The Unitarian Universalist Church in Belfast, Maine, is set to hold an “All Ages National Coming Out Day” event on Saturday, hosted by the trans-identifying biological female Cooper Reed of the left-wing Human Rights Campaign non-profit.
“Since 1988, National Coming Out Day has marked the power of our stories in the broader narrative of our movement and this year, that power is as important as ever. Our stories have always been the engine of change in this country,” said the event advertisement.
“Whether it was changing hearts during the AIDS epidemic or building the case for marriage equality, we know that sharing our stories is what we need now to propel our movement forward,” it added.
The event promises participants that they will hear stories from community members, presumably related to “coming out” as LGBTQ to friends and relatives, and invites attendees to pledge to share their own stories.
The LGBTQ event, explicitly marketed towards “all ages,” will also include a reading aloud from Grandad’s Camper by Harry Woodgate.
Grandad’s Camper is a children’s book that prominently features a pride flag on its cover.
Based on the book’s product listing, it appears to focus on a young girl listening to her grandfather tell her how he met and got to know his gay partner.
Reed, whose Facebook page confirms that she is a transgender-identifying female, will lead the event for the pro-LGBTQ Human Rights Campaign and has a history of advocating for minors to access transgender surgeries and treatments.
Reed also previously ran for the Swanville, Maine, school board, but her bid for a seat was not successful.
The church hosting the event is headed by Pastor Amy McCormick and appears to promote a variety of left-wing causes.
Their website encourages churchgoers to attend the “No Kings National Day of Mobilization” on Saturday, October 18, pushes for “parenting based on values of generosity, pluralism, transformation, and interdependence,” and hosts a variety of other left wing events such as an upcoming talk on “decolonizing non-native communities and conservation.”
The all-ages coming-out event does not appear poised for a massive turnout. As of Monday afternoon, only two people had confirmed their attendance via Facebook, and only 14 had expressed interest.
