Last weekend on the Brunswick Town Mall, the largest crowd to date gathered to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride as Resistance. Thousands of people of all ages and from all walks of life were invited to channel their energy of unrest, anger, sadness and shock — as well as hope, persistence, creativity, and joy — into a loving celebration of diversity and collective liberation.

While our neighbors across the state and nation were protesting authoritarianism in the streets during the “No Kings” demonstrations, we were dancing in solidarity on this one day of the year when queer joy is showcased in our area.

The fact that there was no controversy when two passionate groups of (overlapping) citizens needed to witness publicly at the same time speaks so much to the character of our community, and what we are capable of together. The leaders of Brunswick Area Indivisible contacted the Brunswick Pride Committee, and we easily found ways to work together and invite our larger community to whichever demonstration most aligned with their needs that day.

To our great delight, many people attended both! There was no doubt we were connected in our spirit of resistance to everything that threatens democracy and diminishes human rights and freedoms.

This is also represented in the bold insistence of both groups that we can and must do better together.

Why Pride? For those who have been told the lie that they are abnormal or evil simply because of who they are or whom they love, it is the pendulum of self-loathing swinging ever-so-slightly in a corrective direction. Pride can be an antidote to shame, and shame is an oppressive thing that can keep many of us cowering, isolated and alone, believing that we are unworthy of love and equity.

In an era when openly anti-trans and anti-queer sentiments are spoken by the highest levels of institutional authority, the danger is particularly profound. For many queer folx, Pride is a brief window of affirmation in a wall that usually blocks out the light we need to thrive. The glimpse of that divine light we see at Pride keeps us motivated and fortified, even when the shadows come.

But let’s be clear: Pride is not only a celebration of/for LGBTQ+ people, but also a celebration of community in which every person can be seen, valued, and affirmed with no expectation that they must conform or assimilate to find acceptance or belonging. Imagine what positive potential and collective power we could unleash if no human being ever had to spend their vital life energies trying to survive hate!

What might we imagine (with actual human intelligence) if we freed ourselves from the restrictions we impose on ourselves and one another?

What if we could come together in this moment — which surely calls for it — proud in our affirmation of human diversity and our collective power to do good?!

Well, Friends, don’t despair! We can do all of these things and more! In fact, we must!

Secure in our own worth, ready to affirm the value of others who aren’t like us, clear that there is enough to go around when we dare to share, let us move forward together and build the world we long to live in.

The Rev. Dr. Kharma R. Amos is minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick.