“Raise the Flag”

Origionally Published: June 1, 2025

Raise the flag in celebration and defiance.

Raise it for the dead
Cameron Thompson, age 26.
Shot in the streets of Chicago,
Black and trans,
and barely a headline.

Raise it for Dymond “Tayy” Dior Thomas,
stabbed in the Bronx.
Misgendered in the news.
Buried under apathy.

Raise it for the 32 trans and gender-expansive people murdered in America last year,
that we know of.
And for those whose stories were erased
before anyone learned their names.

Raise the flag because
Christian nationalism is not Christianity.
And hatred wrapped in scripture is still hate.

Raise it because
lawmakers are hunting our children with policy.
Because bans on gender-affirming care
are bans on survival.
Because drag bans are not about clothing
they are about control.

Raise it because they are legislating closets again.
Because they are dragging truth from school libraries and burning it with a prayer.
Because they are putting God on a ballot
and crucifying Love again.

And Church,
if we say nothing,
if we do nothing,
if we hide behind kindness and compromise
then we are not Christ’s body.
We are just a comfortable crowd.

So raise the flag.
High.
Loud.
Unashamed.

Raise it for the queer teen on your block
who hasn’t yet found the words to say I am.
Raise it for the elder in your pew
who has carried a lifetime of silence.
Raise it for your children,
so they know this faith isn’t founded in fear.

Raise it because the Gospel doesn’t whisper,
it roars:
“Whatever you did to the least of these…
you did to me.”

Raise it because Jesus broke the rules
to save the brokenhearted.
Because he touched what was “unclean,”
loved what was “unacceptable,”
and flipped the tables of empire.

Raise it because Christ is queer 
in his rejection,
his body,
his resurrection.

Raise it because Love is not safe
it’s sacred.

Raise it in your church.
In your heart.
In your vote.
In your sermons.
In your protest.

Let the flag be our communion cloth
in this wounded world.

And if anyone asks why

Tell them:
I am raising the flag
because the world is setting fires
and I will not stand in the ashes
and call it peace.

To the ones grieving
May you be held.

To the ones rising
May you be unstoppable.

To the ones afraid
We are holding the line until you’re ready.

And to those with power
Repent.
Reform.
Or step aside.
Love is coming…
And Love will have the final Word!