For years, Jamie Arpin-Ricci, a Mennonite pastor in Winnipeg, wore a cross around his neck as a symbol of his faith. But then one morning last year he put it in a bedside drawer and decided never to wear it again. Instead, he replaced it with a Pride flag pin.
What caused him to stop wearing his cross for a Pride pin? “As a queer activist, I was also increasingly aware of how triggering Christian symbology and language could be to people traumatized by the church for their sexual orientation and/or gender identity,” he said.
But it wasn’t only his concern for queer people that caused him to remove it. Arpin-Ricci also thought about Indigenous people, many of whom suffered as children in church-run residential schools where crosses would often be found on the walls or worn around the necks of abusers.
“Now my daily ritual includes putting the pin onto my shirt or jacket with the same care and intentionality that I once reserved for the cross,” he said. “It was an important decision for me, one that I feel absolutely no regret over.”
Read about Arpin-Ricci’s thoughts on no longer wearing a cross, and how it has become a challenging symbol for others (especially some indigenous people), in my latest Free Press column.
You can also read his full essay on taking off his cross in favour of a Pride pin here.
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