Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, October 28, 2022.

In my view, this drag queen business and that gigantic cross in Starkville are much of the same thing.

I suspect it's not about inclusivity or faith, it's about power and making a public declaration about who has it.

Whether that's true or not, I don't really care, but what I do care about is how the struggle between these opposing constituencies risk cleaving the baby of our community in two. And, I wish one had the compassion and gentleness to forbear so that the baby could live. And, oh how I wish it were my fellow Christians.

Whatever your position, the community is not yours, it's ours.

We don't all believe or live the same and never will but we've got to learn how to live together, to share the same space and make it work just as well for one as any other without violating the harmony of the whole.

And to be clear on my position, I do not believe a drag performance at what has been widely regarded as a family friendly event is in keeping with that harmony. In my view, it egregiously violates the long-standing expectation for a family-friendly atmosphere.

At the end of the day, whatever your persuasion: gay, trans, straight, Christian or not, know this: I respect you, I value you, I want you with me, I want you near me and I want to be a good neighbor to you. If we can at least agree on that, we can respectfully work through anything –together.