BY JESSICA JENKINS
One of our priorities at Groundswell is promoting dignity and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in all aspects of life - including our legal system, our schools and our faith communities. That means standing up to bullying and discrimination of all kinds. So we are heartened to see a group of Methodist pastors and laity in New York and Connecticut pledge to support marriage equality - despite their denomination's stated ban on same sex marriages.
In their Covenant of Conscience, published Monday, hundreds of pastors and laypeople pledged to "openly and joyfully [affirm] the lives and loves of all United Methodists, regardless of sexual orientation or gender expression" by performing same sex marriages in their congregations and by creating open and welcoming communities for same sex couples and their families.
We're glad to see these congregations take a stand for equality and dignity, particularly since doing so could invite backlash and recrimination. And we hope that many more faith communities follow their example. When religious leaders publicly affirm the dignity and worth of LGBTQ people, it sends a powerful message to their wider communities that people of all sexual orientations and gender identities deserve equal respect. Young LGBTQ people in particular need to hear these messages of love and acceptance, as the teen bullying and suicides taking place throughout our country have made painfully clear.
A year ago, a young woman named Brittany McMillan called for a Spirit Day to remember the young people who had taken their lives because of anti-gay bullying. Her call spread like wildfire. This year we're joining the call on Thursday, Oct. 20 to wear and display the color purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag. Millions of other Americans will be doing the same, in their communities, schools, congregations and place of work, and on their online profiles. Visit the GLAAD Spirit Day website and Facebook page for more information about how you can join us.
In their Monday statement, the Methodist congregations quoted Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” We take Dr. King's message to heart, and we're confident that we can change the way lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people are treated throughout our country. But it can't happen with just one new law, one bold statement, or one day of action. It takes a movement. It takes a groundswell. Join us.
As Congress takes up the work of including the 11 million among us who call the US home but are yet to be fully included because of their immigration status, more than 1,100 people are deported - separated from their families and loved ones - each day that the debate goes forward.
This Friday we're launching our faith-based Kentucky movement for immigration reform – into Senator Rand Paul's hands. Add your name to join your neighbors in Kentucky supporting compassionate & just Immigration Reform.
After being brutally beaten, 82-year-old Piara Singh deserves to have the crime against him counted. The FBI is finally meeting June 5th to decide whether or not to track hate crimes against Sikh Americans. We need to make sure they hear from us.
Almost 4,000 people of faith and values have spoken out, signing a petition to tell ESPN Christian does not equal anti-gay. Now, ESPN has agreed to meet next week with Rev. Debra Haffner, who started the petition, and a delegation of LGBT-affirming clergy. Join the campaign today.
Inspired by his faith, Jason Collins came out this week as the first openly gay NBA basketball player. But ESPN Commentator Chris Broussard said he wasn't a Christian. Tell ESPN not to allow anti-gay speech to go unchallenged.
In the wake of the Boston bombing, will we let terror divide us? Unlike any other time in history, we have the tools & people-power to shape what happens next. Read Valarie's Kaur's moving vision piece about our movement post-Boston.
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The start of these statements began at the Minnesota United Methodist Annual Conference held in St. Cloud, MN June 1 -3, 2011. At the Clergy Session of our Annual Conference, a statement for marriage equality was lifted up asking that any clergy who would preside at a same-sex marriage sign the pledge. Since then, this statement and others like it have fanned out across the country. Those of us who signed this statement have continued to meet and are currently also a part of the effort in Minnesota to help defeat an amendment that would not allow same sex marriages. It is wonderful to see other areas of the country picking this up and running with it.
I just wanted you to know the history and that Minnesota helped lead this effort!