My Broken Heart Won’t Stop Me
The message below went out to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. Sign-up for these emails here.
Dear Friend,
Last January, I was smitten with 2009. I wept and hugged strangers at President Obama’s inauguration, but then spent the next 11 months working towards sweeping changes that still elude us. I poured my heart and soul into the Standing on the Side of Love campaign, which has been a great joy, but has also brought me face to face with so much discrimination, violence, and injustice.
As I expended the deepest of my professional skill and emotional strength this past year, I watched this country, the media and our political leaders often stand so far away from the side of love that it broke my heart. I share this wondering: are others feeling this way too?
I begin this decade grasping with everything I can still muster to my faith and commitment to this work. But it is only with your support and leadership that we will realize the deepest vision inherent in the bold statement that we stand on the side of love. So when I get an email like I did from a Church in Binghamton, New York saying, “We are looking forward to hoisting our Standing on the Side of Love banner on Valentines Day and again and again,” I am uplifted and carried onwards.
In Binghamton and across the nation, we are Re-imagining Valentine’s Day. as a time when we move beyond flowers and chocolates and strengthen the bonds between communities.
In Bellevue, Washington, East Shore Unitarian Church members are simply wearing feather boas to their service as a symbol of the power and joy love can bring. In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, interfaith advocates are writing Valentines to their representatives and holding a press conference to call for marriage equality.
We ask you to send us a digital photo by February 15th of your congregation, community, family, or you yourself standing on the side of love. We want to show the world and ourselves that we stand together. What will you do on this day to stand on the side of love?
If we are bold enough, our love could define this decade. It is up to us to make it so.
Love,
Adam
Adam Gerhardstein
Campaign Manager
