Dear Editor:
RE: Rainbow criticism, June 9.
I would not normally respond to someone else’s Letter to the Editor. But I felt it was necessary to balance out the intolerance and lack of caring, expressed in “Rainbow criticism.”
It saddens me that the writer uses Christianity as the justification for her comments. I am a Christian and an active member of Melville United Church. I am also the proud parent of a transgender woman. I am grateful to say that my congregation has shown my daughter love and acceptance and has offered my husband and I love and support.
So what do you say to a six-year-old child when he or she asks about a rainbow flag? You explain that over time our society has come to understand that “love is love.” That all people have value. That when connecting with someone else you should consider the person and not just the package.
My only concern with rainbow flags is that we will begin to treat them the same way we do other forms of recognition, like Black History Month.
That by putting up a flag for a month, we will think that we have checked that off for another year. That we will let frequently marginalized people go without the acceptance, tolerance and support that they deserve every day of their lives.
That we will forget that “all love is love.”
Joanne Mitchell,
Fergus