Knocking On Doors, Opening Hearts

By Karis Granberg-Michaelson, Board of Directors of Holland is Ready, Room for All

In Holland, Michigan it is still legal to fire someone or deny them housing just for being gay or transgender. An effort to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the city’s anti-discrimination laws was defeated in June, 2011 by a 5-4 vote in the Holland City Council.

In the aftermath of that vote, Holland is Ready, a community action group working for LGBT equality, sent a few supporters to Flint, Michigan to attend the Michigan Power Summit organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and Unity Michigan. I was fortunate to be part of that group, feeling as if we were undergirded and sheltered by existing branches even as new ones emerged, inviting us to go further—to challenge our personal limitations and give canvassing and fundraising a try.

The experience was a powerful affirmation of collective action. We were stunned to come back from canvassing, tally the numbers and realize what had been accomplished in a few hours. We’ve been tallying and encouraging ever since, celebrating every positive conversation and inviting friends and family to support us.

Every Saturday, we hit the streets and knock on doors in Holland, the heart of our exchange being, “Do you support basic protections for gay and transgender people?” Nothing melts canvassing anxiety like meeting a person who’s been waiting for you to ask her this question, excited to be reached and eager to learn how to be involved. Change is not only imminent, it’s already happening, one mustard-seed action at a time. Canvass by canvass, conversation by conversation, standing in the rain, knocking on the doors of strangers, we are availing ourselves of beautiful surprises.

This crash course in political action has also taught me the electric joy of fundraising. I’m learning that people want the opportunity to support this work. As a Room for All friend said to me during one of my early Holland is Ready fundraising calls, “Ask us. People love you and they want to give. Ask. Keep asking.”

In fundraising and in canvassing I’m invited to push past my assumptions and give the person behind the door or on the phone the opportunity to decide how much they want to give and how. It’s easy to feel like an interruption, something in the way of what you’re sure they’re in hurry to get back to, but in fact the canvasser or caller is an invitation, a way in to the movement. There are many surprises: the tearful handing over of a $100 bill from a stranger, a successful large ask, or a supportive vote from an army veteran.

I can see no religious argument against ensuring gay and transgender people basic housing and employment protections. My faith propels me to do this work. Along with many others, I’m involved because of my belief in the Gospel.

For example, at this year’s Be In, a pro-LGBT sit-in on the campus of Hope College, half the students who were participating ducked out for a while to attend Chapel. Hope College, too, is ready for people whose faith compels them to be actively pro-LGBT.

Organizing with pastors, Hope College professors, students, RCA clergy and lay people, mentors and friends, teaches me who my community is and what it is ready for. I now believe that people want to give, want to be part of change. I push past assumptions. I have shifted my world to “Yes”—a world that says yes to me, yes to LGBT people.

I no longer see Holland as a community that says no to LGBT persons, and I now envision the RCA saying “Yes.”  Whether canvassing in Holland or through my role with Room for All, I am in relationship with a denomination that loves and nurtures me, that has since before my birth. This empowers me to work with my church family for an open and affirming Reformed Church in America that proclaims the Good News of the Gospel, the simple imperative—there is room for all.

Learn more about Room For All

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Image Flickr JulietMike Bravo