Episode 138: Willy and Kristy Donahoo, 60 Pride Flags with a Neighbor to Neighbor Ask

Summary: My friends Willy and Kristy Donahoo, who don’t have any immediate LGBTQ family members, share their story of becoming LGBTQ allies. It started with Willy’s talk in Church (Sept 2015) about owning the ‘visitors welcome’ message at our buildings when he mentioned the need to welcome our gay friends. Willy and Kristy then connected with Encircle (they serve on their advisory board). They talk about the need to proactively ‘act’ to be accepting versus a passive statement of acceptance. In April 2019 Willy and Kristy, wanting to act, purchased 60 pride flags for their neighborhood in Sandy, Utah. They share the remarkable story of encouraging their neighbors (thru social media, letter writing and door-to-door visits) to consider displaying a flag until all 60 flags were claimed and displayed starting on May 27th. Click here for a copy of their letter: https://www.dropbox.com/s/030qh99n2js98sr/Pride%202019%20Neighborhood%20Flag%20Letter%20FINAL_Redacted.pdf?dl=0 and the Mr. Rogers quote: https://www.dropbox.com/s/68tw2n80o077t2d/Mr.%20Rodgers%20Unique.pdf?dl=0 It’s a really cool story. This resulted in Mama Dragons, a group of mothers of LGBTQ children, posting a picture and story on Facebook about the flags https://www.facebook.com/mamadragons/posts/2265960243502364 that went viral including KSL running a story https://www.ksl.com/article/46565141/each-person-is-accepted-unconditionally-sandy-neighborhood-lines-streets-with-rainbow-flags-for-pride-week .But what happened once the flags were up in their neighborhood is the real story. Willy and Kristy share some of these deeply touching and healing stories that occurred as these much needed conversations finally happened. Several of these brought tears to my eyes and hearts were healed and authentic connections made. Willy and Kristy invite you to consider doing this in your neighborhood next year. Thanks Willy and Kristy for being on the podcast and your discipleship. You two are awesome.