Be the Light: A Conversation with Lance Garland
“It's not all dark. You've got me.”
That's the message Lance Garland wants people to hear right now. The author of Out There: Dispatches from My Personal Wilderness believes that the people who show up for us in our hardest moments shape who we become. Lance’s early life was defined by a fundamentalist upbringing that was religious, strict, structured, and controlling. It was a narrow world, and the only one he knew. But something inside of him urged him to break free.
Joining the military at 19, he came out as gay, not fully realizing that doing so was illegal under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
What followed was a traumatic and extraordinarily difficult chapter. But what Lance took from it was something he carries with him every day. “Every person who touches your life has the power to bring you out of the darkness,” Lance explained. One person in particular stood by him during that time, opening his eyes to the meaning of humanity and community. Slowly, his path came into focus. He would leave behind the world he was raised in, and work toward one where all voices are heard.
This fight was no longer his alone. He became part of a Queer
community fighting for their rights, both under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and for the right to marry. Within a few years, both had changed. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed, and marriage equality was won.
Along the way, Lance discovered that the word ‘outsider’ means something different to everyone, whether it's not fitting in with your own family or moving to a new country. For him, feeling like an outsider eventually became a gift. Being Queer gave him the courage to find another path, to break free from his fundamentalist background, and the energy to fight back and join the broader conversation. It led him to the life he has now, happily married with two young daughters on Bainbridge Island.
We are living in a moment when livelihoods are being upended and careers dismantled, and it can feel overwhelming. Lance's message is that now, more than ever, is the time to be there for someone who needs it. We can't fix every problem, but we can show up for the people around us. As Lance puts it, “You can't sustain life without community.” Listening to different voices lifts us all up, helps us think critically about problems and solutions, and ensures that we come to the best conclusions. This is what we need to hold onto today.
Lance only recently discovered Bainbridge Community Foundation. “I wish I had known about BCF earlier,” he said. “What a gift to the community.”
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Join us on August 5 from 6:00-7:30PM at Bainbridge Performing Arts (BPA) for a special fundraising event with Lance in support of BCF’s IDEAS Fund. He’ll share his thoughts and experiences through readings from his book Out There: Dispatches from My Personal Wilderness through a conversation with moderator Dominique Cantwell. Tickets are available at bainbridgecf.org/ideas and include the option to purchase a copy of Lance’s book to be signed after the reading. Proceeds from this event go support our IDEAS fund grants and sponsorships. Lobby doors open at 5PM with concessions available from BPA.
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BCF’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Social Justice (IDEAS) Fund is based on the principle that everyone should have equitable access to opportunities, programs, resources, and services—regardless of a person’s race, age, gender identity, socioeconomic background, disability, or country of origin. The IDEAS Fund supports these types of requests through BCF’s grantmaking as well as leads to specific initiatives and partnerships that promote the IDEAS principles.
