Pride Fest interfaith service stresses speaking out, spreading love

Chicago Tribune

08-06-2025

Allison Andersen walked up to the stage, decorated in rainbow streamers, a rainbow balloon arch with the word pride spelled out in tall, white letters, and bowed her head in prayer.
Andersen, of Valparaiso, took a handful of beads and placed them into the clear vase nearby as she prayed that God 'worked a miracle in this place today,' she said.
'We're here to love everybody,' Andersen said when she returned to her lawn chair. 'I'm here to celebrate the light and love of Jesus with a group of people that have been marginalized.'
Northwest Indiana Pride Festival began its second day Sunday with an interfaith service, which began with people taking beads and pouring them into a vase while saying a prayer or giving an intention.
About 50 people, sitting either on lawn chairs, benches or blankets, spread out across the lawn in front of the stage at Riverview Park in Lake Station to participate in the service, which included faith leaders speaking to the crowd and hymns between each speaker.
Rev. Timothy Leitzke, the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, shared with the crowd the impact of Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith's recent social media post, where he called Pride Month a 'rainbow beast' and threatened that it's coming for children.
Leitzke said that government officials are 'the beast' for the laws and regulations they pass that marginalize the LGBTQ+ community.
'That's what the bad guy does. Thank you for the exercise in irony, Lt. Governor,' Leitzke said.
Rev. Leah Peksenak, with Marquette Park United Methodist Church and Hobart First United Methodist Church, told the crowd that she doesn't believe in reconciliation without reparations, and that the church shouldn't be forgiven for its treatment of LGBTQ+ people until it repents.
Peksenak then listed all the things she's sorry for: the qualifiers and conditions placed on LGBTQ+ persons' worth, that so many churches won't celebrate or bless same-sex weddings and the teaching of children to be fearful of the LGBTQ+ community.
Further, Peksenak apologized for the church perpetuating the lie that LGBTQ+ people are predators 'when we are the ones with the most skeletons in our closet on that front by far.' Peksenak said she's sorry that some people of faith have taken 'five questionably translated verses out of context and rammed them down your throats.'
Peksenak apologized for the church calling LGBTQ+ love a sin, for every conversion therapy session, for every pray the gay away camp. Peksenak said she was sorry for every parent who disowned a child for being LGBTQ+ because of the church's teachings.
Peksenak said she was sorry for 'every single soul that is no longer with us,' where her voice cracked and she paused before continuing 'because we made them feel like being dead was the less painful option.'
'I'm sorry that we ever made you think that there was something wrong with you. I'm sorry that we did all of this in the name of God who made you exactly who you are,' Peksenak said. 'I'm sorry if anyone ever made you feel like God doesn't love you.'
The LGBTQ+ community has access to God with or without the church, Peksenak said.
'Inside the church, outside the church, in a faith community or otherwise, do not ever let your voice be silenced by somebody else's hate,' Peksenak said. 'You are too precious. Your perspectives are too irreplaceable. Your faith in yourselves and in the power of goodness and joy is too strong for that.'
Rabbi Diane Tracht of Temple Israel in Miller Beach shared a blessing that addresses how people are created in God's image.
People don't understand the joys of the LGBTQ+ community, which turns them to hate the community, she said. But, that hate causes fear in the LGBTQ+ community, she said.
Peksenak, who is also the president of Norwest Indiana Pride Fest Inc., said ahead of the service that this year's pride festival was the organization's second annual festival. In its second year, the festival has grown in number of attendees, vendors, performers and park space.
This year's two-day festival raised more money on its first day than it raised in both days last year, Peksenak said. This year's festival funds would be donated to Indiana Youth Group, she said.
The current political threat to the LGBTQ+ community has left many with a deep sense of fear and anxiety, Peksenak said. But, it has also 'lit a fire under us' to push back, she said.
'We're going to be doing as much as we can, as loudly as we can for as long as we can, and if they say we can't, we'll do it anyway,' Peksenak said.
Maggie Mooers, from Gary, said she came to the festival because she wanted to show her allyship to the LGBTQ+ community, especially at an event in Indiana given its conservative political stance.
'I think it's cool that they're doing this, especially with the service, because it's inclusive,' Mooers said.