This responsive reading is designed to be used throughout the year, as part of a National Coming Out Day service, a coming-out ritual, or a liturgy honoring LGBTQIA+ individuals/history.
Reader: For those who can’t come out because it’s dangerous, whether in the red states, or in very conservative religious environments, or in countries with anti-gay laws,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who can’t come out because they’re afraid their families will disown them,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who can’t come out, out of fear for their own safety,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who want to come out and feel safe doing so, but don’t know how,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who want to come out but are not yet ready,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who want to come out but are waiting for “the right moment,”
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who are ready to come out but have not yet found the words,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who have had to come out more than once,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who came out and had a traumatic experience,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who are out in some places, but not in others,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who never got a chance to come out,
All: We see you.
Reader: For those who came out and found peace, love, and acceptance,
All: We see you.
Reader: For all of us,
All: We see each other and we honor our journeys and those yet to come.
Hatimah: Barukh atah adonai, eloheinu melekh ha-olam, ha-meikhin mitzadei gaver. Blessed is the Eternal One, who makes firm each person’s steps.*
*Central Conference of American Rabbis, Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayer Book (New York, NY: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1975), p. 286.
