A Mother of Movements

1939-2022

We honor the life and legacy of Pat Norman, a fierce and radiant presence in the fight for justice, dignity, and healing. A Black lesbian mother, activist, public health visionary, and spiritual warrior, Pat walked badly where others feared to go - and she never left her people behind.

In the 1970s, when Black queer women were told to sit down and stay quiet, Pat stood up. When lesbian mothers were losing custody of their children, she helped organize. When AIDS swept through our communities and silence was killing, she became the first openly gay employee of the San Francisco Health Department - and created space for queer healing where there had only been stigma.

Pat believe in family. Not just the family you’re born into, bu the family you fight for. She believe int he power of Black women’s leadership, queer love, and spiritual grounding in the work of justice. And she held people accountable - with compassion, clarity, and fire.

She taught us that liberation must be intersectional. That health is a human right. That love is a revolutionary force. Ad that our ancestors walk with us when we speak the truth.

A Personal Note from Rev. Krysta Kalapana - In Memory of my grandmother, Pat Norman.

My grandmother was a quietly powerful woman. She was the first to tell me that I was meant for bigger things than the difficult life I was born into. She was the first person to ever make me feel safe. With her, in her big bear hugs, I belonged.

Brooklyn bred - she was blunt, brilliant, and unbreakable. It gave her grit - the kind of no-nonsense clarity that doesn’t flinch in the face of power. It gave her a backbone for the battles she would later fight in San Francisco and beyond.

She didn’t just organize, she mothered movements. She didn’t just hold titles, she held the community’s grief.

She made sure Black lesbians were seen. That queer people got care. That the church, the clinic, and the courtroom would never again be places where we were invisible.

My Grandmother and the Lineage of Spirit

My grandmother was also a queer woman. She taught me how to walk with God outside the rules. .

She first taught me how to meditate. She taught me yoga nidra to calm myself in those early years away from my mother.

She showed me Buddha and breath and the gentle power of silence.

She took me to my first experience at a black church where - for the first time - I met my extended family in spiritual celebration and felt the true power of God for the first time.

She took me for the first time to Kalanihonua, a spiritual sanctuary on the Big Island.

She taught me that women are the future. Her love shaped my ministry. Her faith shaped my own.

Her Legacy in This Church

The Rainbow Bridge Church is a sanctuary for the children - of all genders, all colors, all stories - who have never felt safe in church or home or school.

It is also a sanctuary for the queer elders whose work paved the way.

I don't just name Pat Norman here as a historical figure. I name her as one of the ancestors of this movement. Her story lives in the breath of this church.

May her life be taught in seminary and ceremony. May her name be spoken with reverence. And may we be as brave as she was - As rooted. As revolutionary. As full of grace.

-Rev. Krysta Kalapana