PRESS RELEASE: Integrity Executive Director to Attend Signing of President's Anti-Discrimination Executive Order

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY!

Integrity is pleased to announce that Executive Director, Vivian Taylor, will be among those present when President Barack Obama signs an Executive Order on Monday banning employment discrimination by Federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The directive will not include an exemption for faith-based groups beyond that already afforded by a previous Order, signed by President George W. Bush, which grants exceptions for those directly involved in ministry.  On July 8, Taylor joined prominent Episcopalians and progressive faith leaders in signing an open letter to the President which asked that a broader exemption, allowing further discrimination by faith-based employers on the basis of "religious freedom," not be included.

Other Episcopalians who signed the letter include:

• The Very Rev. Gary Hall - Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Peter & St. Paul (“the National Cathedral”) in Washington, D.C.
• The Right Rev. Gene Robinson, Bishop of New Hampshire (retired) and Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress
• The Rev. Canon Susan Russell - Associate Pastor, All Saints: Pasadena, past president of Integrity
• The Very Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale - President and Dean, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass.
• The Rev. Ed Bacon - Rector, All Saints: Pasadena
• The Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge - Chaplain at Boston University, Lecturer at Harvard University, Co-Convener of TransEpiscopal

The National Equality March passing the White House
in March of 2009
PHOTO CREDIT: Kyle Rush  (flickr.com/kylerush)
Used by Creative Commons License Some rights reserved

"I am deeply honored to represent Integrity at this historic event. Employment discrimination against our people is still a near-constant threat and burden," Taylor said.  

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force reported in May that 18 states and the District of Columbia afford employment protections to LGBT people.  Three additional states offer protection on the basis of sexual orientation only.  The President’s order will affect nearly one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.

Integrity has been working with the Task Force and other faith-based advocates to combat discrimination in several states.  Integrity is working in Ohio to build support for the Equal Housing and Employment Act, an LGBT-inclusive piece of non-discrimination legislation. In May, an attempt to pass a "religious freedom" law intended to give businesses in Oregon the right to discriminate was defeated due in part to Integrity's efforts.

Taylor, who served in the United States Army in the Iraq war from 2009 to 2010, recently wrote about her personal experience with employment discrimination for the progressive faith blog Believe Out Loud.

Integrity is a member-supported nonprofit organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender [LGBT] Episcopalians and our straight friends. Since its founding by Dr. Louie Crew in 1974, Integrity has been the leading grassroots voice for the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the
Episcopal Church and our equal access to its rites. Integrity activities include advocacy, worship, fellowship, education, communication, outreach, and service to the church. Through Integrity's evangelism, thousands of LGBT people, estranged from the Episcopal Church and other denominations, have returned to parish life.

Contact:

Melvin Soriano, Secretary & Director of Communications

mel@integrityusa.org

770 Mass Ave #390170

Cambridge MA 02139

United States of America

Ph: +1-626-600-2030

###

Requiescat in Pace: The Right Rev. Edgar Otis Charles

St. Mark's Cathedral, Salt Lake City
PHOTO: Christian Paolino

The board and staff of Integrity sadly mark the passing of the Right Rev. Edgar Otis Charles, eighth Bishop of Utah, who died December 26th in San Francisco.  Bishop Charles came out as a gay man shortly after his retirement, the first Christian bishop to do so.

"As a bishop, I have been privileged to be with Otis as a fellow bishop, colleague and friend," said the Right Rev. Scott Hayashi, the present Bishop of Utah. "My prayers are being offered for Otis and all his family and friends who, like me, will always be grateful for his life and witness, and who will miss him terribly."

Born in April 24th, 1926 in Norristown, Penna., Bishop Charles grew up in New Jersey, attended General Theological Seminary in New York, and was ordained a priest in 1951. He worked in the Diocese of Connecticut from 1959-1971, founding two schools there.

In 1971, Charles stood for the episcopacy of both that diocese and Utah, ultimately being called to the latter. He served as Utah's eighth bishop but the first following its conversion into a diocese from a Mission Area, while also shepherding the neighboring Navajoland Mission Area and chairing the board of St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City.  "[Otis] carried the diocese forward during a time of great challenge and few resources," said Bishop Hayashi. "Where others might see scarcity, Bishop Charles saw an abundance of spiritual resources from God and in the hearts and wills of the people of the Diocese of Utah."Active in the peace movement, Bishop Charles helped organize resistance to the development of missile sites in Utah and Nevada.

Between 1968 and 1982, Bishop Charles also participated in the creation of the current Book of Common Prayer as a member of the Standing Liturgical Commission.  In 1985, he left Utah to become the Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at Cambridge, Mass.  In 1997, the Otis Charles Chair of Applied Theology was created via a $1.7M grant, the largest single gift in the school's history.

The Right Rev. E. Otis Charles surrounded by members of the
El Camino Real chapter of Integrity at San Jose Pride in 2001
PHOTO CREDIT: Bart Bartosh

Bishop Charles was married for over 40 years and had five children.  He discussed his same-gender attraction with his wife Elvira in the 1970s, but they remained married until after his retirement 1993, when he made headlines by identifying publicly as a gay man.

"Otis' decision to come out, even though he was retired, changed the equation in the House of Bishops," said the Rev. Michael Hopkins, former President of Integrity.  "No longer could they talk about them."

Bishop Charles moved to the San Francisco Bay area and, in 1995, helped establish the California branch of The OASIS, a diocesan ministry to gay and lesbian (and now bisexual and transgender) people. "At whatever age you come out, you have to live through whatever you've missed," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Even though you're 67, you have to go through a process I associate with adolescence. Hopefully, you do it with a little more maturity and grace."

"Otis Charles was part of the bridge generation - those who dared to reach across the chasm of what was to what could be - building a bridge to somewhere. Those who had no examples of how to live authentically as LGBT people and so became examples for those who came after them. Examples of how to tell the truth about their lives - even after decades of denial to themselves and to others. Examples of how to claim the blessing of God's presence in their life and in their love as a witness to a work of healing, of hope, of wholeness," wrote the Rev. Canon Susan Russell, a fellow Californian who also served as Integrity's president.  Her memories of Bishop Charles were republished by The Episcopal Cafe.

Bishop Charles frequently lobbied the church on behalf of LGBT people, including at the 73rd General Convention in Denver in 2000, when he rallied with the Christian justice group Soulforce.

Dr. Felipe Sanchez-Paris & Bishop Otis Charles
at the Castro Street Fair in 2009
PHOTO CREDIT: Robert Sokol
flickr.com/viamediainsfo

In 2001, he met Dr. Felipe Sanchez-Paris, who would become his new life partner.  Bishop Charles and Sanchez-Paris appear together in the documentary about The Right Rev. Gene Robinson Love Free or Die, in which Bishop Charles compared trying to living as a straight man to wearing a suit of the wrong size.  "With Felipe, the suit fits."

On April 29, 2004, Bishop Charles' 78th birthday, the two were united at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in a ceremony that lasted nearly three hours. They legally married in 2008, and testified together at the 2009 General Convention in Anaheim in favor of the rite for blessing same-sex relationships which was subsequently approved.  Just days before Bishop Charles' death, Utah became the 19th state with marriage equality.

Bishop Charles is preceded in death by his beloved Felipe. Dr. Sanchez-Paris died unexpectedly in his sleep on July 31st of this year.  In recent months, Bishop Charles struggled with a series of health setbacks, and he entered hospice care earlier this month.  Services will be held both at St. Gregory's in San Francisco and St. Mark's Cathedral in Salt Lake City, where Sanchez-Paris is interred.

Christian Paolino is Chair of the Stakeholders' Council of Integrity

Coverage of Marriage Rallies in DC & Beyond

Rally at L.A. City Hall: (L to R)
Lori Kizzia, Diocesan Organizer Jim White,
Randy Kimmler, The Rev. Susan Russell

Last week, Integrity encouraged its members to participate in the "Light the Way to Justice" events which were taking place as the Supreme Court considered cases involving both California's Proposition 8 and the "Defense of Marriage Act."

From Los Angeles to Virginia Beach, our members took part in rallies as elected officials, activists and people of faith spoke about the importance of having our relationships recognized.

The timing was both hugely inconvenient and profoundly significant for religious leaders as the hearings fell squarely in the middle of the busiest and most important week in the Christian calendar, as well as during Passover.  Integrity's former president, the Rev. Canon Susan Russell, wrote in the Huffington Post:

I'll admit my first reaction to the announcement that the arguments had been scheduled for March 26 & 27 was an incredulous "Seriously?" And yet as the clock has ticked down to Holy Week, it has become clear to me that the preparation happening for the work in the halls of justice is just as holy as the preparation happening in the halls of worship. I have come to see a profound synchronicity between a core value I hold as an American -- "liberty and justice for all" -- and a core value I hold as a Christian -- "love your neighbor as yourself." And I have been deeply gratified by the number of people of faith standing up and speaking out for equality -- not in spite of their faith but because of it.

She attended and spoke at a candlelight vigil on the evening of Sunday, March 24th on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall, along with Integrity Diocesan Organizer Jim White and others from All Saints: Pasadena.

The Right Rev. Gene Robinson, retired Bishop of New Hampshire, also pondered what conclusions could be drawn from this religious and judicial overlap in a guest column in the Washington Post.

"It was not lost on this person of faith that the Supreme Court hearings on marriage equality took place during the season of Passover for Jews and Holy Week for Christians. Was it coincidence, providence or simply God’s divine sense of humor, that these hearings would overlap with the greatest story of oppression-to-freedom ever told, reenacted at every Seder table? Would the justices find any connection between the Holy Week/Maundy Thursday edict from Jesus to “love one another” and the pleas for justice and respect from LGBT citizens? Time will tell."

Bishop Robinson attended the events in Washington D.C., which included both an interfaith prayer service and a themed seder in a nod to the number of people of faith who were taking part.

The Believe Out Loud crew in D.C.
Joseph Ward, James Rowe, Alison Amyx & Leigh-Anne Borkowski

A child shall lead them: 9-year-old
Leo talks marriage equality in D.C.

Joseph Ward, Director of the Believe Out Loud campaign and his team, also attended the D.C. rallies.

"I cautiously entered Holy Week knowing and feeling the mood of America changing, but it was overwhelming to see it confirmed in many ways by so many loving people in and outside of Washington, D.C."

Joseph wrote in a Huffington Post column that he was struck by the testimony of Leo, a 9-year-old boy whose two mothers are unable to get married:

"We cheered him on as he talked and read passionately about his support and love for his mothers. As he left the stage he yelled excitedly, 'Mom, I was the youngest speaker!' He walked past and I told him he did a great job to which he smiled and said, 'Thank you!' It was moving to hear Leo speak out for his mothers and gay people like myself."

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy expressed concern during the Proposition 8 hearings about the effect of the current inequality on the children of same-sex parents, an estimated 40,000 of them in California alone:

"There is an immediate legal injury and that's the voice of these children... that live with same-sex parents, and they want their parents to have full recognition and full status. The voice of those children is important in this case, don't you think?"

Province III Coordinator Susan Pederson and members of
Integrity Virginia Beach at a rally in Norfolk, Va.

Members of Integrity Virginia Beach including Province III Coordinator Susan Pederson attended a rally on the steps of the Walter E. Hoffman Federal Courthouse in downtown Norfolk, Va., on Tuesday March 26th, organized by the Rev. Mark Byrd of the New Life Metropolitan Community Church. 

"The possibility of rain kept some of our friends from coming to the rally but there were folks there from many different faith groups," Pederson reported. "We had a good crowd and the reception by the folks passing on the street was positive. We stood together as one in prayer for marriage equality."

The Rev. Scott Allen and Dixie Dugan White, co-founders of
Integrity Bethlehem, at a rally in Allentown, Pa.

The co-founders of Integrity Bethlehem, the Rev. T. Scott Allen and Dixie Dugan White, were part of an event on Saturday, March 23rd at the Edward N. Cahn Federal Courthouse in Allentown, Pa., which was organized by the Pennsylvania Diversity Network. Since the courthouse is on the Main Street of Allentown and very busy, many people slowed down and honked and gave the thumbs-up sign to the 100 or so gathered there. Speakers included City Council representatives from Allentown and Bethlehem, Labor Union Activists (Teacher's Union), local LGBT activists and a keynote from a woman who described the disadvantages she encountered while settling her late partner's estate.

"It was a cold day with a fairly brisk constant breeze which made it feel much colder!" recalled Allen, "But the people gathered there sang 'This Land is Your Land' and 'Going to the Chapel' with heart and energy! It was a diverse group with straight allies and LGBT from many walks of life present."

Randall Abbott and his partner Jerrod, Integrity life members who attend the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Springfield, Ill., were invited by the Rev. Martin Woulfe of the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation to a silent witness and sidewalk prayer vigil at Paul Findley Federal Plaza in that city, the state's capitol on March 25th.  "We were surprised at the number of horn honkers supporting us, including a Springfield police cruiser, a USPS truck, and several State of Illinois vehicles," Abbott reported.  "I estimated that about half of the passing vehicles did honk to support marriage equality on a cold, blustery day in downstate Illinois."

Abbott described the experience as "particularly gratifying" since the Bishop of Springfield, the Right Rev. Dan Martins, has stated he will not permit the recently-adopted rite for blessings of same-sex relationships to be performed in the diocese. On the other side of the state and the issue is the Bishop of  Chicago, the Right Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee, who has spoken out strongly for marriage equality. The Illinois Senate passed a marriage equality bill on Valentine's Day, and the House will take it up before May 31st.  The measure has the backing of governor Joseph "Pat" Quinn II.  

Students, a P-FLAG chapter and others attend a rally on the
campus of Montclair State University in New Jersey

Pride flags on display at St. Stephen's Church
on the campus of Ohio State University

In New Jersey, Integrity Stakeholders' Council Chair Christian Paolino joined a rally organized by student groups on the campus of Montclair State University on Wednesday afternoon.  Members of the North Jersey chapter of P-FLAG were also in attendance.  Among the speakers was State Senator Ray Lesniak (D - Union), who is sponsoring a bill in the state legislature banning "reparative therapy" on LGBT young people.   Senator Lesniak also published a book called What's Love Got to Do With It: Making the Case for Same-Sex Marriage during the effort to legalize marriage equality in New Jersey in 2010.  The bill, which passed in both houses, was vetoed by Governor Christie.

Meanwhile, many others across the country took part in vigils and rallies, or simply prayed that the Court be inspired towards a just and humane outcome.  At St. Stephen's Church on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, the Rev. David Soland reports that a petition for the Supreme Court was included in the Prayers of the People.

Rulings are not expected until June.

Were you in Washington DC or at any of the events across the country?  Please contact us with your thoughts and photos.

Susan Russell: An Unexpected Blessing

When Integrity's Treasurer, Elisabeth Jacobs, asked me last week if I would "write something about marriage equality for the Integrity blog" of course I said I’d be happy to. And I thought I’d jump right in and write a quick piece about how encouraging it was to see the dozens of bishops stepping up and signing the amici ("friends of the court") briefs that went to the Supreme Court on the pending marriage equality cases.

I thought I’d reflect back on what an extraordinary shift there has been in the Episcopal Church – in what is arguably an astoundingly short period of time.

I planned to begin by recalling the day in June of 2003 when the House of Bishops' Theology Committee was literally shamed into inviting then-Integrity President Michael Hopkins and me to come meet with them. I say "shamed" because they were on the verge of finishing their presentation on Human Sexuality for the upcoming General Convention of the Episcopal Church  and they had not included the voices, perspective or input of a single, out gay or lesbian person. Not. One.

And so they invited us to come. To Chicago. At Seabury-Western. Where we were ushered into a large conference room with a big circle of bishops and theologians and two empty chairs near the door … one for Michael and one for me. And we had an entire hour of their time. And they were scrupulously polite as we told our stories and talked about our vision – Integrity’s vision – of a church where all the baptized were fully included in all the sacraments. And they thanked us. And we were ushered out. And it felt like nothing so much as a trip to the zoo – only rather than going to the zoo, the zoo had come to them – and we were the "live in captivity: actually gay and lesbian people!" they had arranged to come so they could say they did.

What a difference a decade makes.

I don’t flatter myself that anything Michael or I did or said that day moved any heart or changed any mind. Not in and of themselves. What we did that day was what we had done many, many times in the past … and would do many, many, MANY times moving forward: we showed up. We did what those who’d gone before us – on whose shoulders we stood in that conference room full of bishops in Chicago – had done in order to even get us in that room: we told our story. And we did what our spiritual ancestor – the persistent widow in Luke's Gospel – did when confronted with the unjust judge: we kept coming back … again and again.

So that’s the blog I was going to write. To celebrate the power of story and persistence to work with the Holy Spirit to move the Episcopal Church from a time when our bishops had to be shamed into even talking to us to a time when every-bishop-save-one (Albany) in a jurisdiction with civil marriage equality signed a friend of the court brief calling for the repeal of DOMA (the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act") and an end to federal discrimination against married couples of the same sex.

And then today I woke up to the "breaking news" that Rob Portman – a conservative, Republican congressman from Ohio – had "come out" for marriage equality. In his op-ed in the Columbus Dispatch, Rep. Portman wrote:

"Knowing that my son is gay prompted me to consider the issue from another perspective: that of a dad who wants all three of his kids to lead happy, meaningful lives with the people they love, a blessing Jane and I have shared for 26 years.

I wrestled with how to reconcile my Christian faith with my desire for Will to have the same opportunities to pursue happiness and fulfillment as his brother and sister. Ultimately, it came down to the Bible’s overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God."

Ultimately, he made the decision for equality not in spite of his faith but because of it – but it was "knowing that my son is gay" that prompted him to open his heart and change his mind.

And so I’m glad I waited until today to sit down and write the blog on marriage equality Elisabeth Jacobs asked me to write last week. I’m delighted that there is yet-another-example of the power of speaking up, stepping out and showing up to bend that arc of history toward justice.

Yes, it would be nice if everybody figured out that "liberty and justice for all" really means ALL whether or not they have a gay kid. AND ... when they do figure it out ... we say thank you. Not only because our mothers brought us up right... but because [a] it's the right thing to do and [b] because we know they're getting slammed from the other side. So do the right thing. Make your mother proud. Do what I did and call Rob Portman's office and leave a message and thank him. Seriously. Go. Do it. Now: 202-224-3353

And then invite others to go and do likewise. Because this is yet another way of standing up, showing up and speaking out with that great cloud of witnesses – including our Patron Saint "The Persistent Widow" – determined to come back again and again until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

 - SUSAN RUSSELL +


The Rev. Canon Susan Russell has served as Integrity's President and is currently the convener of Claiming the Blessing, a national collaborative ministry focused on the full inclusion of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender baptized into the Episcopal Church. She is also a founding member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion Council and a regular contributor to the Huffington Post's religion forum. Her personal blog may be found at An Inch at a Time.

Quotes from The Rev. Susan Russell, Immediate Past President of Integrity, On The Diocese of Los Angeles Elections of Two Bishops Suffragan

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles made history this weekend when it elected not one but two women bishops.

"The big news for many will be that one of those women is a partnered lesbian. But the bigger news for me was that my church has actually become a place where candidates for bishop are evaluated on who they are, not who they love -- on the quality of their character, not on the orientation of their sexuality.

"These elections are good news to anyone who cares about justice, compassion, equality and inclusion as core moral values. Mary Glasspool will make an AMAZING bishop ... as will Diane Bruce.

"And as a Diocese of Los Angeles native who grew up in a church where I wasn't allowed to be an acolyte because I was a girl this weekend's actions by my church are nothing short of miraculous.

"Some will ask what message we are sending the rest of the Communion and my answer is that this is what the church looks like when it gets past the inclusion wars and quits allowing differences like gender, ethnicity, orientation or identity divide us. It's a great day to be an Episcopalian!"

Susan Russell Receives Lamba Legal Liberty Award

Tuesday night Integrity President Susan Russell was presented with the Liberty Award by Lambda Legal. Here are her remarks...

Thank you – and what a great privilege it is to receive this Liberty Award from Lambda Legal this evening. In honoring me you are also honoring the organization I lead: Integrity USA – with a thirtysomething-year-old history of working to fully include LGBT people in the life and work of the Episcopal Church and the parish I serve: All Saints Church in Pasadena, committed to turning the human race into the human family one I.R.S. investigation at a time.

As we continue the work Sr. Joan Chittister has called "reclaiming the planet an inch at a time until the Garden of Eden grows green again" I give particular thanks tonight for my brother priest, Michael Hopkins: the past president of Integrity who has been my friend, my mentor, my partner in ministry and my partner in crime. I credit Michael with teaching me two great life lessons that have helped make my work and witness possible. Number one is "the truth will set you free" and number two is "don’t confuse God with the church."

I could not do the work I do or even dare to dream the dreams I dream for my church and for our country without Michael – and without the unfailing support of my rector, Ed Bacon, my clergy, staff and parish colleagues and, most importantly, my fearless, fabulous, faithful partner Louise. Time does not permit a longer list than that, but you must know that I stand here tonight on the shoulders of countless LGBT faithful who have for decades tilled the hard ground of the Episcopal Church to plant the fragile seeds of inclusion while tirelessly pulling the stubborn weeds of racism, sexism and homophobia.

God is not finished with us yet – and we Episcopalians are not finished with our bishops yet! – but in the days and weeks and months to come we’re gonna keep at it – an inch at a time – in partnership with Lambda Legal and our LGBT allies until the stubborn weeds of employment discrimination, hate crimes and marriage inequality are history in this country and the garden of liberty and justice for all grows green once and for all!

"Set audacious goals and celebrate incremental victories" was the advice I heard years ago from our former rector, George Regas. And if it is true – as Michael taught me – that the truth will set you free and it is true – as Janis taught me – that freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose – then tonight we have nothing to lose as we recommit ourselves to the audacious goal of becoming a nation where liberty and justice for all truly means ALL – one of the truths we hold self-evident as a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all people ARE created equal.

Thanks you again! God bless! Shanti. Salaam. Shalom.

Integrity President Comments On Joint Standing Committee Report

620 Park Avenue #311 Rochester, NY 14607-2943
800-462-9498 info@integrityusa.org http://www.integrityusa.org/

October 3, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Joint Standing Committee has pronounced the Response of our House of Bishops "sufficient unto the day" and now invites the Anglican Communion to move forward in faith in spite of our differences. Calling for a commitment to mutual listening and conversation, the report concludes, "It is only by living in communion what we live out our vocation to be a Communion."

"Our bishops told us their goal in New Orleans was to be 'clear' about where the church ‘is' in their response to the rest of the Communion," said Integrity President Susan Russell. "They said they were doing so in order to 'make room' for the conversations to continue and, based on today's report, they appear to have succeeded in that effort. It must be recognized, however, that this 'success' came at the cost of collateral damage to the lives and vocations of the LGBT baptized who continue to be cast as pawns in this game of global church politics."

"It is now time for our bishops to step up and put their miters where their mouths are and proactively advocate for the inclusion of LGBT voices in the 'mutual listening and conversation' the Communion has committed to continue," Russell continued. "Here's what we want to be 'clear' about: we're done being talked about and we're ready, willing and able to be talked 'to.'"

Integrity looks forward to being an integral part of that mutual listening and conversation and later this month in London will be working toward those goals with Anglican allies at planning meetings in advance of next year's Lambeth Conference.

PRESS CONTACTS

The Rev. Susan Russell, President
revsusanrussell@hotmail.com
714-356-5718 (mobile)

Mr. John Gibson, Director of Communications
jhngb@aol.com
917-518-1120 (mobile)

DIVIDED FLOCK--Episcopal Church Dissidents

Amid Rift Over Gays, Conservatives Go Global; Bishops Made in Africa
By ANDREW HIGGINS
September 20, 2007
The Wall Street Journal

Excerpt:

The Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, a group that champions gay and lesbian rights in the Episcopal Church, denounces offshore bishops as the "intercontinental ballistic weapons of schism and division."

Click here to read the entire article.

Consecration in Kenya widens a religious rift

2 US priests now Anglican bishops

By Michael Paulson
Boston Globe
August 31, 2007

NAIROBI - Delivering a blistering rebuke to the Episcopal Church for its support of gay and lesbian rights, spiritual leaders representing tens of millions of Anglican Christians from around the world gathered here yesterday to consecrate two conservative American priests as bishops despite the opposition of the US church.

snip

"The consecrations today are one more sad indication of just how far those committed to splitting the Episcopal Church are willing to go to achieve their goal of a church created in their own image," said Rev. Susan Russell, president of Integrity, an organization based in Rochester, N.Y., that advocates for gay rights in the Episcopal Church. In an e-mail, Russell called the new bishops "intercontinental ballistic weapons of schism."

Click here to read the entire article.

Homosexuality, ham sandwiches, and the funeral of a gay man

Jeffrey Weiss of the Dallas Morning News blogs about how Christians deal with the Hebrew scriptures--particularly in regard to homosexuality...

The Rev. Susan Russell is an Episcopal priest and the president of Integrity, an organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Episcopalians. She said she's found a simple way to parse the Torah's teachings: She turns to what Jesus said in Matthew 22: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart," and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

"If I need a litmus test for whether ... our tradition needs to change, it is whether what we're considering meets those two criteria," she said. "I contend that lifelong committed relationships between people of the same sex meet the criteria."

Click here to read the entire article.

Bay Windows on Lambda Legal Award

Bay Windows reports on President Susan Russell's award from Lambda Legal.

An excerpt:

Considering all of this you’d think that educated clergy such as the Episcopal Church of America’s Presiding Bishop, the Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori — a scientist by training, no less — would stand resolutely against those in her church who are using the Bible to foster ignorance. After all, it was Jefferts Schori who said June 8 on PBS’s Bill Moyers Journal that this is not the first time bigots have roiled her church. “When I look at other instances in church history, when we’ve been faced with something similar — the history in this country over the — over slavery,” she said. “The church in the north, much of it came to a different conclusion than the church in the south — about the morality of slavery. And neither side was comfortable with the breadth of understanding that could include the other.”

The difference between now and then, of course, is that her church didn’t disown abolitionism during the Civil War, but continues, in part, to appease anti-LGBT forces in today’s church.

Part of me is happy that Lambda has chosen to support Integrity, but I wonder if it’s worth it for any of us to continue to be a part of institutions whose leaders cannot muster the courage to just say no to hatred.

Susan Russell to Receive Liberty Award from Lambda Legal

620 Park Avenue #311 Rochester, NY 14607-2943
800-462-9498 info@integrityusa.org www.integrityusa.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 31, 2007—Lambda Legal announced last week that the Rev. Susan Russell, the President of Integrity, will receive a Liberty Award " for effectively advocating for full inclusion of LGBT people in the Episcopal Church, including the blessing of same sex unions."

In response to the announcement, Russell said, "I am thrilled to accept this honor on behalf of the tireless efforts of those within the Episcopal Church who have labored so long and hard for the full inclusion of all the baptized into the Body of Christ. I believe it is a wonderful opportunity for evangelism—a chance to proclaim to the Lambda Legal community that the Episcopal Church is committed to respecting the dignity of every human being. Integrity and Lambda Legal are united in our dedication to 'liberty and justice for all.'"

The award will be presented on October 2nd at the Directors Guild of America Theatre Complex in Los Angeles. Ticket prices for the event begin at $200 each and can be purchased by calling Levy, Pazanti & Associates at 310-201-5033.

PRESS CONTACTS

The Rev. Susan Russell, President
president@integrityusa.org
714-356-5718 (mobile)
626-583-2741 (office)

Mr. John Gibson, Director of Communications
jhngb@aol.com
917-518-1120 (mobile)

BACKGROUND

See attached Lambda Legal press release.
-----------------------------------------
LAMBDA LEGAL WEST COAST LIBERTY AWARDS
TO HONOR ALAN CUMMING, DAVID BOHNETT,
REVEREND SUSAN RUSSELL AND HILTON

Awards Ceremony to Take Place Tuesday, October 2nd
at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles

(Los Angeles – July 25, 2007) - Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund will present its 15th Annual Liberty Awards on Tuesday, October 2nd at the Director’s Guild of America in Los Angeles. This year’s celebrated honorees are actor Alan Cumming for his distinguished career and as an LGBT activist and champion for civil marriage equality; David Bohnett for improving society through social activism and philanthropy including his generous support of LGBT organizations; Reverend Susan Russell for effectively advocating for full inclusion of LGBT people in the Episcopal Church, including the blessing of same sex unions and Hilton for their excellent record of workplace diversity as well as their dedication and hospitality to the LGBT community. The event will also celebrate Lambda’s Executive Director Kevin Cathcart for his 15 years of service.

Actress and designer Honey Labrador will host the event which is one of the most important and meaningful awards ceremonies of the year as it honors those heroes who have made strides in the fight for full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people (LGBT) and those with HIV.

Lambda Legal is the country’s most prominent and powerful civil rights organization addressing the needs of the LGBT community and those with HIV. Since 1973 Lambda Legal's strategy has been to secure legal precedents that solidify basic rights in all areas of life for LGBT people and people with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. From the beginning, Lambda has produced unparalleled results, changing the day-to-day lives of LGBT people across the country.

"This year’s Liberty Awards celebration comes at an exciting time for both Lambda Legal and the struggle for LGBT rights in general. We’re proud to recognize those who are helping us in our fight for equality," says John Davidson, Lambda Legal’s Director of Legal Affairs.

Over the past decade Liberty Awards have been given to corporations, law firms, and individuals whose work exemplifies the highest standards of service and commitment to the LGBT communities and those with HIV. Past recipients include Mayor Gavin Newsom, Rosie & Kelli O’Donnell, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Martina Navratilova, Herb Ritts, Bill Jones, Margaret Cho, Dolores Huerta, Kathy Griffin and State Senator Sheila Kuehl.

Located in Los Angeles, the Western Regional Office (WRO) anchors Lambda Legal’s operations throughout the West Coast. The oldest and largest of Lambda Legal’s regional offices, the WRO celebrated its 15th anniversary year in 2005. The WRO boasts a docket as diverse as the territory it covers, with cases advancing legal protections for gay youth, advocating for the freedom to marry, defending domestic partner benefits, challenging discriminatory police policies, and fighting for fair treatment of people with HIV.

Ticket prices begin at $200 each and can be purchased by calling Levy, Pazanti & Associates at 310-201-5033.

For press information contact:
Jim Dobson
INDIE PR
(818) 753-0700
jim@indie-pr.com

4370 Tujunga Ave. #105, Studio City, Ca. 91604 (818) 753-0700 jim@indie-pr.com

Susan Russell On Air America's State Of Belief

This Week’s Show: Weekend of May 26-27

The strife within the U.S. Episcopal Church only got worse this week after a divisive decision by the Archbishop of Canterbury. We’ll hear from one coalition of Episcopalians who are worried about the precedent being set.

The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy talks to the Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity, about Bishop Gene Robinson's exclusion from Lambeth. Click here for MP3 streaming audio. Susan's portion is just after the introduction.

Communion by Invitation Only

May 23, 2007 6:12 AM

The announcement this week that New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson will not be receiving an invitation to the 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops was a sad day for the Anglican Communion and a new low for the beleaguered Archbishop of Canterbury.

It is sad that the once proud-of-its-diversity Anglican Communion has allowed itself to be blackmailed into bigotry by those unwilling to accept into their midst a duly elected brother bishop solely because of his sexual orientation. And it is clear that Rowan Williams' failure to exercise differentiated leadership has enabled the Communion he leads to continue to spin out of control.

The Archbishop had an explanation for his decision not to include Bishop Robinson: "I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion."

What he doesn’t have is an explanation for the stunning hypocrisy of excluding the Bishop of New Hampshire because he is gay while including the Archbishop of Nigeria who supports legislation criminalizing gay and lesbian people so draconian that it has been condemned by the international Human Rights Watch.

What he doesn’t have is a response to those who increasingly use the word "irrelevant" to describe a church more interested in how many bishops will attend the elite gathering at Lambeth Palace in 2008 than it is in how we can help end the AIDS pandemic by 2008. Or stop the spread of malaria. Or find a way to end the genocide in Darfur.

"Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these," is the only criterion Jesus gave for being on his invitation list. Both the Communion and the Gospel would be better served if the Archbishop of Canterbury would go and do likewise.

Rev. Susan Russell, an Episcopal priest, is president of Integrity USA

On Faith is an interactive conversation on religion moderated by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn of The Washington Post. It is produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com,

Click here to view or comment upon the orginal article.

Clergy Call For Justice Press Conference

Watch Susan Russell and 7 faith leaders speak for equality at Tuesday's press conference on Capitol Hill. (Susan is one of the last speakers.)

CLERGY FROM ALL 50 STATES URGE CONGRESS TO PASS HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION, END WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION

Human Rights Campaign
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
'Clergy Call for Justice and Equality' Featured Prominent Faith Leaders Calling for Fairness for All God’s Children

WASHINGTON — In a historic showing of religious support for the passage of two major pieces of civil rights legislation, hundreds of clergy from a diverse reflection of America’s faith backgrounds gathered on Capitol Hill today to lobby their respective members of Congress to end workplace discrimination against their fellow brothers and sisters and pass the much-needed hate crimes bill this year.

"For too long, there has been a false perception in American politics that faith and religion stand diametrically opposed to equality for GLBT Americans,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. "The hundreds of clergy joining us are here because they understand that we are all God’s children, and our differing sexual orientations and our differing gender identities are not shameful sins, but rather amazing gifts from God."

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, called the Matthew Shepard Act in the Senate, adds sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to existing federal law conferring authority on the federal government to investigate and prosecute violent crimes. This authority already exists for crimes committed because of the victim’s race, color, religion and national origin and because they were attempting to exercise a federally protected right. The bill ensures a federal backstop to assist local law enforcement in those cases in which they request assistance or fail to adequately investigate or prosecute these serious crimes. The bill would also provide assistance to local law enforcement for investigating and prosecuting bias-motivated violent crimes.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would address discrimination in the workplace by making it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee simply based on the person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It would reinforce the principle that employment decisions should be based on a person’s qualifications and job performance.

snip

Said the Rev. Susan Russell, senior associate for parish life at All Saints Episcopal Church (Pasadena, Calif.):"My son Jaime is currently serving on active duty in Iraq. One of the core American values he was raised to embrace — and he understands himself to be defending — is our pledge to be a nation of ‘liberty and justice for all.’ I believe these important pieces of legislation will help move us as a nation toward that long-dreamed-of goal — that dream of liberty and justice my son and so many other brave Americans in harm’s way have sworn to preserve and protect."

Click here to read the rest.

Religious Leaders Speak Out for GLBT Rights

Susan Russell and several other clergy spoke on Capitol Hill today in support of two major pieces of civil rights legislation — a bill to prevent hate violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity and another to ban workplace discrimination against GLBT employees. Here are Susan's remarks...

I am the Reverend Susan Russell, a priest on staff at All Saints Church in Pasadena, California and President of Integrity, the voice of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Christians in the Episcopal Church USA. It is a privilege to stand here today in solidarity with other faith leaders and with a majority of Americans who believe the federal government should act to end workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers. It is an honor to represent the Episcopal Church which stands as one of the over 210 law enforcement, civil rights, civic and religious organizations supporting the passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. And I thank you for this opportunity to witness to the core values I hold dearest as an Episcopal priest and as an American citizen.

My son Jamie is currently serving on active duty in Iraq. One of the core American values he was raised to embrace -- and he understands himself to be defending -- is our pledge to be a nation of "liberty and justice for all." I believe these important pieces of legislation will help move us AS a nation toward that long dreamed of goal – that dream of liberty and justice my son and so many other brave Americans in harm's way have sworn to preserve and protect.

We are not yet that nation when the liberty to walk safely on the streets of America protected from bias motivated violence is not yet available to ALL Americans: passing the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act will bring us one step closer to "liberty for all."

We are not yet that nation when in thirty-three states a hardworking American can be subject to the injustice of losing their job solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act will bring us another step closer to "justice for all."

One of the primary tenets of all religious faiths is to love your neighbor as yourself and as a Christian I follow a Lord who called us to minister unto the needs of "the least of these" as we live out our call to do justice and to love mercy in His Name. These are the Traditional Christian Values I claim as an advocate for these critical pieces of legislation today.

Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “Justice deferred is justice denied.” Extending hate crimes protection to include sexual orientation or gender identity is the right thing to do and now is the time to do it. Ending workplace discrimination is the right thing to do and now is the time to do it. Thank you.

Click here to read remarks by other clergy.

On Faith | Another Step Out of the Closet

By Susan Russell

It is an ongoing process, this thing called "coming out." Any gay or lesbian person who has been through it can tell you that we don't just come out once – we do it over and over again.

And they can also tell you that along the way there are times when the temptation to climb back in the closet is a very real one. The pressure of family, cultural, political and religious voices can combine to make us question our own reality – our own experience – our own truth.

Coming out is hard work that takes both faith and courage – and a deep commitment to telling the truth.

And this week all of those elements were in place as the Episcopal Church took another step out of the closet with strongly worded statements issued from the meeting of its House of Bishops in Navasota, Texas.

The bishops faithfully and courageously offered an emphatic "No" to ultimatums issued in February by the Primates of the Anglican Communion that the Episcopal Church "repent" of its inclusion of gay and lesbian people or risk being voted off the Anglican Island.

It can be argued that the Episcopal Church came out in 1976 when it passed a resolution committed to offering its gay and lesbian members "full and equal claim," and again in 1994 when it added sexual orientation to its non-discrimination list, and again in 2003 when it recognized the blessing of unions and consented to the election of a bishop in a partnered relationship.

And now 2007 offers another step out of the closet with our bishops' statement: "We proclaim the Gospel that in Christ all God's children, including gay and lesbian persons, are full and equal participation in the life of Christ's Church."

Coming out is hard work that takes both faith and courage – and a deep commitment to telling the truth. We are stronger as a church for having the courage to tell the truth about who we are as people of God – and for refusing to be blackmailed into bigotry.

That's good news not only for gay and lesbian people but for the church enriched and enlivened by their lives, their vocations and their ministries. The Episcopal Church is out of the closet for good. That's very good news, indeed!

Rev. Susan Russell is senior associate for parish life at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif. Since 2003, she has served as president of Integrity USA. She also is a charter member of the Human Rights Campaign’s Religion Council.

AP | Episcopal Bishops Reject Ultimatum

By RACHEL ZOLL
AP Religion Writer

Episcopal bishops did not respond to the Anglican demand about gay bishops and blessing ceremonies. However, the leaders noted that they had previously met requests not to approve another gay bishop "at great cost to many, not the least of whom are our gay and lesbian members," only to have Anglican leaders say the pledges weren't sufficient.

snip

The Rev. Susan Russell of the Episcopal gay advocacy group Integrity compared the bishops' statement to a "coming out process."

"This was a huge step that the American church was not willing to go back into the closet about its inclusion of gay and lesbian people in order to capitulate to those who would exclude us," Russell said.

Click here to read the rest. NOTE: This hyperlink may not last long.