Pride Blooms
Ipswich Town Hall – 31 May 2024
‘Bloom where you are planted’
In general this is good advice. Unless you’re a Navy Brat like me or are from a military family, most of us grow up, go to school, find a job, fall in love and raise a family close to where we were born (for information’s sake I’ve moved home 33 times, with more to come. This means Pickford’s park up outside our home about once every two years!)
Our home town is supposed to be our refuge.
Our home town is supposed to be the place that shelters and nurtures us.
Our home town is supposed to be the place where we bloom and bear fruit so that we can make it an even more beautiful place.
When it works well ‘Bloom where you are planted’ is not a bad motto for life.
But what if the soil in which we are sown is toxic?
What if the soil, and those who tend it, do not see us as beautiful blooms or life-giving fruit?
What if we are not seen as flowers but instead seen as weeds to be uprooted and burnt?
What if, instead of being nurtured with fertiliser, we are eradicated with herbicide?
What if, no matter how hard we try to grow and flower and bloom, people still want to cut us down?
What are we to do in the face of all this hatred?
Twenty-Five years ago the London nail bombings in Brixton, Brick Lane, and the Admiral Duncan in Soho forced our country to stop in its tracks and look at the hate that had taken hold of the heart of our land. Hate Crime legislation was put in place and we hoped that the toxic soil of the last centuries would be replaced with good soil. Soil as good and fertile as the soil that makes up the fruitful farms of our beautiful county.
But something has gone wrong. Instead of hate being called out people are demanding their prejudices be protected. This is the very same attitude that sent the nail bomber on his blood-soaked deadly journey….
When the soil is poisoned nothing grows well. And this is not just the case for us who are part of (or who stand alongside of) the LGBTQIA+ community. History has taught us that if society believes it is ok to bash the Gays and kill the Transgendered then all those on the edges of the garden of life will be mown down by hate and nothing flourishes.
Martin Niemöller – former U-boat Commander turned Pastor turned prisoner at Dachau concentration camp – said this;
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out
– because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out
– because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out
– because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me
– and there was no one left to speak for me.
Seeing the destruction wrought by sowing the seeds of prejudice Niemöller, was able to turn his hate into hope. His words call us to remember that when one of us is attacked all of us are attacked. When one of us is injured all of us bleed.
The harvest of hate is a wasteland bearing nothing but dust and ashes. The fruit of inclusion is a rainbow of flowers that brings joy wherever it is allowed to bloom. The world longs for and needs you and I my beloved rainbow family or else all of us will wither and die.
How are we to do this? How are we to turn a toxic wasteland into a fertile field?
We will hold hands
We will hug
We will (perhaps even) share a kiss…
We will refuse to let go of each other
And we will be ever ready to embrace those, like Niemöller, who need;
Our light to lead them from darkness
Our joy to deliver them from sadness
Our love to call them from hate
And when we do this, and this is work that only we can do. (Those who hate us cannot do this for themselves). When we reach out to everyone then the fig tree will blossom, the vine will bear fruit, the olive tree will be ripe with produce, Pride will bloom, and love will win.
(Andrew Dotchin – 31 May 2024)
This blog ‘Pride Blooms’ is a copy of a speech given by Andrew Dotchin at Ipswich Town Hall for Suffolk Pride on 31 May 2024. It may be reproduced free of charge on condition that the source is acknowledged.
At the end of this talk those present gathered together in silence and laid flowers in memory of Lesley Thomas. One of the early founders of Suffolk Pride she died on 5 May 2024. Her funeral is scheduled for the week after next.
At the end of the Silence these words were used:
For Lesley Thomas
There is sadness in our hearts as we say goodbye, but there is profound gratitude for your life. Lesley, you will never be forgotten.
When we are weary and in need of strength, When we are lost and sick at heart
Response: We will remember you.
When we have a joy we crave to share,
When we have decisions that are hard to make
Response: We will remember you.
At the blowing of the wind
and in the chill of winter,
At the opening of the buds
and in the rebirth of spring
Response: We will remember you.
At the blueness of the skies
and in the warmth of summer,
At the rustling of the leaves
and in the beauty of autumn
Response: We will remember you.
As long as we live, you too will live
For you will always be a part of us,
Response: We will remember you.
Suffolk Vicar 
Andrew, thank you, again, for another very well-reasoned word.
Why weren’t there folk like you, also speaking truth to hatred, way back when I was a lad, confused, afraid of hell and all its demons, who would take me to the lake of fire for all of eternity.
Gradually, year on year, I’ve thought out such would-be torments and done so with Love ever present.
But what of those, who’ve no living faith to draw on? The ones, whose names end up as statistics, “loved by all, taken too soon” – that kind of statistic. Very, very sad.
And, in lots of cases, these dear ones saw suicide as the only way out of trying to reconcile their sexuality with the faith they truly held dear;
But they were sure that their church leaders would just condemn them out of hand, without mercy.
Lord, give us ALL:
more of you
more grace
more open conversation
more talking to those we can trust.
We can’t live as islands.
We NEED each other.
NEED. EACH. OTHER.
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