Watch the Trees

Our personal safety is always an important issue. The executive committee insists that we take care of our “buddy” and that no one goes exploring without letting someone know. We wear purple whistles and have agreed to give up some personal freedoms to ride on the bus.
Thursday morning in Denver our sense of safety was challenged. At the 6:30 check-in one of our group was missing. He disappeared during the previous night’s free time and continued to be missing when we gathered for a breakfast hosted by the Gill Foundation and a rally held in the Greek Amphitheater. During both events, riders continued the public witness of telling their personal stories, even as they grew more concerned for the missing friend. As we travel east through unfamiliar countryside the possibility of danger or trouble travels with us. The reality of our vulnerability was made real by the absence of one in our number.
Personal safety is a concern for many gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender persons. So often being out brings with it alienation from family and friends and harassment from the straight community. In too many settings GLBT persons are being treated as second class citizens, as though they don’t count. What an odd notion. Accepting the inherent worth and dignity of every individual means that everyone counts.
Our missing friend was found – safe. Disaster was averted this time and we continue toward Washington. But his absence and the possibility of tragedy hang over us as a constant reminder that all is not well in a society that carves out a group of citizens simply for being different.
Yellow, red and orange paint the trees in the heartland and this morning we were reminded to watch the trees. “Watch the trees?” asked a rider, “Why, are they hostile?”