Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Quote of the Day



Until we atone for our irresponsibility towards the Earth and commit to dealing with climate change, these weather catastrophes will continue. They are products of our recklessness as a species, and a wake-up call to all of us.

– Marianne Williamson
via Facebook
August 29, 2017


Related Off-site Links:
1,200 Dead; Up to 41 Million Affected in Asian Flooding – Andy Rowell (Common Dreams, August 31, 2017).
Hurricane Harvey Is Already the Worst Rainstorm in U.S. History, and It’s Still Raining – Eric Holthaus (Grist, August 28, 2017).
Harvey, the Storm That Humans Helped Create – David Leonhardt (The New York Times, August 29, 2017).
South Asia Is Also Experiencing the Worst Flooding in Decades, and the Photos Are Horrifying – Anup Kaphle (BuzzFeed, August 29, 2017).
Indian Prime Minister Modi Says Flood-hit People Getting Aid, Blames Climate Change – Nita Bhalla (Reuters, July 31, 2017).
Houston Mosques Are Opening Up as 24-hour Shelters for Harvey Victims – Samuel Osborne (Independent, August 29, 2017).
Just Before Harvey, Trump Admin Revoked Rules Requiring New Infrastructure to be Climate ResilientDemocracy Now! (August 29, 2017).
Climate Change and the Social Contract: How Our Choices Lead to Predictable Tragedies – Mridula Ramesh (FirstPost, August 20, 2017).
Ex-NASA Scientist James Hansen: There Is a Clear Link Between Climate Change and Stronger HurricanesDemocracy Now! (August 30, 2017).
Hell Hath No Fury Like Mother Earth Scorned – Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan (Common Dreams, August 31, 2017).




Above: Hurricane Harvey's aftermath: a Houston street on Monday, August 28, 2017. (Photo: Scott Dalton/New York Times)



Above: A woman wades through a flooded village in the eastern state of Bihar, India August 22, 2017. (Photo: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)



Above: People wait in a line to collect drinking water from a municipal tanker at a flooded residential colony in Ahmedabad, India – July 29, 2017. (Photo: Amit Dave/Reuters)



Above: Ofelia Castro leads her grandchildren across a flooded street as they continue an hours long trek from their flooded house in the Edgewood area of South Houston to a relatives apartment miles away. (Image:Robert Gauthier via Getty Images)



Above: People wade along a flood area in Birgunj Parsa district, 200 kilometres south of Kathmandu on Sunday, August 27. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)



Above: Indian one-horned rhinoceroses wade through flood waters at the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam. (Photo: Biju Boro/AFP/Getty Images)


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The People's Climate Solidarity March – Minneapolis, 4/29/17
Signs of the Times
Earth Day 2017
"It Is All Connected"
Standing Together
Standing in Prayer and Solidarity with the Water Protectors of Standing Rock
A Record High
Prayer of the Week – April 24, 2017
Earth Day 2015
Quote of the Day – September 19, 2014
Something to Think About – April 22, 2014
The Paris Climate Talks, Multilateralism, and a "New Approach to Climate Action"
Superstorm Sandy: A "Wake-Up Call" on Climate Change

Opening image: Houston, August 28, 2017. (Photo: Richard Carson/Reuters)


Monday, August 28, 2017

In Coogee, A Very Special Birthday Celebration


I may be back in Minnesota but my sharing of images and commentary on my recent Australian sojourn continues with a very special installment. . . .

As you may recall, back in April my Dad turned 80. Celebrations at the time were low key as something special was being planned for when I was back in Australia – a gathering of my two brothers and I with our parents in Coogee, a beachside suburb of Sydney.

We actually had two celebrations of Dad's 80th.

On the evening of Saturday, August 5, we gathered at the Coogee Bay Hotel for dinner and a birthday cake. That's where the photo above and at right were taken.



Above: Dad as a young boy in the 1940s.





Above and left: With Mum and Dad in Coogee – Saturday, August 5, 2017.





Given my Dad's history with the penny-farthing bicycle (below), I couldn't resist taking the above photo of Dad in Coogee on Saturday, August 5, 2017.




Above and right: Two more images of our (belated) celebration of Dad's 80th birthday at the Coogee Bay Hotel on Saturday, August 5, 2017.

This was the first of two celebrations for Dad that weekend.




. . . The second celebration took place the next day, Sunday, August 6, at the Coogee Pavilion, formerly the Coogee Palace Aquarium/Beach Palace Hotel (above).




For Sunday's birthday lunch I arranged for two of Dad's cousins – Clare and Joycie – to be present. It would have been ten years or more since Dad had seen these two cousins.

Above: Dad, Clare, Mum, Joycie, and Joycie's husband John – Sunday, August 6, 2017.

Right: Cousins Clare and Joycie as children in the 1940s.




Okay, here are a few more photos from the family archives . . .



Above: My great grandmother Emily Simmons, photographed sometime in the 1950s.

Known in the family as Gran, Emily was the maternal grandmother to my father and the paternal grandmother to my father's cousins Clare and Joycie.

Gran had four children, Isabel (my grandmother), Phyllis, Billy, and Tommy. Emily raised her four children as a single mother on the family farm, “Flodden,” in the Purlewaugh district of northwestern New South Wales. Her husband, Jim, died when he was quite young, and Emily remained a widow for the rest of her life. She died in 1982.

Left: My brothers and I with Gran, our great-grandmother, in 1976.


Above: Dad as a little boy with his parents Aubrey (Aub) and Isabel (Belle). This picture was taken in the early 1940s at “Flodden.”



Above: Gran's daughter Phyllis, pictured with Dad in Sydney in the late 1950s. "Aunty Phyllis" was my great-aunt and, I must admit, a favorite aunt! For more about Phyllis, click here and here.



Above: Gran's son William (Billy) and his wife Stella on their wedding day. Billy was my father's uncle and my great-uncle. He and Stella raised their two children, Clare and Trevor, in Tamber Springs.


Left: Billy and Stella's daughter Clare, pictured in the early 1960s.

Above: Mum and Dad with Clare – Sunday, August 6, 2017.



Above: Gran's son Tommy and his wife Donnie on their wedding day. (Donnie and Billy's wife Stella, pictured previously, were sisters). Tommy and Donnie also made their home in Tambar Springs.



Right: Tommy and Donnie's daughter Joyce, pictured in the 1960s.



Above: Mum and Joyce (Tommy and Donnie's daughter) at Dad's 80th birthday celebration in Coogee on August 6, 2017. They're looking through an album of old family photos that Mum had put together for the occasion.



Above: Joycie's parents, Tommy and Donnie, pictured at my parents' wedding in 1959. Tommy passed away in 1982, the day before his mother. His brother Billy had died one month earlier. Gran knew of Billy's death, though was too ill to attend the funeral. She was not told of Tommy's death. The two had a joint funeral. Like her sister Stella, Donnie lived into the early 2000s.



As well as arranging for Dad's two cousins to be present at his birthday celebration in Coogee, I also invited long-time family friends Jeanette and Cheryl .

In the photo above I'm standing at left with (from left) Jeanette, my brother Chris, Mum, my brother Tim, Dad, and Cheryl.

Jeanette and Cheryl's parents, Colin and Hazel, were good friends with my grandmother, Belle, and her second husband, Bill Smith.

Belle and Bill were known as Nanna and Poppy Smith to my brothers and I. To Colin and Hazel's children, they were known as Aunty Belle and Uncle Bill, even though they weren't actually related. That's how close the two families were.



Above: Belle (back row left) with Hazel and Hazel's three eldest children – Jeanette, Sue, and James. Cheryl had not yet been born when this photo was taken. I'm not sure when exactly this photo was taken but judging from the fashions, I'd say sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s.


Right: As a young woman in 1967, Sue was my younger brother Tim's godmother.


Above: Jeanette and Cheryl's mother Hazel (left) with my paternal grandmother, Belle (right), and Belle's sister Phyllis (center). This photo was taken during one of my great-aunt Phyllis' visits to Gunnedah from Sydney in the late 1950s/early '60s. (For more photos of Aunty Phyllis (1913-1996) and her life in Sydney, click here.)



Above: My grandmother (right) and Aunty Phyllis with Cheryl and her husband Chris on their wedding day.



Above: Mum and Cheryl with Jane Worthington (center), another family friend.



For 40+ years it was a tradition for our family to visit the Worthington family on Christmas Day morning.

The picture above was taken in Gunnedah in 1985 and shows my parents with members of the Worthington family. From left: Louise, Peter, Andrew, Delores, Dad, Mark, Alison, Mum, and Jane. Absent from this photo are my two brothers and I and Sally Worthington.

Left: Dad and Jane – Coogee, August 6, 2017.



Above and below: A few more photos of Dad's (belated) 80th birthday celebration at the Coogee Pavilion on Sunday, August 6.



Above: My older brother Chris and Cheryl.



Above: Mum, Dad, John, and Joycie.



Above: You don't say!? . . . Joycie, Mum, and Cheryl, catching up on all the latest.



Above: The Bayly family – Sunday, August 6, 2017.



Above and below: Views of Coogee Beach – Sunday, August 6, 2017.

Notes Wikipedia:

The name Coogee is said to be taken from a local Aboriginal word koojah, which means "smelly place." Another version is koo-chai or koo-jah, both of which mean "the smell of the seaweed drying" in the Bidigal language, or "stinking seaweed", a reference to the smell of decaying kelp washed up on the beach. Non-Indigenous visitors to the area, from the 1820s onwards, were never able to confirm exactly what "Coogee" meant, or if it in fact related to Coogee Beach. Some evidence suggests that the word "Coogee" may in fact be the original Aboriginal place name for the next bay to the north, now known as Gordons Bay. Another name, "Bobroi", was also recalled as the indigenous name for the locality.




Above: A lovely photo of Mum and Dad taken back in Port Macquarie, August 10, 2017.




See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Happy Birthday, Dad! (2017)
Happy Birthday, Dad (2015)
Happy Birthday, Dad (2014)
Happy Birthday, Dad (2013)
Happy Birthday, Dad (2011)
Happy Birthday, Dad (2010)
Happy Birthday, Dad (2009)
Congratulations, Mum and Dad
Catholic Rainbow (Australian) Parents

See also:
Remembering Nanna Smith
Commemorating My Grandfather, Aub Bayly, and the Loss of the AHS Centaur
A Visit to Gunnedah
Port Macquarie Days
Europe 2005


Sunday, August 27, 2017

Spirituality and the Health Care Setting

I recently came across an informative and insightful article about spirituality and health care by Anna Medaris Miller, Health & Wellness editor at U.S. News.

Given how tomorrow I commence a year-long chaplain residency in a Minneapolis hospital, I find Miller's piece to be quite timely and relevant. Perhaps you will find it of interest too. Following is an excerpt.

Research shows that spirituality – which can be defined as anything that gives people's lives meaning, be it faith, family, nature, art or even sports – is a patient need that affects health care decision-making. When spirituality is tended to, it can improve patient outcomes including quality of life and can reduce the cost of care. When spirituality is neglected, on the other hand, patient suffering can intensify.

"The bottom line findings are [that] patient spirituality is very commonly a critical aspect of the patient's experience of a serious illness and a key aspect of their quality of life in the positive direction, but also patients can experience spiritual needs and those needs can result in poorer quality of life," says Dr. Tracy Balboni, the clinical director of the supportive and palliative radiation oncology service at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center in Boston.

People's pain can be particularly severe if their belief systems don't align with what's happening to them or a loved one, finds the Rev. Ronald Oliver of Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky, and treasurer of the Association of Professional Chaplains. "People have experienced the death of a child and they're trying to figure out, 'Why did this happen?'" he says. "If their worldview doesn't give them some direction, their grief gets stuck."

Health care institutions are catching on to the benefits of incorporating spirituality into medical care. In 2009, for instance, a group of leaders in the field developed research-backed guidelines for better implementing spiritual care in palliative care practice. The guidelines recommend, for instance, that providers use evidence-based spiritual screening tools that prompt them to ask questions like "Are spirituality or religion important in your life?" to help them determine who might benefit from a more in-depth assessment. The guidelines also encourage spiritual providers to document spiritual needs in patients' records, which teams can then use to inform their treatment plans.

The guidelines have since been used by many hospitals and major organizations including the National Academy of Medicine and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, says Dr. Christina Puchalski, director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health. "Those guidelines [recognize] that spiritual care is an essential element of good care in general and an absolutely essential element of palliative care," she says.

For patients, that means their spiritual and religious beliefs may be tended to in health care settings in ways relatively unheard of just a few decades ago. Younger clinicians, for example, are more likely to be trained in attentive listening, mindfulness and other techniques that can help them be more compassionate toward patients, says Puchalski, who's also a professor in the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and in the Milken Institute School of Public Health.

"When you see a tear and you see that there's something else going on, I generally stop the questioning and you're there to really be present and love that patient," she says. "That sense of connection is incredibly important in the sense of that patient feeling, 'I think I may be able to get through this.'"

Patients also shouldn't be surprised to find chaplains working alongside doctors, nurses and other health care professionals. "Sometimes people are nervous to ask for a chaplain" because in TV shows, chaplains appear in dire situations, Oliver says. "But that's not the case. The bulk of the work that chaplains do is helping people make sense of the events that are happening to them and try to put it in some frame of meaning." They can also support the health care team by helping them figure out why a patient won't comply with treatment or make what seems like an obvious health care decision, Oliver says.

– Anna Medaris Miller
Excerpted from "Spirituality in Health Care: Seek and Ye Shall Find
U.S. News & World Report
August 8, 2017


Related Off-site Links:
How Chaplains Master the Art of Listening – Kelsey Dallas (Deseret News, August 7, 2017, 2017).
How to Take Care of Others Without Burning Out – Emma Seppala (Scope, July 31, 2017).
The Only Thing You Need to Say to Someone Who Is Hurting – Rhiannon Webb (Thrive Global, August 16, 2017).
Here’s What Not to Say to Someone With Cancer – Deanna Pai (Science of Us, August 1, 2017).
Why Cancer Is Not a War, Fight, or Battle – Xeni Jardin (CNN, July 21, 2017).
New Ways to Think About Death – A playlist of 10 talks from TED.com.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Interfaith Chaplaincy: Meeting People Where They're At
Seven Principles for Living with Deep Intention
Questioning God's Benevolence in the Face of Tragedy
Christianity and the Question of God's Presence in the Midst of Hardships and Heartache
Discerning and Embodying Sacred Presence in Times of Violence and Strife
Prayer and the Experience of God in an Ever-Unfolding Universe
The Most Sacred and Simple Mystery of All

Image: Source.


Saturday, August 26, 2017

Quote of the Day





By pardoning Sheriff Arpaio, Trump has again made clear he will use the powers of the presidency to defend racism and discrimination.

Sen. Bernie Sanders
August 25, 2017











Related Off-site Links
Trump Pardons Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Who Illegally Targeted Latinos – Ryan J. Reilly (The Huffington Post, August 25, 2017).
Trump’s Pardon of Joe Arpaio Is a Clear and Ugly Message to Hispanic Americans – Henry Grabar (Slate, August 25, 2017).
10 Disgusting Things Joe Arpaio Did as Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona – Angela Helm (The Root, August 26, 2017).
The Year I Spent in Joe Arpaio’s Tent Jail Was Hell. He Should Never Walk Free – Francisco Chairez (The Washington Post, August 26, 2017).
"A Presidential Endorsement of Racism": Trump Harshly Criticized For Pardoning Sheriff Joe ArpaioDemocracy Now!, August 26, 2017).
"Law Is Dead in America": Presidential Pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio Widely Condemned – Jessica Corbett (Common Dreams, August 26, 2017).
Why Donald Trump Pardoned the Unpardonable Joe Arpaio – Lawrence Douglas (The Guardian, August 26, 2017).
Institutional Racism Is Trump’s GoalMillennial (August 26, 2017).
Trump’s Most Recent Shout to White Supremacists: I’m With You – Cecillia Wang (ACLU, August 24, 2017).
Trump’s Pardon of Joe Arpaio Is an Impeachable Offense – Frank Bowman (Slate, August 26, 2017).
What Trump Has Undone – Philip Bump (The Washington Post, August 24, 2017).

UPDATE: Trump's Decision to Pardon Joe Arpaio Could Be a Crucial Piece of Evidence In the Russia Investigation – Sonam Sheth (Business Inside via Yahoo! News, August 27, 2017).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Quote of the Day – August 16, 2017
Trump's America: Normalized White Supremacy and a Rising Tide of Racist Violence
2000+ Take to the Streets of Minneapolis to Express Solidarity with Immigrants and Refugees
In Charlottesville, the Face of Terrorism In the U.S.
On International Human Rights Day, Saying "No" to Donald Trump and His Fascist Agenda
Progressive Perspectives on the Election of Donald Trump as President
Election Eve Thoughts
Carrying It On
Progressive Perspectives on the Rise of Donald Trump
Trump's Playbook

Image: Ed Hall.


Friday, August 25, 2017

Worldwide Gay Pride 2017


It's somewhat of a tradition at The Wild Reed to share at the end of summer images of LGBTQI+ Pride celebrations from around the world. (This year's post also concludes my 2017 Queer Appreciation series, one which starts here.)

So without further ado, let's get started! . . .

Above and below: People participate in the San Francisco Pride parade in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. – June 25, 2017. (Photos: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)

Writes Josh Jackman about San Francisco's "celebration and protest":

Thousands attended San Francisco Pride this weekend – to celebrate, but also to demonstrate.

Revellers gathered for the 2017 parade voiced their opposition to Donald Trump, police brutality, a lack of gun control laws, and more. Signs promoting the Black Lives Matter campaign and condemning Trump – while also making fun of him, of course – were nearly ubiquitous.

. . . Joseph Amster, who conducts walking tours of San Francisco, warned: “[Pride] is not just fun, it’s a commemoration of the day gay people fought back. If we all forget that, we will be oppressed again.”

The city’s Mayor Ed Lee told the crowd: “We cannot let hate win,” while San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy said it was vital those marching sent a strong message to Washington DC. “We need to show our reactions to how so many people and things are under assault now – healthcare is under assault; Muslims are under assault; trans kids are under assault. We are like the frog in the slowly boiling pot of water. We have to take action.”



For previous Wild Reed posts on the activist heart of Pride, click here, here, and here.



Above: Pride celebrations in Guatemala City, Guatemala – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Monodel Espacio)

In sharing this image, the Perhaps You Need a Little Guatemala Facebook page wrote: "We support the LGBT community in their struggle for equal rights because it is fair. Because love is love."



Above: In India members of the LGBTQI+ community take part in the Chennai Pride parade, calling for freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images)



Above and left: Participants in the 47th annual Pride celebration in Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.A. – June 2017. (Photo 1: IowaPipe. Photo 2: Photographer unknown)

Notes Iowa City Pride on its website:

Diversity is both important and essential to the community and environment with Iowa City Pride. Diversity is central to our mission as leaders in the Iowa City GLBTQIA+ community. Iowa City Pride embraces our responsibility to create a welcoming environment for all members of the community, including persons of all races, underrepresented persons; persons with disabilities; men, women, straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. We are a place where everyone is welcome and we strive to be inclusive in all of our events.


If you can get past the atrociously condescending headline, more images of Iowa City Pride can be found in this photo gallery put together by The Advocate.



Above: In South Africa members of the LGBTQI+ community take part in the annual Pride parade, part of the three-day Durban Pride Festival – June 24, 2017. (Photo: Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images)



Above: Pride march in Kyiv, Ukraine – June 18, 2017. (Photo: Genya Savilov/Getty Images)

Writes journalist Pavel Polityuk:

Ukrainian politicians and foreign diplomats joined thousands marching for gay pride in Kiev on Sunday, carrying banners and waving rainbow and Ukrainian flags in a parade flanked by a thick cordon of helmeted police.

Some supporters of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights see progress in Ukraine as symptomatic of the country’s closer integration with the European Union and rejection of its ties with neighboring Russia.

Sunday’s march was largely incident-free, although around 200 people protested, variously calling it an affront to traditional values and to soldiers fighting pro-Russian separatist rebels in the eastern Donbass region.

Ukrainian authorities have increased their support for gay rights since a pro-Western government took power following the Maidan protests in 2014. In 2015, a law was passed banning workplace discrimination against the LGBT community.

But critics say homophobic attitudes remain widespread.



Above: A "Pink Picnic" at a Pride celebration in Shanghai, China. (Photo: Linda Li)



Above: Two men celebrate Pride at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo: Daniel Pearlman)



Above: In Romania a group of young people takes part in the Bucharest Pride march on May 20, 2017. Around 2,000 people gathered to celebrate diversity and to express their support for LGBTQI rights. (Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)



Above: The second annual Big Gay Iftaar in London, England – June 24, 2017. (Photo: Twitter/@rajmeena)

Writes Michaela Morgan of SBS about this event:

The Big Gay Iftaar first took place in London last year in response to the Orlando shooting as a way of bringing communities together.

Now in its second year, the multi-faith LGBT+ event took place over the weekend as part of London Pride celebrations, with people from different backgrounds and sexual identities coming together to share a meal together during Ramadan.

“The intention is to get back to basics and talk to one another, learn about each others' faiths, cultures and sexualities and spread some love that is so sorely needed in the world,” according to the event’s website.

. . . The event also raised money for the Finnsbury Park Mosque – which was recently the target of an Islamaphobic attack.



Above: The 48th Pride celebration in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. – June 25, 2017 (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images)



Above: A couple wrapped in a rainbow flag kiss each other during the Pride parade in Lisbon, Portugal – June 17, 2017. (Photo: Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images)



Above: Church Ladies for Gay Rights participate in the San Francisco, U.S.A. Pride parade – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)



Above: A reveller takes part in the Gay Pride Parade in San Jose, U.S.A. – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images)



Above and right: Members of the Sistagirls, a group of 30 Indigenous transgender women who travelled to the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia from the Tiwi Islands for the first time to share their story of resilience and finally acceptance in their community. (Photo: Twitter: @mrbenjaminlaw)

Notes Neda Vanovac, "The group spent several months crowdfunding so they could afford to strut their stuff down [Sydney's] Oxford Street and show off their unique blend of LGBTIQ and Tiwi culture."



Above and below: More attendees at Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras – Saturday, March 4, 2017.

Writes Hannah Ryan of the Illawarra Mercury:

As 178 floats assembled near Hyde Park and excited revellers made the final touches to their bright, feathered and stiletto-ed outfits, Sydney was ready to party.

Thanks to spectacular weather, the 38th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was especially dazzling, with glitter and sequins reflecting a radiant sun.

Thousands lined the streets and looked on from balconies above Oxford Street, waiting excitedly for the revving motors of Dykes on Bikes to signal the official start of festivities.

The dulcet tones of the Village People, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga could be heard floating over Hyde Park.

And when the 12,500 participants finally did come skipping, dancing and rolling down Oxford St, the full spectrum of queer diversity was on display as firefighters danced to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," rainbow families followed a Gayby Baby float, and both ends of the political spectrum made their colourful statement on the famous strip.


For photos and commentary of my experience of the 2015 Sydney Gay Mardi Gras, click here.

For recent posts on the state of marriage equality in Australia, click here and here.



Above: A Pride celebration in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo:Bernardo Montoya/AFP/Getty Images)



Above: A colorful couple at New York's Pride celebration – June 25, 2017. (Photographer unknown)




Above and right: People taking part in the Pride parade in Paris, France – June 24, 2017. (Photo 1: Jacques Demarthon/ AFP/Getty Images. Photo 2: Photographer unknown)

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Pride march in the French capital.




Above: A woman is arrested by police after gathering to support the LGBT Pride March on June 25, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. The 2017  Pride march was banned by authorities for the third year. Organizers defied the order and people attempted to march to Taksim Square but were met by a heavy police presence. The crowd was dispersed by tear gas and several people were arrested.



Above: Madrid's Pride celebration, which, say the organizers, "showcases Spain’s diverse, tolerant and welcoming attitude." . . . Mmm, except if you're a bull, that is!



Above: Vita Cleveland leads a chant during a protest that took place during the 2017 Pride parade in Chicago, U.S.A. (Photo: DNAinfo/Ariel Cheung)

Writes Ariel Cheung about this protest:

Amid the exuberant cheers and waving of rainbow flags to celebrate the brightest aspects of gay pride, some of the community's uglier history is lost in the background, activists said.

On Sunday, a collective of trans and queer people of color shut down the Chicago Pride Parade at Belmont and Halsted to remind people of that history – and demand better for the future.

Nearly 40 protesters marched between the WGN floats and the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches in the second leg of the parade, which began at noon Sunday at Montrose and Broadway and finished just after 4 p.m. at Diversey and Sheridan Road.

But for nearly 15 minutes, the coalition – filled with members of the Black Transgender Gender Non-Conforming Collective, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Jewish Voice for Peace, Assata's Daughters and Pilsen Alliance – chanted explicative-laced insults toward police officers and Donald Trump and denounced LGBTQ organizations they said overlook marginalized people within the community.

"The rainbow masquerade is not enough," Vita Cleveland declared into a megaphone, fellow protesters echoing them. Later, Toni Marie Preston cried out in a hoarse voice that, "Black trans lives matter."

. . . The collective published a statement to better outline its mission and its opposition to "the ever-increasing corporatization, whitewashing, gentrification, racism and cisnormativity that have infused Pride for decades."


To read about a similar protest that took place at the Twin Cities Pride parade in Minnesota this year, click here.


Related Off-site Links:
This Is What It Looks Like to Celebrate Pride All Around the World – Sarah Karlan (BuzzFeed, June 19, 2017).
The Most Beautiful Images From Pride Celebrations Around the World – Krystin Arneson (Glamour, June 25, 2017).
Pride Uganda Has Been Crushed. Please Don’t Look Away – Frank Mugisha (The Guardian, August 21, 2017).
Another Win for Love: India Declares Freedom of Sexual Orientation a Fundamental Right – Doha Madani (The Huffington Post, August 24, 2017).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Worldwide Gay Pride – 2016 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007
Dan Furmansky: Why We Have Pride
Gay Pride: A Celebration of True Humility
Gay Pride as a Christian Event
The Gay World Cup
A Simple Yet Radical Act
Reclaiming and Re-Queering Pride
"I Will Dance"
Police, Pride, and Philando Castile
A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007

The Wild Reed's 2017 Queer Appreciation series:
Our Lives as LGBTQI People: "Garments Grown in Love"
On the First Anniversary of the Pulse Gay Nightclub Massacre, Orlando Martyrs Commemorated in Artist Tony O'Connell's “Triptych for the 49”
Tony Enos on Understanding the Two Spirit Community
Making the Connections