Celebrating Pride as a Spiritual Practice | Pride 2025
“The marching, dancing, singing, being together, sticky with glitter and rainbows rainbowing is a holy act of remembering that when God created us, God called us ‘very good.’”
Shae Washington,
QCF Community Member
“God saw everything that [God] had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” - Genesis 1:31 NRSVUE
One year after the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 in New York City, the LGBTQ+ community took to the streets in multiple cities across the United States to commemorate the resistance to dehumanization, and the assertion of dignity proclaimed by Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and many others in what would grow to become annual celebrations of PRIDE. Tired of being harassed by the police, tired of not being able to express their identity in the ways that were most authentic to them, fed-up of being beat down (literally and figuratively) by systems of supremacy withholding equal rights and protections, Pride is the continuation of a movement for LGBTQ+ liberation. It is a declaration of belonging. It is a pronouncement of radical love for self and for each other.
Depending on the familial and religious contexts you grew up in, the word “pride” may still bring a tinge of a wince inside your heart, your soul-space, your shanana as I like to call it. This word, regardless of the amount of deconstructing and reconstructing done, can sometimes still bring on a quick harkening back to teachings of pride being something “good” Christians don’t feel…unless it is pride in the Lord of course. “Pride goes before the fall,” is often quoted as a word of warning. But, is pride really a bad thing that only leads to destruction?
As I dig into various places in the Bible where the word “pride” is used, it is often connotated in a negative way due to its connection to arrogance, elevating oneself above God, and those enacting injustice on the lowly in society. But what about when it comes to those of us who are the lowly in society? Those of us pushed out of belonging and into isolation. Those of us on the underside of power who are often taught to be ashamed of ourselves because of our sexuality. We are conditioned to be small, to not take up space, and to disbelieve our worthiness. Pride for us - the word, and the movement, is about refusing to accept these lies.
There are also places in the Bible that encourage us to not "be ashamed" (Romans 1:16, 2 Cor 10:8, Phil 1:20) and 1 Peter 4:16: "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name." We were all wonderfully and beautifully made in God’s image.
The marching, dancing, singing, being together, sticky with glitter and rainbows rainbowing is a holy act of remembering that when God created us, God called us “very good.” It is our resistance to being dehumanized, and our assertion of dignity modeled by our queer elders. It is an understanding that pride is, as I recently heard someone say, agreeing with God about who we are! And, in addition to “good,” other synonyms translated from the same Hebrew word “towb” include: beautiful, fine, bountiful, well-favored, and precious, just to name a few. So go ahead and let’s celebrate our fine selves family!! Celebrate as a spiritual practice of living authentically and loving boldly. Celebrate as our Creator did in looking back over all that was made and declaring, “very good.”
We are aiming to raise $30,000 during Pride Month, and thanks to a generous $15,000 matching gift, every gift given toward this campaign, including all monthly gifts for the first year, will be doubled until we reach our $30,000 goal! Click the link below to give today!