On Saturday, Nov. 14, Love MCC will fill its new home at 2650 S. Maryland Parkway with music, community and a few thousand paper butterflies. Threads of Pride, a concert paired with a clothing drive benefiting the transgender community, begins at 1 p.m.

The event is the brainchild of Mara, a congregant who began living full time as herself on Oct. 14, 2025. It started with a steady stream of song ideas she kept bringing to the church's music director, Lawrence, for Sunday worship.

"There were just so many ideas coming through," Mara said. "Why keep it to a service? Why not do a whole concert?"

She took the idea to Pastor Wanda, then to Lawrence, art director Subash and a growing circle of volunteers. The name came out of plenty of brainstorming. "I wanted something that connected with what we're trying to do," she said, "and make it sound fun and different."

Filling a gap at the Center

The clothing drive grew out of Mara's own transition. When she donated her old wardrobe to the LGBTQ Center, which runs a program that lets people exchange clothing to match their gender, staff told her they had more men's clothing than they could use and not nearly enough women's.

"I dropped off all my old male clothing, and they said they have too much of it," Mara said. "They don't have enough female clothing. That's what made me decide to do this."

After talking with Terry Robbins at the Center, Mara has a clear picture of what's most needed: women's clothing in larger sizes, larger shoes, and handbags and purses. "We all need our purses," she said. Gently used makeup is also welcome, since it's an expensive necessity for many trans women.

Any clothing, men's or women's, will be accepted. Items should be gently used, not torn or soiled, and organizers plan to screen donations. Donations will be collected at the concert, and the church is working out logistics to accept drop-offs beforehand. Pastor Wanda has already said yes; the only question left is where to store it all.

Follow the butterflies

Guests won't need directions to the sanctuary. Subash, who has led crafts at Love MCC for the past year, is hanging paper butterflies in baby pink, baby blue and white, the colors of the transgender pride flag, from the ceiling all the way from the front entrance to the stage.

"Once you open the door, there's going to be butterflies hanging," he said. "Those butterflies are going to guide you." He plans to arrange them in the flag's stripes.

The design took trial and error. Early prototypes weren't popping, so Subash kept refining them, eventually filling his own ceiling at home to see the effect. He has close to 1,000 butterflies finished and expects the final count to run into the thousands. The congregation has been called in to help cut and assemble at a work session on Saturday, Nov. 7.

The symbolism deepened when associate pastor David Gillentine told Subash that butterflies also represent spirituality. For the trans community, they carry another meaning too: transformation, the journey from caterpillar to something entirely new.

Many LGBTQ people, and transgender people especially, carry wounds from faith communities that rejected them. Mara knows that feeling. "You spend your whole life with somebody telling you that your existence is wrong," she said. "And you walk into somewhere and you feel like you're with your family."

She first walked into Love MCC in February. "I was given a hug. There was a smile. Nobody looked at me different," she said. "I felt like I've been here my whole life."

Subash said the church's reputation as a safe place reaches even people who haven't been through its doors in years. "Nobody is turned away from here, no matter who you are, what you look like, what you're wearing," he said. "You are safe, and you belong." Pastor Wanda also leads workshops on religious trauma, focused on LGBTQ and trans people who were hurt by churches.

The church has been at its Maryland Parkway location since March 1, and Pastor Wanda's message hasn't changed with the address. "God's love is unconditional, and God loves us regardless of who we are, because God created us as we are," she said. "It's hard to live in a closet or live a lie 24/7. Being authentic and honest with yourself is where it starts." Some people take a while to get there, she added, "but that's all part of the journey."

One person at a time

The organizers measure success modestly. "If just one person comes back to this space because they thought, 'Hey, there's a place that I can go to,' we can call it a success," Subash said.

Mara, who had never organized an event before, hopes Threads of Pride becomes an annual tradition. "Let's see how much hair I have left after this," she joked. Her bigger hope is that newcomers leave knowing support is out there. "You just have to take that first courageous step," she said. "Eventually, you'll find a hand that'll reach out to you and pull you up when you need it."

Threads of Pride takes place Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. at Love MCC, 2650 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas. Bring gently used women's clothing in larger sizes, larger shoes, purses or makeup to donate.