Partners Dotti Berry, right, and Robynne Sapp say a prayer of thanks before lunch Wednesday at their Birch Bay home. They have been out of town for seven months speaking to organizations and groups around the country about being gay Christians. They call their year-long trip "Gay Into Straight America. Two Women and A Poodle." Sapp said at their commitment ceremonies, "We vowed to change the world through the expression of our love," and that led to the Gay Into Straight America project. The two will be speaking at the Pride Festival this weekend in Bellingham.
MARY LANE GALLAGHER
THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Their Birch Bay neighbors took one look at the sign on Dotti Berry and Robynne Sapp's car and advised them to cover it for parts of their yearlong speaking tour.
"Gay into Straight America" on the side of a purple Suburban might not go over very well in the Deep South, they warned.
Eight months into their yearlong cross-country travels, the only hand gesture they've gotten on the highway is a thumbs-up sign, Sapp said. But they have found hundreds of people struggling with conservative religious teachings that being gay is wrong, and people eager to ask Sapp and Berry about their lives as Christians who are lesbians and partners.
"We just found you can't hate someone whose story you know," Berry said.
The women will speak at two events this weekend for the Bellingham Pride festival, an annual celebration for members and allies of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
Sapp, 40, and Berry, 52, began their trip in September, putting thousands of miles on their donated Suburban pulling a tiny trailer, stopping to speak at churches, college campuses, gay-alliance groups and corporate training sessions.
But some of the best conversations have been at gas stations, parking lots and beaches, with people who were curious about the sign on their car, the "two women and a poodle" logo on their shirts, or the rainbow collar on their dog, Rylee Joy.
One woman pulled alongside with a Jesus fish on her Ford F-150 and said she loved the little trailer, Sapp said. So the women gave her a tour and asked her what they ask everyone: Did she know anyone who was gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender?
It was the beginning of a conversation that continues by e-mail, Sapp said, about what it's like to be both gay and Christian."Really, it's not an oxymoron," she said.
Some religious leaders get a lot of attention fighting equal rights for people who are gay, Berry and Sapp said, but the question is far from settled for many.
"We've remained silent with that moveable middle," Sapp said.
And it still wasn't settled at the end of many of the conversations Sapp and Berry had, they said. But just having the conversation was enough.
"I won't tell you how to think or what to think," Berry said. "I'm saying, 'Let's all think.' "
Reach Mary Lane Gallagher at 715-2285 or mary.gallagher@bellinghamherald. com
| FOR MORE ON THEIR TRIP |
Dotti Berry and Robynne Sapp will talk about their cross-country journey, "Gay into Straight America," twice this weekend:
• Pride Across the Country: 6 p.m. Saturday at the Co-op Connection Building, 1220 Forest St.
• Bellingham Pride: Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at Depot Market Square, near the intersection of Railroad Avenue and East Maple Street.
For more information about their trip, go to www.gay intostraightamerica.com | |
