Growing up in Alliance, Ohio, Jim Chapple often had no choice but to fall in line.
“I kind of did the thing that everybody was supposed to do in the era when I was growing up in the 1950s and 60s,” Chapple said. “You go to college, get a degree, get a job, get married. You buy a house. You have a white picket fence. I did all that.”
“I was married to a woman for 22 years,” Chapple, 76, added. “But I have been a gay man all my life.”
For more than two decades after coming out, the teacher and college professor struggled to find a faith community that affirmed and uplifted LGBTQ+ people and their families.
Now, he’s organizing Vermilion’s first Pride celebration at the same church building (but with a much-changed ministry) where members once told him he was no longer welcome.
Grace United Methodist Church Pride, taking place from 10 am to 5 pm on June 6, will feature live music, free food, informational and educational resources, speakers, local vendors and activities for kids and families. Attendees of all ages can enjoy the festivities under a large tent with plenty of seating.
“This is a huge event for me, but it’s not just about me or gay Pride,” Chapple told The Buckeye Flame. “Pride is for everyone.”
‘This is not me’
As a child, Chapple spent his summers on the shores of Lake Erie.
His parents owned a boat they docked in Vermilion – a lakeside community 25 miles east of Sandusky where the population swells from 10,000 year-round residents to a peak of around 25,000 during the summer months.
Among rows of quaint homes and perfectly manicured lawns, Chapple sensed he was different from other boys his age.
“I’m sure my parents knew,” he said. “I think my mother just tried to wish it away. We never got to have that conversation.”
“When I told her I was going to marry my ex-wife, she was so elated,” Chapple said. “We got married on my parents’ boat. We had a couple hundred people and a big reception at the marina.”
Even with a beautiful party for family and friends, the marriage didn’t feel right.
“On my own wedding day I just kept thinking, ‘Why am I doing this?’” Chapple said. “‘This is not me.’”
Returning to Grace
In the summers that followed, Chapple and his ex-wife welcomed a son.
Every Sunday, they attended Grace United Methodist Church as a family.
But Chapple struggled in silence, still fighting his identity as an LGBTQ+ person.
“I just kept saying to myself, ‘I’ll outgrow this,’” he told The Buckeye Flame.
After 22 years of marriage, Chapple and his wife divorced in 2001. At some point during the legal process, Chapple was outed as gay to other members of the congregation.
He tried to keep attending church services.
“At that time, it was a very traditional, stoic Christian church,” Chapple said. “Some of the men met me in the parking lot and said I was no longer welcome. So for about 23 years, I had a faith, but I didn’t have a faith community.”
In the interim, Chapple raised his son. He spent his entire career working as a special education teacher and college professor – including 23 years at Ashland University, four years at Notre Dame College and a current stint at Bowling Green Firelands campus.
Chapple enjoyed fatherhood, his students and his work – but always felt something was missing.
Some friends encouraged him to return to Grace United Methodist Church:
“They said, ‘Grace [United] is so different. All those people are gone or dead now. It’s very open, very affirming.’ I kept saying, ‘Well, I don’t know.’”
Two years ago, Chapple finally joined a livestream of one of Grace United’s Christmas services. Pianist and choir director Nicole Barrick announced the church had received a grant to add a sensory room into the church.
Chapple – who taught sensory motor integration as a professor – called it a sign from God.
Next Sunday, he attended Sunday service in-person. He introduced himself.
The sensory room became Chapple’s pet project. It includes two trained attendants and sparked the creation of Wonderfully Made, which provides monthly and weekly programming for neurodivergent members of the congregation.
Changing tides
Last year, a newcomer posted to a Vermilion community Facebook group asking about local Pride events.
“The comments were so hateful I had to stop reading them,” Chapple said. “I think a lot of the comments were probably from people who don’t live in Vermilion, but there were certainly some names that I recognized.”
At church, Chapple brought up the post to Grace United pastor Rev. Preston Watkins and his wife, Courtney, a certified mental health counselor.
She had already seen it.
The pair started a diversity committee and began tabling at other Pride events along the Lake Erie coastline. The teams came back energized.
“I didn’t just want us to do diversity for Pride,” Chapple said. “I wanted us to do diversity programming all year long.”
Since then, Chapple has worked with Grace United leadership to create an ongoing series of interactive, educational events, beginning with a presentation by “Shades of Purple: A Boy’s Journey Between the Lines” author Justin Nacarato – a former student of Chapple’s.
During Hispanic Heritage Month, the congregation sang hymns in Spanish, read a children’s book about immigration, learned about notable Hispanic Americans and shared guacamole and queso.
For Black History Month, Chapple invited a speaker highlighting the role of lakeside cities like Vermilion, Oberlin and Lorain in the Underground Railroad and the abolition of slavery.
In May, they hosted a free LGBTQ+ Safe Zone training.
‘Pride is for everyone’
Chapple capitalized on the positive response and petitioned church leadership to approve Vermilion’s first ever Pride celebration.
With their support, Chapple has funded the June 6 event via several small grants and individual donations and sponsorships.
After so many decades in the closet, Chapple said he sees parts of his own experience in others – and that organizing an event designed to welcome and include everyone has been healing.
“It was so hard back then, when I was growing up,” Chapple said. “Now things are so much better.”
“We decided this is a celebration about love and diversity – and it doesn’t matter whether you’re neurodiverse or Black or Hispanic or gay or trans – we welcome everybody at our church,” Chapple said. “That’s the message I want to help people respond with.”
“You can really come here and be who you are,” Chapple added. “It’s truly a celebration of love and diversity.” 🔥
Ignite Action
- To make a donation to Grace United Methodist Pride or to become a sponsor or vendor, email Jim Chapple at chappyjw@aol.com
- To learn more about Grace United Methodist Pride, click here.
- To access The Buckeye Flame’s 2026 Ohio LGBTQ+ Pride Guide, click here.
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