Gainesville continues week-long celebration of Pride Days
The spate of suicides among teenagers bullied for being gay across the nation was on the minds of many people enjoying the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida's picnic in Westside Park on Sunday.
“I want to tell them it's going to get better — it really is true,” said Jennifer Wester, co-president of the group. “You're not alone. There are good people who will accept you.”
At least eight gay teens have committed suicide across the nation in the last two months, sparking a movement to let bullied gay teens know that they are loved and life does get better.
Wester spoke as a volunteer grilled chicken, children played games and dozens of people chatted and laughed under the shade of trees. Wester described being lucky to live in Gainesville, a community that supports its gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning residents.
“I lived in a small town in Kentucky once and it made me appreciate Gainesville,” she said. “That's the only time I've lived in the closet because I was scared.”
The picnic was part of Gainesville's week-long celebration of Pride Days, which culminates next weekend with a parade and festival Saturday and a garden party Sunday.
Pastor Jim Merritt of Trinity Metropolitan Community Church sat with parishioners, some of whom had attended a “Community and Friends” service Sunday morning.
“It's a good time to celebrate all the good things happening in our community,” Merritt said. “We are happy with the amount of support we are seeing, particularly for the gay youth after the anti-gay bullying suicides.”
Merritt also cited the recent stand his community took with area Muslims after the threatened Quran burning and the recent court ruling overturning a ban on gay adoptions in Florida.
Merritt said so much has changed for the gay community since he was growing up in a small, conservative town.
“I was constantly told I was not good enough, I was incapable of having a relationship with God and I could not really be called to ministry,” he said. “Now I live in a church community that values every person, that not only believes in but demonstrates the inclusive love of God and that encourages every member of the community to make his or her own contributions.”
The church has produced a video to help gay teens who are bullied. It will be distributed to area agencies who work with youth in the community to encourage them to make positive choices rather than suicide.
“The Bible can be used to build people up and encourage people to think positively and that's the Bible I choose to live by,” Merritt said.
Contact Moore at 352-374-5036 or kimberly.moore@nytrng.com.
The Youth Discussion Group meets every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at the Pride Community Center at 3131 NW 13th St. in Gainesville. It is a peer-led group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender youth and straight allies ages 14 to 18 years old. Trinity Metropolitan Community Church has produced a video to support bullied gay teens. It can be seen at www.mccgainesville.org. For information about the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida, visit gainesvillepride.org