Spokesman Review

Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA) from their Spokane 7 section.

Women, poodle set out to dissolve differences

September 21, 2006

By Jill Wagner

A blond woman who walked toward the front of the church, between two sections of turquoise padded chairs, held something large in her arms.  As she came into full view, I grimaced at the sigh of a black standard poodle with its front paws on her shoulders.

Dog, especially medium and large dogs, are not my friends. I think it has something to do with a neighbor’s schnauzer biting me on the lower lip when I was 4 years old.  So, the display seemed rather odd.  I couldn’t tell whether the poodle, which I later found out is named Rylee Joy, enjoyed the free ride to the front row or if its owner held her
to calm the pooch’s frayed nerves.

The Giant Ass Drum Corps, a merry band of women who play 10-gallon plastic bucket drums, had just finished a rousing tune, and I suspect Rylee Joy retreated to the rear of the sanctuary to avoid the pounding in her eras.

All of us –the poodle, the drum corps and a crow of 50—were at the Unitarian Universalist Church for a special Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays meeting.  Two lesbians traveling the country with their faithful companion Rylee Joy attended as guest speakers.

Dotti Berry and Robynne Sapp left their home in Blaine, Wash., a year ago to, well, talk to people.  And unlike me, most folks are drawn to furry creatures.  Berry was quick to point out that Rylee Joy is a fantastic conversation starter.

In their talks with individuals at rest stops or large groups at schools and churches, Berry and Sapp speak honestly about what it’s like to be gay in America.  They connect with the people they meet by listening carefully and not confronting them about their beliefs, but instead sharing their experiences, values and hopes.

The goal, Sapp said, is not to change minds, but to engage minds.  And provide information to that very large group of American voters who make up the “movable middle.”  The couple know that many citizens wrestle with questions of equal rights and perceptions of gay people and decided through the live for each other that they could help “dissolve differences between us.”

“What we didn’t realize is that many of those wrestlers are in our own community.”  Sapp said.

 

They see many lesbian, gay and transgendered people who are not “living authentically in our own lives,” Berry added.  Before we can ask others to accept us for all of what we are, including gay, we have to celebrate each part of ourselves.

I, in fact, have done a bit more of that this week, and you know, it’s pretty fun.  I’ve worn my rainbow wrist band several days to work.  I mentioned “my partner” to a colleague with who I ride the bus every morning but in all our conversations until now had avoided details about my family.  OutSpokane’s Pride calendar hang in my cubicle.

And maybe the newly hung picture of my twp boys, also in my cubicle, will become my brand of a conversation starter.

To read stories of their travels find LGBTQA resources and “meet Rylee Joy,” visit Berry and Sapp’s website, www.GayIntoStraightAmerica.com