Reveling in 50 Years of Queer & Trans Anabaptist Resilience at BMC’s 50th

By Anna Lisa Gross

We filled the library lobby: browsing the timeline, thumbing through decades of t-shirts, greeting old friends, meeting new friends, and eating popcorn as we gathered for the Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests' 50th Anniversary, May 29-31, 2026.

The 50th Anniversary choir had gathered immediately before the opening session and learned a handful of songs, some written by our director Pax Ressler. We ascended the half-spiral staircase and our singing filled the Tretter’s atrium to commence this historic convening.

Most of the weekend's activities took place at the Tretter Collection, co-host for BMC’s 50th events.The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies is the largest LGBTQ-specific archival repository in the upper Midwest, located within the Elmer L. Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Now housed at the Tretter are BMC's 50-year archives–which curator Aiden Bettine highlighted in BMC 50th pop-up exhibits–as is material from our 50th Anniversary gathering itself.

Many participants shared oral histories to add to BMC's archives. Storytelling was part of every event, from the formal story showcase on Saturday evening to the impromptu and Spirit-led sharing in our parting Sunday service. We shared stories one-on-one and around meal tables, living into the theme of Rooting Our Stories: Reveling in 50 Years of Queer and Trans Anabaptist Resilience.

We came from throughout the United States and Canada. Elders who worked alongside BMC founder Martin Rock to build the earliest mailing list shared stories of coming out to angry or despairing family members, and still finding lifelong love and support -- both through chosen family, and often through families of origin who changed their minds. Middle-aged people like me recalled being youth at BMC retreats and watching the church fall behind mainstream culture in acceptance. The youngest among us came of age in mainstream, commercialized Pride merch and nationwide legal same-sex marriage -- and are now witnessing backlash and regression. Librarians among us live with threatening PTAs and school boards as well as questioning kids desperate for resources.

Our gathering held the pain of homophobia and transphobia, the grief of so many friends who gave up on the church and who the church gave up, the despair of denominations stuck and splintering. And mostly we celebrated! 50 years of resistance and resilience. 50 years of resisting cruelty and ignorance. 50 years of caring for each other well. 50 years of creativity, faithfulness, courage and compassion.

Singing familiar and new songs grounded our weekend. Singing Resistance leader and BMC 50th event coordinator Jane Ramseyer Miller brought songs from that movement (which began in our host Twin Cities) such as This Joy and Gather Your Courage. Jane also taught us her own original songs such as They Didn't Know We Were Seeds. We sang choir director Pax Ressler's original Another World and I am Here. One joyful singalong anthem (lyrics by Jeannette M. Lindholm) ended with the verse:

Love has taught us, we belong

safe within Love’s tender keeping,

safe from fear’s persistent call.

Love defending, Love unending, Love of God enfolding all.

Left to Right: Amy Short, Katie Hochstedler, Bev Brubaker, Adam Hostetter, Jay Thiessen, Anna Lisa Gross, Jonny Rashid, Ed Driskill, and Jim Lichti