PRIDE: Learning & Sharing

Check out the next installment of posts highlighting the involvement of Headwaters Mission Center congregations honoring LGBTQ Pride Month! This comes from the Milwaukee-Wauwatosa congregation.

After the worship service of June 3, 2018, Milwaukee-Wauwatosa congregation member Brian Fuller led a well-attended class for the congregation titled “Out in the Open: A Conversation on LGBT History, Culture and Sensitivity.” Brian is a student of Psychology and Women’s and Gender Studies at UW-Whitewater. He was assisted by Bren O’Conner, a transgender activist with a degree in the History of Ideas from UW Madison; Cherish Golden, recipient of a 2018 “Outstanding LGBT Sexuality, or Gender Research/Presentation” award with an M.S.E. from UW Whitewater; and Elizabeth Riemer, an LGBT ally who has a degree in Human Resources from UW Eau Claire. The team discussed questions like “What is LGBTQ+?”; “What is LGBT Pride?”; “Where did it come from?”; “What does it mean to be transgender, gay or lesbian?”; and “What can you do to be a better ally to the LGBT community?”. Angela Beltrame played the violin during an intermission.

We heard stories about LGBT individuals who were rejected by their families and other stories about people asked to leave their churches. We also discussed what to expect at the Milwaukee Pride Festival as many members of the congregation have volunteered to staff a church booth at the event. The class was also held to help the congregation fulfill requirements of the Welcoming Community Network which helps congregations become LGBT welcoming and affirming. All attendees appreciated the quality of the presentations and the willingness of Brian and his friends to come and talk to us. They were outstanding. After the class, Brian posted on his Facebook page that “We made big steps today in creating a more loving, safe, Zionic community.”