Very well said! As I wrote to you last night after scheduling this story, you might able to hear me applauding from halfway across the continent.

You know, I don't know where I'd rather live right now. In a queer oasis like New York City, or here where I am, deep in Trump country.

You want to know the first news story I read this morning? A beloved Catholic music director —who had been leading his parish choir and congregation in song for 35 years — has just been fired, just before he was able to retire, explicitly and unapologetically because he is gay.

Local newspapers are full of that story, and so are letters to the editor. Some of those letters are as awful as you might expect, but most of them are supportive.

The parish itself, meaning the people who attend the church, have been picketing.

And they've raised over $50,000 so far for the fired employee — in the very heart of red America.

It seems to me that this beloved gay music director really has found his home, even in the face of institutional bigotry and discrimination. His friends and community members are embracing him as one of their own, even as he embraces them.

In a small way, I'm glad to live in this part of the country so I can see things like that.

Yes, things are hard now, and they are probably going to get worse.

But this parish (not the priests who fired the man, but the people) remind me then maybe things aren't as bad as they seem.

They certainly remind me that community building is our queer super power.

Thank you for the story!