Written by Dr Anastacia Tomson, one of our Pride Planning Team for Pride Shabbat 5781
Is love that looks different worth less
Than the love I saw growing up
On soap operas and in movies and on the covers
Of brochures in waiting rooms
And on the sides of bus stops?
I was told
By the soap operas
And the movies
And the brochures
And the bus stops
And the teachers
And the politicians
And my neighbours
And my friends
And my family
That my love-that-looks-different offends them.
That my love-that-looks-different is obscene.
That my love-that-looks-different must be punished
Or fixed
Or snuffed out.
What will become
If two women kiss, or two men walk hand-in-hand
Or if people express who
They know themselves to be
And refuse to feel guilty?
What will become
If we-who-are broken, refuse to be discarded alongside
The rest of society’s unwanted things
If we-who-are-unworthy-of-love, have the nerve to love
Each other
Or, worse yet, ourselves?
What will become
If we refuse to be judged
Or to be shamed
Or to let you raise your fists against us?
If we refuse to be cast out
Or stripped of our humanity
Or our self-esteem
Or our love?
If we refuse to lay any more of our siblings to rest?
Zichronot lemahapecha : זיכרונות למהפכה
May each of their memories be for a revolution.
Then the fabric of society will unravel
And its foundation will give way
And the walls will crumble
And love-that-looks-different will not look so different anymore.
Perhaps it is true
That Pride goeth before the fall.
Temple Israel www.templeisrael.co.za
• Published in the PDF edition of the September 2021 issue – Download here.
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