06/16/2026
Mobile is our home too. We were born here. We are raising our children here. We pray here. We bury our loved ones here. We organize here. We dream here.
And because we love this place deeply, we reject the idea that LGBTQ+ people, transgender people, Two-Spirit peoples or Q***r families are somehow separate from “the people of Mobile.” We ARE the people of Mobile.
The attempt to frame Pride as an outside ideology imposed upon our city ignores a simple truth: Q***r and Trans people have always been here. We have always been your neighbors, classmates, coworkers, faith leaders, artists, teachers, healthcare workers, parents, children and grandparents.
Many of us are Black. Many of us are Indigenous. Many of us are people of faith. Many of us are all of those things at once.
At Tending Futures, our mission is to tend future generations by revitalizing cultural practices, birthing knowledge and building community resilience. We know that resilient communities are not built by deciding whose children belong and whose do not. They are built when every child knows they are loved, valued and safe.
We share a concern for children. That is EXACTLY why we speak up.
Children deserve honest information, supportive communities and the freedom to grow into who they are without fear, shame or political attacks. They deserve adults who will protect them from violence, bullying, homelessness, poverty, racism and isolation. They deserve to know that if they are different, they are still worthy of belonging.
As a Black and Indigenous-led organization rooted in the Gulf South, we also recognize the dangerous history of language that claims certain groups are threats to children or society. Throughout history, that rhetoric has been used against Black communities, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, religious minorities and LGBTQ+ people alike. We know where that road leads and we refuse to walk it again.
We believe faith and inclusion are not opposites. We believe family comes in many forms. We believe every child is sacred. We believe every person deserves dignity. And we believe Mobile is big enough for all of us.
The story of this city is not one of fear. It is one of resilience, survival and community. From Africatown to the bay, from church pews to masjid prayer rugs, from tribal grounds to neighborhood porches, our strength has always come from our ability to care for one another across difference.
That is the Mobile we know. That is the Mobile we love. And that is the future we are committed to tending.