Starts with K

One day, years ago, my third son said to me, “Mom, I hope you don’t always describe me as your gay son.”

I usually don’t, but if you’re going to read this column, you need to know: I have a gay son. He is 34, single, lives in Wisconsin and is a special education paraprofessional at an elementary school. His coworkers and students love him.

It goes without saying, so do I.

That makes covering assignments like Rainbowatonna’s Pride in the Park a bit of a double-edged sword for me. I love seeing people laughing, celebrating, dancing and hanging out with friends.

There was a lot of that on Saturday at Owatonna’s Central Park.

On the other hand, I hate conflict – especially conflict rooted in, well, hate.

As promised, members and supporters of Old Paths Baptist Church in Northfield attended the event. They brought large signs, one with the 10 Commandments and another telling people to repent and believe in the gospel. Another large sign said “GOD HATES PRIDE,” a play on God’s Biblical view of people who are proud.

There was a sign decrying abortion, but without the graphic images displayed last year.

The little group stood first at the designated “free speech” area on the southwest corner of the park. When they were widely ignored, the protesters made their way to the northwest corner – where they were also largely ignored.

I saw just one man engage angrily with them: Marc Boyett, the parent of two LGBTQ+ children.

“I wanted to hear what they were saying,” he said later. “And you’ve got a preacher, right? Preaching out of the Bible – and he’s preaching hate. He’s spewing hate. He’s quoting Jesus, and Jesus didn’t spew hate.”

Boyett was referring to Jason Cooley, the minister at OPBC. He and a few other protesters took turns standing on a small metal bench, holding a Bible, citing scripture and their interpretation of it.

“The hypocrisy just drives me absolutely insane,” Boyett said.

“We’ve always been an ally,” said his partner, Jen Spencer. “They need to have the same rights as everyone else.”

But here’s the real beauty: The six or eight protesters were far outnumbered by the people enjoying a hot summer day with live music and food trucks and acceptance.

It was literally a park full of rainbows and unicorns.

The Rev. Steve Tyykila smiled through the condensation on the small clear plastic “window” in the face of a uniform costume he was wearing.

“It’s pretty hot,” he agreed.

Tyykila is the minister at Associated Church in Owatonna, which is itself no stranger to controversy around Pride.

The church is identified as a member of both the UCC coalition called Open and Affirming, and the Presbyterian Church’s ministry called More Light. The groups support and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.

Church members agreed to a covenant and welcome, which was accepted in 2022.

“We did lose a few members,” said Larry Ostermeier, moderator at Associated. “It wasn’t traumatic, because it was a two-year process. We addressed all the issues, and when it came down to our final vote, 96% of the church voted yes.

“We had some resistance from the community, too,” he said.

Most of the concerns have died down now, though, “and we’ve had great leaders in the community, too.” Several church members are on the board of Rainbowatonna.

“I think people are getting the idea that we’re somewhat of a progressive group of thinkers, supportive of all people,” he said. “Actually, our covenant supports many different things, not just LGBTQ.”

Specifically, it reads in part: “Believing that each of us is created in God’s image, we celebrate people of all generations, races, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, family configurations, economic circumstances, physical, cognitive or emotional abilities, education, or spiritual and religious traditions.”

It’s hard work, actually. Like Boyett said, hypocrisy is often in the way.

Literally this morning, friends, I complained about a perceived transgression of a member of our church as I was driving home from church.

So yeah, I know hypocrisy. It’s why I also struggle to be angry at the protesters – people who would be cruel to my beloved child. I believe they’re acting out of fear; I’m just not sure what they’re afraid of.

If you’ll pardon the pun, Ostermeier practices what he preaches when talking about the protesters.

“You know, they’re using the Bible, too,” he said. “We have the philosophy of opening our arms to everyone. We try to show them all the same love.”

To that, I say, amen.