As we celebrate the 2009 Pride theme, Activism for Equality, I am reminded of the thousands of people across 36 years who have served as Center staff, board members and volunteers: tens of thousands who have given so much of their time, their energy and their resources to serve. Why in the world do so many give so much of their lives to activism and service?

They have given because they know that social justice only advances through one service act at a time, one changed life at a time. Service work is where the ethereal grand ideas of justice meet the hard-core reality of oppression. It is a daily attempt to articulate the social justice movement in the lives of real and specific people. It is real, person-to-person change that you can see, feel and touch.

Activism through service screams “no” to those who would throw our GLBT youth from their homes onto the streets and to the ignorance that attempts to prevent loving parents from adopting children desperate for homes; “no” to the lonely silence some would doom our seniors to; “no” to those who would ignore school bullying and who continue to ignore the needs of GLBT citizens who seek help. The volunteers, staff and board members of The San Diego LGBT Community Center and the GLBT community centers all over the nation do this work every day, and I stand in awe at their unwavering dedication and commitment.

In all of the models of justice work, “service” is the level of involvement that requires “full, active engagement” in the messy business of strengthening communities and making real change. Service is a full contact sport – person to person, active, engaged and connected. The work is messy because the work is with real people, and we are all messy at some level.

Some of us serve for youth, some for seniors, some for those affected by HIV/AIDS, some for families, others for labor and working people. Still others serve for reproductive rights and women or for racial justice. Some work to ensure equality for all. Community centers serve all of these groups! Individual interests may differ, but all share the drive to actively invest in the people they seek to serve.

It is in the lives of real people that the change we work toward, the changes we hope for, are finally articulated – changes in the lives of youth, seniors, families, couples, those living with HIV or cancer, and changes brought about by those willing to serve.

Activism through service means finding a place or places where you give your time, your hard-earned money, your talent, your blood, sweat and your tears as you try everything you can think of to help. Building community means building up people and helping them enjoy fuller, richer, more equal lives than they had before.

The goal of building a better world than the one we found is a drive that unites all those who have loved justice and freedom from the beginning of time. It is the clarion call that connects one generation to the next and the next and the next. It moves us forward against the tremendous tides of complacency and status quo. Service is the work of legacy. It’s the answer to the end-of-life question: “How did I help?”

Community service demands that we find ways to recognize the beauty and uniqueness of individual stories and identities while searching for the larger-than-any-one-of-us points of unity. It is about empowering individuals to find their voice and power — and finding ways to help create a collaborative group powerful enough to make real, lasting changes.

Service is about building something larger than ourselves and finding new, creative ways to call out the better angels in all of us. Service is the act that bends the long arc of history toward justice. This Pride season, find a way to serve!