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WATCH: After Four Pride Flag Thefts, Texas Church Puts Up Fifth One

WATCH: After Four Pride Flag Thefts, Texas Church Puts Up Fifth One

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A Unitarian congregation near Austin remains defiantly welcoming.

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An LGBT-affirming Texas church that has seen its rainbow flag stolen four times within a year has just put up another one "so that those who drive by can see that this is a church that is deliberately welcoming and inclusive to all," says its pastor.

The Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in Cedar Park, near Austin, began flying the rainbow flag about a year ago, reports the Austin American-Statesman. (The story is behind a paywall but has been summarized by Towleroad.) After the four thefts, the congregation installed the fifth flag on the church's outdoor sign during a service August 23.

"One of the things that we refuse to whisper is that we are a deliberately welcoming, inclusive place of worship, and we celebrate the lives and loves of those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer," the Rev. Joanna Crawford said during the service. "Sometimes we shout that welcome with our voices or with cowbells, and sometimes we shout it with the flutter of a rainbow flag blowing in the breeze. ... We will not be quiet. We will not whisper. We will celebrate our pride."

Raising the flag outside the church, she added, "May this sign, may this flag, serve as a beacon to all who drive by to know that they are welcome here."

Watch video below.


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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.