Amid the increasing drumbeat of anxiety and ideological movements favoring power, privilege, and othering, Pride Month is a light shining through the darkness of societal uncertainty.

Celebrated in the United States every June, the annual observation recognizes the culture and contribution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in America. From art, literature, film, civil and human rights activism, education, religion, and across professional fields, the LGBTQ community has positively added to the diversity and progress of human flourishing and belonging despite generations of discrimination and hate. Given that sexual orientation, identity, and activity are not common dinnertime conversation for many—especially among “traditional” heterosexual families—the LGBTQ community was left to process their stories in isolation from a society that often demonstrated animosity toward their hidden reality.

Teeming with colorful parades, celebrations, and cultural expression, Pride Month has elevated the awareness and legitimacy of a diverse people group that has lived since humanity came into existence. Actors, musicians, corporations, religious communities, activist groups, and politicians (including both Democrats and Republicans) alike now use their platforms to support the full inclusion of the LGBTQ community. Their work seeks to demystify and humanize those who continue to be unjustly stereotyped and targeted.

Although the winds of political and ideological forces are currently blowing against the values of equity and inclusion in America and elsewhere, the LGBTQ community has been leading the inspiration for hope and change for millions living among the margins of society. Because of their activism and advocacy, our hearts and minds become exposed to a bigger vision of our collective reality helping break down the barriers that cultivate distrust and discrimination between us. Through the stories and experiences of the LGBTQ community, we discover more of humanity’s wonderful diversity and relentless pursuit of meaning in a complex and troubling world. They help us see that the more diverse and inclusive we strive to become as a society, the closer we reach that shining city on a hill where a better tomorrow for everyone is made possible.

I confess that I have not always been an ally to my LGBTQ neighbors. I am remorseful but profoundly thankful for the grace of those who understood the world and God to be different than I was willing. For years I sought to reconcile the concept of love and its various expressions as both a temporal and eternal reality that could be experienced and shared. In my journey, I consistently came back to a foundational text from the Bible that I have always grounded my adult life on:

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. (1 John 4:16-19)

Love is a life-saving and universe-bending force that we will not fully grasp in our lifetime. Whether one believes in God or not, the LGBTQ community has been living by the phenomenological reality of love for decades. They continue to show us that pure selfless love is unconditional and cannot be contained by cultural or societal standards. Love regularly defies reason and expectations because it confronts judgmental and punitive beliefs and behaviors. Love, by its created purpose, builds pathways for compassion, belonging, freedom from oppression, and healing of body and soul. Love in its true and pure form does no harm but heals and makes perfect. 

In a confused and anxious world, Pride Month offers a vision of love that embraces, heals, restores, unifies, and celebrates. As told for two thousand years in the message of Jesus, unconditional love is the defining outcome of the human experience with God and each other. When we choose the ways of love, we cultivate a better tomorrow for everyone, everywhere. If you are not already, use this month to learn how to become a safe ally and advocate for the LGBTQ people you know in your life—you won’t regret it.