Post-election Action

Kindred in Christ,


The next four years will be decided by how hard we prepare right now. Acts of homophobia, transphobia, racism, religious oppression, and misogyny have exploded: over 400 hate crimes were filed in the days after the election. Churches are experiencing acts of vandalism and graffiti.

We are launching an emergency campaign to stop efforts to derail everything we've achieved. Monthly giving is the best way to support our fight. Please be the lamp of hope, the Light of Christ, and donate $1/day ($30 a month) to protect what we've gained and further protect those in harm’s way. Click here to donate online now. .

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Integrity USA

Bruce Garner, President
Integrity USA

INTEGRITY MARKS HISTORIC HATE CRIME LEGISLATION WITH A CALL TO PRAYER

INTEGRITY MARKS HISTORIC HATE CRIME LEGISLATION WITH CALL TO PRAYER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 27, 2009

The White House announced President Obama will sign the Matthew Shepard/James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act on Wednesday, October 28th. To mark that historic act, Integrity calls members, friends and allies to join in a moment of virtual common prayer at 4:45 p.m. EDT--the time announced for the signing.

"For over thirty years, Integrity has been committed to both prayer and political action," said Integrity President David Norgard. "On Wednesday when President Obama signs the Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law, we will give thanks for a major milestone even as we remember those we have lost due to hate crime violence."

The Episcopal Church has been a long-time advocate for hate crime legislation, since at least 1988 when it passed resolution D055, entitled "Condemn All Hate Crimes." In 1998, then Integrity President Michael Hopkins attended the Wyoming funeral of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard. "At Matthew's funeral, we experienced hate first hand in the protestors led by the Fred Phelps family. I am gratified now to have this legislation.”

For details -- including this prayer suggested for use to mark the signing -- visit Integrity's blog, "Walking With Integrity" at http://walkingwithintegrity.blogspot.com


Loving God,
We pray for victims of hate crimes;
for those who have been targets of violence
just because of who they are;
for their families and all who grieve for them.


We give thanks for all those who have
labored, lobbied and prayed
for inclusive federal hate crimes legislation
and for the Hate Crime Prevention Act
signed into law today.


Bless us, we pray, with the knowledge
that we are secure in your love;
that we can make a difference;
that you call us always to seek and serve Christ in all persons
and to respect the dignity of every human being.
And may the peace the world cannot give
reign in our hearts always.
Amen


Some history on resolutions passed by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church on hate crimes:

Resolution Number: 1988-D055
Title: Condemn All Hate Crimes
http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=1988-D055

Resolution Number: 1988-D100
Title: Decry Violence Against Homosexuals
http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=1988-D100

Resolution Number: 2000-D009
Title: Condemn All Hate Crimes
http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2000-D009

Resolution Number: 2000-C029
Title: Urge Congress to Enact Hate Crimes Legislation
http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/acts/acts_resolution.pl?resolution=2000-C029


Also this 2002 report on Episcopal support for the legislation:
http://www.episcopalarchives.org/cgi-bin/ENS/ENSpress_release.pl?pr_number=2002-116

###

For further information contact:
Louise Brooks, Communication Director
Integrity USA -- 626.993.4605
lebrooks@earthlink.net

INTEGRITY REJOICES AT PASSAGE OF HATE CRIMES LEGISLATION

October 22, 2009
For Immediate Release

LOS ANGELES, CA--Integrity applauds the passage today of the groundbreaking legislation making it a federal crime to assault an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

"Since 1988 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church as been on record supporting legislation protecting all Americans from hate motivated violence," said Integrity President David Norgard. "And so we rejoice today with all who have worked so long and so hard to move this legislation forward. Our prayers are particularly with Judy and Dennis Shepard and their family, who turned the tragedy of the death of their son Matthew into advocacy on behalf of all those vulnerable to hate crimes because of their sexual orientation or gender identity."

In her 2007 letter in support of the bill passed by the Senate today, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori included this quote from former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold: "The fact that Matthew was an Episcopalian makes our grief no more sharp, but it does give us a particular responsibility to stand with gays and lesbians, to decry all forms of violence against them - from verbal to physical, and to encourage the dialogue that can, with God's help, lead to new appreciation for their presence in the life of our church, and the broader community."

Integrity is grateful for the work and witness of ALL those who have stood with the most vulnerable down through the years -- and is committed to continue that advocacy as we follow the Lord who called us always to remember that it is in service to "the least of these" that we live out our call to seek and serve Christ in all persons.

###

CONTACT: Louise Brooks

Director of Communications

tvprod@earthlink.net

626-993-4605

Congress OKs adding sexual orientation to hate crime laws

WASHINGTON — A House vote Thursday put Congress on the verge of significantly expanding hate crimes law to make it a federal crime to assault people because of their sexual orientation. The legislation would bring major changes to law enacted in the days after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968.

"No American should ever have to suffer persecution or violence because of who they are, how they look or what they believe," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., noting that hate crimes legislation has been on her agenda since she first entered Congress more than two decades ago.

Civil rights groups and their Democratic allies have come close to expanding the hate crimes bill several times in the past decade, but have always fallen short because of lack of House-Senate coordination or opposition from former President George W. Bush.

But this time, it appears that they may succeed. The legislation was attached to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill that the Senate could approve as early as next week. President Barack Obama has promised to sign it into law. The late Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., was a longtime advocate of the hate crimes legislation.

The House vote on the defense bill was 281-146. Unlike usual defense bill votes, most of those in opposition — 131 out of the 146 — were Republicans objecting strenuously to inclusion of what they referred to as "thought crimes" legislation in a defense bill.

Read the rest at the Fort Worth Star Telegram here:

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1672737.html

Judy Shepard comments on Hate Crimes bill

Judy Shepard on video from the Rachel Maddow show, why we need this legislation and her reaction to the Congresswoman who called Matt's hate crime death a hoax.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Write Congress

10 years laterMatthew Shepard remembered

The Laramie Boomerang reports on Laramie, WY and the University of Wyoming, remembering Matthew Shepard:

On a sunny fall day in Laramie, it’s too easy to forget that nearly 10 years ago the life of Matthew Shepard ended brutally, tied to a desolate fence outside of town. No one who had never met him will get the chance. No one who never heard his voice will know what it sounded like. And for those who knew, it’s important that the community of Laramie never forget what tragic consequences bubble forth out of ignorance and intolerance.

These are the things that people will hopefully think about when they take a seat on the bench with his name on it at Quealy Plaza that was dedicated in his memory Saturday morning.

Under the close eye of the media with police officers idling near the outer circle of the crowd that gathered that day, University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan and Judy Shepard, Matthew’s mom, spoke about the past and the future of that fatal event that shocked not only this small town on the plains, but the state and nation as well.

Read it here.

Too big a tent?

Savitri Hensmen writes in the Guardian:

As the Lambeth conference in Canterbury was drawing to a close, Michael Causer died. He was not an Anglican bishop, but an 18-year-old hairdresser, a popular lad described by his family as "definitely a 'people's person'. Our world will never be the same without him." He was the victim of a homophobic attack.

In other countries too, during the conference, virulent hatred of gays and lesbians continued to take its toll – sometimes in spectacular fashion. A gunman in Tennessee shot two people dead during a children's performance in a Unitarian church he thought too "liberal" before being overpowered. A Ugandan gay and lesbian rights activist was kidnapped by police in Kampala and tortured. A wave of homophobia swept Indonesian capital Jakarta, and arrests were reported.

In many countries, repressive laws fuel bigotry. All too often in schools and workplaces, temples and churches worldwide, people learn to hate or despise lesbians and gays. To Christians, this is tragic, not just for the victims: those who do not love their neighbour are spiritually dead. Yet talk among Anglican Communion leaders about homosexuality seemed oddly disconnected from the world in which most of us live, and the challenge to make it more just and loving.

Every decade or so, the Lambeth conference has urged bishops to champion human rights for all and enter into dialogue with the gay and lesbian community. But this has been widely ignored: blessing same-sex couples is apparently a far greater offence than allying with repressive governments to hunt them down.

Read it all here.

The Matthew Shepard Act

From the Human Rights Campaign:

Take action now.

To watch our own Susan Russell+ and other faith leaders comment on this and similar legislation, click here.

HRC | Take Action Now to Pass Hate Crimes Bill!

This Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a key hate crimes bill. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would extend the ability of law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute crimes motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

But in order for this bill to pass, your member of Congress needs to hear from you! Find your representative and call the Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121. Ask to be connected to your member of Congress and urge him or her to vote for the hate crimes bill.

Apparently legislators are being so heavily bombarded with calls and emails from the radical right that some are getting very nervous about voting for the bill. Knowing how close we are, that's not good.

EVEN IF YOU'VE ALREADY CALLED YOUR REPRESENTATIVE about this bill, and even if they've said they'll vote for it, we need you to pick up the phone RIGHT NOW and remind them of your support.

The radical right is doing everything in its power to stop this bill from passing. Watch our video response to these anti-gay extremists.

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.

HRC | Support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act

A mesage from Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign:

Every morning, someone you know takes the long way to class. Someone you care about looks over his shoulder on the street. Someone you love fears for her safety.

All because people hate them for being who they are.

We're closer than ever to passing a federal hate crimes law that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. But right now, your lawmakers are being barraged with calls and emails from anti-gay groups. It's horrifying that they'd pick this of all issues to be against—but it's happening.

The House has already introduced its hate crimes bill. We're holding a press conference on THURSDAY, the day the Senate introduces its identical bill, to announce all the support behind us. We need your voice, even if you've already sent a message on this issue.

Click here to send your letter to Congress before Thursday's press conference.

Our country desperately needs a federal hate crimes law that protects all people from bias-motivated violence. Every day, dozens of people are targets of violent attacks simply because of who they are, while the federal government is powerless to help.

Over the coming weeks, we have a chance to change that.

We'll be sending tens of thousands of letters and calls to legislators, bringing clergy to Capitol Hill to meet with their Senators and Representatives, telling the stories of innocent people attacked or killed by hate violence, and putting a media spotlight on this issue. We're not going to miss this opportunity.

Time is tight. But, with a fair-minded majority in Congress, the time is right.

Tell your representative to vote for the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Together we can make sure this landmark legislation brings the change we've needed for years. Thanks for your help.

Gay Student Killed at Norfolk State University

From one of our readers:

I don't know if this story has found a wider audience, but here in Norfolk Virginia it's front-page sadness. A freshman music student at Norfolk State University, a historically black state university, Sean Williams, was murdered this past week outside a dormitory. He was trying to protect a friend of his from an attacker when he was killed. Williams was gay.

Now, if this weren't tragedy enough (and there's no word yet on whether the murder was also an anti-gay hate crime), violence erupted outside the performing arts center where a memorial service for Williams was being held. A couple of white preachers with signs with Bible quotations on them (I hardly need to say which ones) were haranguing the mourners. Some students tussled with them, and stuffed the placards in the trash. The preachers weren't Fred Phelpsians, but FP-clones I guess. Williams' family are under a great deal of stress........this whole community too.

Local coverage:

Apr 2 Two stabbings at NSU: Freshman killed, another man wounded
Apr 3 NSU sets vigil for slain student; suspect held
Apr 4 Friend says NSU stabbing victim came to his aid after attack
Apr 5 Service honors slain NSU freshman Sean Williams
Apr 6 Street theater at memorial spread pain, not morality

Archbishop of Canterbury: Church must be 'safe place' for gay and lesbian people

ACNS 4272 | LAMBETH | 28 MARCH 2007

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that the churches of the Anglican Communion must be safe places for gay andlesbian people. His comments come in a welcome to an interim report on the Anglican Communion's Listening Process, a commitment to listen to the experience of homosexual people. Archbishop Williams warns that the challenge to create the safe space for their voices to be heard and for their dignity to be respected is based on a fundamental commitment of the Communion.

"The commitments of the Communion are not only to certain theological positions on the question of sexual ethics but also to a manifest and credible respect for the proper liberties of homosexual people, a commitment again set out in successive Lambeth Conference Resolutions over many decades. I share the concerns expressed about situations where the Church is seen to be underwriting social or legal attitudes which threaten these proper liberties. It is impossible to read this report
without being aware that in many places - including Western countries with supposedly 'liberal' attitudes - hate crimes against homosexual people have increased in recent years and have taken horrifying and disturbing forms.

"No-one reading this report can be complacent about such a situation, and the Church is challenged to show that it is truly a safe place for people to be honest and where they may be confident that they will have their human dignity respected, whatever serious disagreements about ethics may remain. It is good to know that the pastoral care of homosexual people is affirmed clearly by so many provinces."

In his statement, Archbishop Williams paid tribute to the work of Canon Phil Groves and the team at the Anglican Communion Office involved in coordinating the Listening Process. The interim report, comprising summaries of the Communion's 38 Provinces' progress on the issue, can be found at http://www.aco.org/listening/reports/

The full statement follows: read it HERE


___________________________________________________________________
ACNSlist, published by Anglican Communion News Service, London, is
distributed to more than 8,000 journalists and other readers around
the world.

For subscription INFORMATION please go to:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/acnslist.html

WHY DO STRAIGHTS HATE GAYS?

Why do straights hate gays?
An aging 72-year-old gay man isn't hopeful about the future.
By Larry Kramer
LARRY KRAMER is the founder of the protest group ACT UP and the author of "The Tragedy of Today's Gays."

March 20, 2007

DEAR STRAIGHT PEOPLE,

Why do you hate gay people so much?

Gays are hated. Prove me wrong. Your top general just called us immoral. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, is in charge of an estimated 65,000 gay and lesbian troops, some fighting for our country in Iraq. A right-wing political commentator, Ann Coulter, gets away with calling a straight presidential candidate a faggot. Even Garrison Keillor, of all people, is making really tacky jokes about gay parents in his column. This, I guess, does not qualify as hate except that it is so distasteful and dumb, often a first step on the way to hate. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama tried to duck the questions that Pace's bigotry raised, confirming what gay people know: that there is not one candidate running for public office anywhere who dares to come right out, unequivocally, and say decent, supportive things about us.

Gays should not vote for any of them. There is not a candidate or major public figure who would not sell gays down the river. We have seen this time after time, even from supposedly progressive politicians such as President Clinton with his "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military and his support of the hideous Defense of Marriage Act. Of course, it's possible that being shunned by gays will make politicians more popular, but at least we will have our self-respect. To vote for them is to collude with them in their utter disdain for us.

Don't any of you wonder why heterosexuals treat gays so brutally year after year after year, as your people take away our manhood, our womanhood, our personhood? Why, even as we die you don't leave us alone. What we can leave our surviving lovers is taxed far more punitively than what you leave your (legal) surviving spouses. Why do you do this? My lover will be unable to afford to live in the house we have made for each other over our lifetime together. This does not happen to you. Taxation without representation is what led to the Revolutionary War. Gay people have paid all the taxes you have. But you have equality, and we don't.

And there's no sign that this situation will change anytime soon. President Bush will leave a legacy of hate for us that will take many decades to cleanse. He has packed virtually every court and every civil service position in the land with people who don't like us. So, even with the most tolerant of new presidents, gays will be unable to break free from this yoke of hate. Courts rule against gays with hateful regularity. And of course the Supreme Court is not going to give us our equality, and in the end, it is from the Supreme Court that such equality must come. If all of this is not hate, I do not know what hate is.

Our feeble gay movement confines most of its demands to marriage. But political candidates are not talking about — and we are not demanding that they talk about — equality. My lover and I don't want to get married just yet, but we sure want to be equal.

You must know that gays get beaten up all the time, all over the world. If someone beats you up because of who you are — your race or ethnic origin — that is considered a hate crime. But in most states, gays are not included in hate crime measures, and Congress has refused to include us in a federal act.

Homosexuality is a punishable crime in a zillion countries, as is any activism on behalf of it. Punishable means prison. Punishable means death. The U.S. government refused our requests that it protest after gay teenagers were hanged in Iran, but it protests many other foreign cruelties. Who cares if a faggot dies? Parts of the Episcopal Church in the U.S. are joining with the Nigerian archbishop, who believes gays should be put in prison. Episcopalians! Whoever thought we'd have to worry about Episcopalians?

(snip)

I think your hate is evil.

What do we do to you that is so awful? Why do you feel compelled to come after us with such frightful energy? Does this somehow make you feel safer and legitimate? What possible harm comes to you if we marry, or are taxed just like you, or are protected from assault by laws that say it is morally wrong to assault people out of hatred? The reasons always offered are religious ones, but certainly they are not based on the love all religions proclaim.

And even if your objections to gays are religious, why do you have to legislate them so hatefully? Make no mistake: Forbidding gay people to love or marry is based on hate, pure and simple.

You may say you don't hate us, but the people you vote for do, so what's the difference? Our own country's democratic process declares us to be unequal. Which means, in a democracy, that our enemy is you. You treat us like crumbs. You hate us. And sadly, we let you.

read it all at LATimes, click HERE

When they came for the homosexuals.....

When They Came for the Homosexuals…

Posted on Mar 11, 2007

By Chris Hedges

On the morning of March 8 in Sioux Center, Iowa, two buses parked outside a hotel were found covered with anti-gay slurs, along with a hate-filled message on a piece of cardboard reading: “God does not love feary fags.”

The buses were transporting some 50 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, along with supporters, on the start of a two-month trip to 32 Christian colleges with policies that discriminate against those who are not heterosexuals. The Equality Ride, as it is known, organized by Soulforce, had first traveled to Sioux Center to visit Dordt College, a school that counts “sexual activity with someone of the same gender” as possible grounds for “an employee’s discharge or a student’s dismissal.”

The harassment is not new. During a similar series of protests last year, someone in Cleveland, Tenn., scrawled “fags-mobile” on the side of the bus. Members of the Equality Ride have been arrested for trespassing, at the West Point military academy and elsewhere, and greeted at many of their stops with active hostility. The night before the buses were spray-painted with hateful slogans, three vehicles circled the hotel where the activists were staying to harass those inside.



Gays and lesbians still within the church, seeking desperately to deny their sexuality and remain in the Christian collective, often suffer severe depression and blows to their self-esteem. The U.S. surgeon general’s office has published data indicating that those who are young and gay are two to three times more likely to commit suicide. Those who conform, no matter what the personal cost, will find acceptance. Those who remain militant, who stand up for another way of being, must be silenced. The methods that will finally sever them and their supporters from a Christian America are often left unmentioned, but the rhetoric makes clear that there will not be a place for them. Gays and lesbians, like other enemies of Christ, are not fully human. They are “unnatural.” And preachers in the movement argue that if America does not act soon to eradicate homosexual behavior, God will punish the nation.

read it all HERE.