Healing homophobia an inch at a time

(Or, why it matters that we keep "believing out loud")

Nobody is more tired of my story than me. (No, not even you, Missy!)

"Born at Good Samaritan Hospital. Baptized at the Old Cathedral. Came out in the National Cathedral on the 4th of July. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah." Who cares? Why bother?

And another question is -- why should we have to bother?

Shouldn't our lives, our relationships and our vocations be entitled to equal protection, blessing and respect without our having to justify ourselves? To prove anything? Do we really have to invite strangers into our lives -- our stories --in order to "prove" that we deserve recognition of the full humanity God gave us by our heterosexual brothers and sisters?

Welcome to the kingdom not-yet-come! Of course all those things are true, and yet again and again -- over and over -- hearts and minds are changed when we risk ... when we speak our truth ... tell our stories ... share our lives ... offer ourselves to this Godly work of healing homophobia an inch at a time.

Here's a case in point -- from an online news report this week:

ELISABETH Hasselbeck changed her views on gay marriage after having dinner with lesbian singer Melissa Etheridge.

“I think there are a lot of, maybe, conservatives out there who are talking about gay marriage and not necessarily with someone who wants to have gay marriage or has been in a gay marriage,” said The View co-host.

“You know, I had Melissa Etheridge over, we had dinner, we talked for hours about gay marriage, and I would really challenge people: Get out there. Instead of just talking about it and hating on it, actually talk to someone who’s loved someone else and have the conversation about what can be done.”

So there you have it. Being tired of doing the work we've been called to do isn't an excuse for not doing it. And changing hearts and minds goes hand-in-hand with changing votes and political progress. We can't let it be an "either/or" thing -- it has to be a "both/and" thing.

And it's going to happen.

We are going to win.

Because the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice.

And because it bends a little further every time we speak our truth in love.