Love, Violet Donations message and update from Charlotte Sullivan Wild and Chaplain Major Tara Bauer

Dear Plymouth Congregational Church Family,

As we conclude Banned Books Week, I wanted to thank you for your support of our family and of reading liberty. This year, my picture book Love, Violet was named in the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which religious parents asked to remove their children from any lesson with LGBTQ+-inclusive picture books.

Plymouth not only purchased one hundred copies of Love, Violet to donate, but you also raised over two thousand dollars as a gift for our family. This encouragement means more than we can say!

We donated your gift to the following nonprofits in your honor:

Rainbow Railroad, which helps LGBTQ+ refugees get to safety

Thrive Youth Center, which shelters unhoused LGBTQ+ young adults in San Antonio, TX.

The Trevor Project, which provides crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth and conducts essential research.

Lambda Legal, which provides legal support for LGBTQ+ rights and protections.

Madison Reading Project will donate 25 copies of Love, Violet to Wisconsin children and educators in need.

We Need Diverse Books, which works to get inclusive books to children by supporting students, educators, diverse creators, and publishing professionals. Part of your gift will support an LGBTQ+ author or illustrator, and another portion will purchase LGBTQ+ books for trans, nonbinary, and queer youth in communities where acceptance is low.

We acknowledged Plymouth’s generosity with these gifts and also honored Jack Pearson, our dear departed friend and Plymouth member, who joyfully supported the rainbow community at great personal cost. His love lives on. As does yours.

Your generosity was a great comfort to Tara and me, and to my colleagues involved in Mahmoud during a very stressful time. While Mahmoud has struck a lasting blow to public education, I have happy news. The Maryland county where this case began reported that only 43 families in this district of 160,000 students filed opt-out forms: That means that 99.97% of students opted in. Several parents contacted teachers to make sure their children have access to inclusive books. This is a victory! It is also a reminder that book bans typically come from a tiny handful of loud, well-funded people. The majority of Americans across political lines oppose censorship in schools and libraries. Thank you for being part of the loud resistance! In a time when religion is too often twisted into prejudice and authoritarianism, your grace and love shine bright.

For those of you who don’t know our family, I discovered Plymouth after I came out in the Minneapolis StarTribune in 2007. I’d left a faculty position at an Evangelical college and shocked my family, full of Evangelical clergy. My friend Toni Azad suggested I might feel welcome at Plymouth. And I did! The music, prayers, and messages of justice healed me when I thought I no longer had a religious home.

Soon after, I fell in love with Tara Bauer, who was also coming out late in life, while in seminary to become a military chaplain. We had to hide our joy in public, but Plymouth was a true sanctuary. You were one of our few safe places. (I hope you forgave our 100-watt smiles and sappy handholding in those first days of new love!) Tara went on to become a Lily Resident at Plymouth. You remain her ministry partner while she serves in the military chaplain corps as one of the few out LGBTQ+ chaplains. We look forward to retiring in the Minneapolis area one day. Until then, we miss you every day!

Thank you for your part in our personal story and in our shared story of crafting a more loving, just society together.

I wish you peace and courage for whatever is before you. Keep being light, keep being hope, keep being love in a troubled world.

With deepest gratitude,

Charlotte Sullivan Wild and Chaplain Major Tara Bauer

P.S. You can learn more about Mahmoud v Taylor and my books, and how to support reading freedom at my author website www.CharlotteSWild.com.