Community homophobia breeds community outcries

When the federal government makes a decision to not allow certain rights for the LGBT community, there is little that we as individuals can do that we feel will actually make a difference. We can write letters and organize trips to legislators' offices, but often it seems as though we can't fight against wrong doings and homophobia that reaches as high as, for example, state representatives and even the White House.
But when it happens in our cities, it's personal. Things can be done and a difference can be made.
In mid April, the Covenant Community Church in Redford put "God can save homosexuals from their sin" on their display board. While many of the churchgoers were unaffected, Redford locals were outraged. Within days, people who lived just minutes away from the church were at the pastor's door, demanding that he take the sign down. When he refused, over 20 people came together before Sunday service and protested the sign. Still, the sign stayed. But after the second week of protesting, when over 70 people from Redford and surrounding communities showed up, the sign came down.
The event brought together high school students, families, senior citizens and others in a defiant display of disgust. Together, they voiced their feelings of acceptance toward the LGBT community. And this wasn't Ferndale or Royal Oak or Ann Arbor. This was Redford, a seemingly quiet community that never before showed their support for gay rights and fair treatment.
In a similar turn of events, anti-gay graffiti in Lansing's Old Town brought a community together to clean the messages off and punish those who spray-painted them. On April 9, messages appeared on over 10 buildings that read "kill gays." In response, Michigan Equality joined with the Old Town Mainstreet Association to gather people to clean the graffiti off and show that they did not agree with the vandals.
Often, prejudiced views come out and spark riots and violent backlashes. Or, worse yet, they go unchallenged. What would have happened if no one had forced the Covenant Community Church to take its sign down? Or if no one had come out to clean the anti-gay graffiti off of buildings? Some would shrug their shoulders and say it wouldn't mean a thing.
But though the graffiti would fade away and the sign would eventually change, it would change a lot. It would mean that no one cares.
Luckily, that's not the case. While state and federal law may not show it and national polls may seem uncertain, the activism of local communities says it all: It's OK to be gay. In fact, it's great. And, moreover, it doesn't take fighting or yelling to show that.
Sometimes, apathy and political ignorance can cause unfavorable results at the polls. Often, people don't know what their voting for, or else they think that their vote won't make a difference. But when it comes to their own communities, things are starkly different. If people believe that their opinion matters, they will voice it. And if the local rising of voices against homophobic displays shows anything, it's that the opinion is largely that LGBTs deserve the same respect and rights as anyone else. It may not seem like a lot, but to our community, it's good to know that we – and our allies – care enough to do something.