. We will no longer be chased into the shadows. We are here. We shall live.”

It’s in June to honor the Stonewall Uprising in which trans women and lesbians like Marsha P. Johnson and Stormé DeLarverie stood up against police brutality and laws that would not allow a person to wear “opposite gender” clothing, let alone kiss someone deemed inappropriate.

Pride month also honors freedom fighters like the Compton’s Cafeteria queens and queers in San Francisco, and Harvey Milk, and so many others who fought to make life safer for the rest of us.

And here we are, today, having made so many strides toward acceptance and embrace… still battling over people’s clothing. And makeup. And gender. And hormone levels. And who we love.

So, at the beginning of June, 2023, I want to remind us of something that genderfluid trans man, artist, and sword fighter Sámhlaoch Swords once said:

When our hearts are gates, we can allow people and places and experiences in. When our hearts are plants, we can grow. When our hearts are fires, we create warmth, and light, and a place to gather.

But gates can also shut people out. Plants can whither if not nourished. Fires can destroy.

Will we be forces of nurturing, warmth, and welcome? Or will we put other people’s lives and hearts in danger?

We get to choose. Right here, right now.

I know what I choose. How about you? And what do you commit to doing about it?

Happy Pride Month, everyone.

Thank you so much for being here. You are important.

blessings - Thorn

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