Author: Nick Laux

I am writing this on November 5th, election day. Today I am at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix, serving as a Poll Watcher. I am helping voters as they are figuring out if they are in the right place to vote (hooray for Voting Centers in Maricopa County, where you can vote at any voting station!), reporting any issues, and de-escalating any situations if they arise. It is an honor to be involved in our democratic process.  

I have no idea what the world will look like on Thursday, the day you are reading this. Will we have a President-elect? Will there be violence? Will the rights of women and immigrants be changed? Are we heading towards fascism or democracy?  

What I will tell you is that this election season has probably been my most involved as your Minister. I am so proud of what this congregation has accomplished and how we have lived into our values:

• Our people have written THOUSANDS of postcards.
• We hosted UU The Vote door-knockers from across the country in our homes, trained them in our sanctuary, and worshiped with them on Sunday. We solidified our connections with national UU Social Justice leaders in the process.  
• We collected signatures to get a woman’s right to an abortion on the ballot and then campaigned for it.  
• We fought for dignity and safety for our black and brown neighbors with Prop 314, and I made some amazing connections with organizers from Corazon and Aliento. We celebrated the community at a Party At The Polls event with amazing food and Offrendas in Guadalupe, AZ last week.  
• Our Civic Engagement Team brought us voting guides to help us vote our values.  
• We reinforced connections with organizers from PAWS (People Against White Supremacy) as they recruited and trained poll defenders.  
• We showed up at rallies and cheered for candidates.  

No matter what happens today (or two days ago, depending on your perspective), I am so proud of what we’ve done as a community and how we’ve lived our values. I’m excited to continue these partnerships in the future.  

You are reading this on Halloween–Happy Halloween. For those raised Catholic, tomorrow is All Saints Day. But let’s be honest, both of these come from the earth-based traditions celebrated at the end of October–Dia de los Muertos in hispanic cultures and Samhain in pagan cultures. It is said that it is the time when the veil between the living and the dead is its thinnest, and, if you believe these things, it is the time when you are most likely to have dreams and visits from ancestors who have left us.  

This congregation has had an unusually high number of ancestors leave us in the last few years and we’ve had a particularly sad Fall. This week, we have memorialized Ruth Braunstein and are preparing to celebrate the life of Jacob Fallon. We have two beloveds who are preparing to cross over the veil as I write this on Tuesday–Marina Hoffman and Jean Lawton. Every single death I have the honor of being involved in–whether I am visiting them before they die or preparing remembrances of them after they have died–is an absolute honor for me. Death is something that will visit us all someday and yet it is still one of the most sacred parts of being human.  

When I think of our ancestors that have passed, I am also very struck by their impact on how I voted this election season. I think of our UU suffragettes who secured the vote for women–and how they likely couldn’t even imagine a woman running for President. I think of all the UUs and others who fought for Civil Rights and how we are still working to ensure that every person has an equal vote. I think of the American Founders–many of whom were progressive and radical Unitarians, no matter what the right wing may say–and how they dared to dream of a democracy where the people got to work together in community to determine our governance, not a king, dictator, or fascist.  

For all of these things, I am doing a lot of praying these days. Prayers for our beloveds, our ancestors, our country and for our own tired and fragile hearts. I wish for you sweet memories of your ancestors during this sacred time. 

This weekend was Phoenix Pride and what a weekend it was! I’ve always loved Pride, even before I came out–especially the parade aspect, it is the happiest time of the year. Everyone is happy, there is love showered everywhere, everyone has humorous t-shirts, lots of glitter on, outfits that make them feel beautiful and are with the people they know love and support them. Each float or car or walking group that comes by waves to the crowd and the crowd waves right back. Children delight at getting fans, candy, beads, noisemakers and other items that inherently cost less than 17 cents apiece.  

For almost 20 years, my family and I walked in the Pride Parade with our UU Congregation. My children were always in it with me and one year, my mom held the banner up front. We knew how important it is for religious organizations to be there–to counteract all the hate that comes from more conservative churches.  Most LGBTQ+ folks associate houses of worship with oppression and many carry religious trauma and rejection from churches. It may be bold of me to say, but I think religious groups marching in the parade are the most important category of any that are there. That we exist matters greatly.  

This year was our best Phoenix Pride yet.  

• Our decorations were the best yet.
• Our giveaways were the best received yet (pretty bags with rainbow bracelets and a card with a QR code to our website)
• Our marchers were enthusiastic and many knew how the parade worked–it was teamwork at its finest.  
• The Phoenix Pride organizers were actually “organized” this year.  
• The temperature cooperated the best.
• And we believe it was the best integration between the service and the parade that we’ve had yet, thanks to stellar leadership of Benjie Messer and Blake Rushing in the sanctuary and Jade Barger doing camera and sound on the parade route.  

Whether you consider yourself part of the LGBTQ+ community or a strong ally, I hope you could feel the joy and hope that came from Pride. We’ve come a long way–and we still have a long way to go, especially when it comes to religious support. I am so proud to wear my “This Queer Minister Loves You” shirt as I represented UUCP.