It was a happy day. On that day in 2012, the Inpatient AIDS Service at Bellevue Hospital closed. It closed because there were no longer the patients to sustain it. As a pastor in the area, I could not but rejoice at this news. I was so moved, I called up Duncan Osborne, who was editor of Gay City News, the largest “gay newspaper” in the country at the time.
It might seem like a strange thing to have a gay newspaper, because these days our news is all-gay, all the time. Every hour on the hour. But it wasn’t like that in those days. So gay newspapers were considered needed. And this was the largest. Anyway, I reached out and said, “Duncan, I think that this is big news. Let’s celebrate! Can I take you out to lunch?”
Now, as you might imagine, Duncan and I disagreed about many things. In fact, there were very few things I could think of that we might agree about. But I found one. That day, we could both be happy. Because people were no longer dying like they had been. We could both say, yes, it was a good day.
“Yes,” he said, “I will meet you.” We went to eat at Veselka in the East Village, which was one of my favorite places to eat in my neighborhood. Ukrainian perogies, out of this world. I was surprised at how respectful my guest was. “Reverend this” and “Reverend that.” It was funny. It was more respect than I got from people in my own church, actually. I gave a toast (and a prayer), to people made in the image of God not dying. He heartily concurred.
The lunch led to further discussion about the needs in our neighborhood that the church might help in addressing. He was particularly concerned about the trans-teens coming down to hang out on the piers, because things got violent at times. The talk made a deep impression on me, leaving me open to opportunities for helping those I called at that time, “the gender explorers.”
Duncan and I remained acquaintances and had a few respectful interactions following that time. We didn’t keep up, though, so I do not know what ultimately happened with him. But I saw that day how there are always connection points between us and our culture, no matter how far a culture wanders from God’s way. Because people are still people, living on God’s common grace to muddle through life. I believe that there will always be opportunities to agree. Even if, sometimes, you have to look pretty hard.
Be a messenger of grace in the midst of strange times—see whom Christ may be calling into the light. Then you will find the times when you can both call it a happy day.
Very cool Pastor. Thanks for sharing.