I was one of several adults who volunteered as a peacekeeper to be part of a buffer zone for the inauguration of Bucks County’s new Rainbow Room where LGBTQ+ youth can meet and be together in a safe, empowering space. Moms 4 Liberty, along with a fundamentalist “Christian” group – around 30-40 people – showed up to protest outside the meeting place as teens entered. Their presence was deeply disturbing, as they showed up to protest children and made references to Satan’s work in the world, which is, of course, why they felt they needed to be there. They were an intimidating force for the children being dropped off by their parents. Peacekeepers, who created a buffer zone, held a strong and loving presence in support of the Rainbow Room and the families participating.
Rainbow Room
In the Bible it says, “I have set my rainbow in the clouds
and it will be the sign of the covenant between
me and the earth.” The rainbow is the beautiful
spectre in the sky that delights with color, the light
after the darkness, the promise after the storm
that danger has passed, peace has arrived,
one can breathe calmly again. For Noah
it meant the end of a long ordeal brought on
by judgment and wrath to punish the wicked
by drowning, save the righteous few
with an early prototype of The Rapture.
—
My people say there is a pot of gold
at the end of the rainbow but we never claim
to have found it – it is just our way of saying,
“Sorry for your troubles.”
—
The spectrum of color suggests the diversity of people
ethnically, sexually, religiously, and is used for a sign
of social change from the sclerosed views
of our ancestors, like the guiding light
of the Lady in the Harbor welcoming huddled
masses into what we were once brave
enough to call the New World – the
alchemical melting pot of freedom
from want and freedom from persecution.
—
God said, “This is the sign of the covenant
that I make between me and you and every
living creature that is with you…”
My wife said, “Would you like to go with me
to help protect the kids at the Rainbow Room?”
—
I did.
—
The kids slipped in the back door
while the crowd gathered out front –
the faithful meant no harm, they said
they loved everyone; they were sincere
in their belief that Satan was assaulting
their society and must be stopped. They asked
me to join their prayer-circle, they asked
me if I’d been saved. They didn’t know
that they were talking to an old soldier
who roamed the mountains of Afghanistan
because religious zealots were willing to martyr
themselves against the Great Satan of America.
The Taliban creating, at long last,
religious nationalism – forcing women
into back rooms and burqas, preferably
black, the darkness before the storm, before
the redemption promised in the colors of the rainbow.
