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.

On Class Fairies and the Resurrection

As we come to participate in this new identity that God is creating, our former way of life, formed by the space of shame, is forgotten. It doesn’t hold any power over our imagination. We are too busy delighting in what we are becoming, too preoccupied with the joy of sharing in God’s great project of healing the world, to be defined as, or over against, the class fairy.

Read it all here.

Bishop Bob Ihloff of Maryland's Retirement

Head of the state's Episcopal fold retires
By Liz F. Kay
Baltimore Sun
Originally published April 7, 2007

Amid the heated national and global conflicts of the Episcopal Church, the Rt. Rev. Robert Wilkes Ihloff has managed to keep the calm in Maryland.

Retiring this weekend after a dozen years as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, Ihloff is proud to have worked through many of the tensions that have beset the church elsewhere, from female clergy to the place of gays and lesbians.

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Ihloff said he is also satisfied that the diocese has supported diverse viewpoints.

"We have tried to say to people within the diocese, 'We will respect your theological perspective,' " the bishop said, even if it's not the majority one.

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The diocese does have openly gay and lesbian clergy, some of whom are in long-term, committed relationships, but Ihloff has refused to authorize blessings of same-sex unions within the diocese. The global Anglican Communion has asked that none of its national counterparts, such as Episcopal Church in the United States, do so, he said.

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Since 2003, some parishes have broken away or aligned themselves with bishops outside the United States who share more conservative views on scripture. Now, the House of Bishops has until September to respond to a communique from the communion's primates that called for changes such as creation of a council of Anglican bishops to oversee more conservative dioceses within the United States.

Ihloff said that would give a foreign bishop power over the Episcopal Church, which violates its canons, he said.

Despite the tension, the bishop said he felt positive after a March meeting in Texas, where the House of Bishops rallied to back the communique.

Though there had been more alienation along liberal-conservative lines over the past few years, "I feel there has been real healing," the bishop said.

Click here to read the rest.

Episcopal bishop endorses gay clergy's honesty

Friday, April 06, 2007
BY JUDITH PATTON
Of The Patriot-News
Harrisburg, PA

The Episcopal Church continues to focus on doing what it considers to be the Lord's work, regardless of demands from its Anglican partners about some decisions, its bishop said.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said yesterday in Harrisburg that even though the church is being questioned by the Anglican Communion regarding same-sex relationships, the church "is alive, healthy, well and vitally engaged in mission and ministry," she said.

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"Episcopalians feel deeply in their heart that God is leading our church to a greater inclusivity, but they are also grieving that in some ways their relationship with this worldwide fellowship might be diminished," Bishop Nathan D. Baxter of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania said.

Jefferts Schori, who has been the spiritual leader of the U.S. church with 2.4 million members since November, was in Harrisburg yesterday to preside at the renewal of ordination vows of the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania in St. Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral.

She recognizes that some church members are unhappy about the acceptance of homosexuality but endorses the honesty of the New Hampshire bishop.

"There have been gay priests and bishops in the church forever, but this the first time that someone has been willing to stand up and say, 'This is who I am,'" Jefferts Schori said.

"Our road would have been simpler if we would have gotten blessing of relationships before he would have been elected," she said. "But that's not what God gave us. So we're responding to what we have been given."

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"Those who choose to love the Lord and to live and offer their relationships lovingly to God, we have to find a way as a church to honor what we've known for so long about the lives of these Christian persons," [Baxter] said.

Click here to read the rest.

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

Lesbian Couple in Wyo. Denied Communion

By KATHLEEN MILLER
The Associated Press
Thursday, April 5, 2007; 2:22 PM

GILLETTE, Wyo. -- Leah Vader and Lynne Huskinson, a lesbian couple who got married in Canada last August, sent a letter recently to their state legislator decrying a Wyoming bill that would deny recognition of same-sex marriages. The lawmaker read the letter on the floor of the Legislature.

Soon after, the local paper interviewed the couple on Ash Wednesday and ran a story and pictures of them with ash on their foreheads, a mark of their Roman Catholic faith.

It wasn't long after that that the couple received a notice from their parish church telling them they have been barred from receiving Communion.

Click here to read the rest.

N.H. House passes civil unions

Lawmakers vote to extend rights, 243-129
By ERIC MOSKOWITZ
Concord Monitor
April 05. 2007 8:00AM

In what lawmakers called a victory for fairness and equality, the House voted by a nearly 2-to-1 margin yesterday to endorse creating civil unions for same-sex couples.

The 243-129 vote gave supporters hope that the bill will pass the Senate this spring and be signed into law by Gov. John Lynch, to take effect Jan. 1. That would make New Hampshire the fourth state to adopt civil unions, after Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey. Only Massachusetts allows legal marriage for same-sex couples.

Click here to read the rest.

First openly gay Episcopal bishop to speak at Vanderbilt

The first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church will speak at Vanderbilt University this month.

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, will speak at noon on Friday, April 13, in Benton Chapel on the Vanderbilt campus.

Robinson will speak on "Ministry in the Eye of the Storm." The lecture is free and open to the public.

Robinson is a graduate of the University of the South and General Theological Seminary. He was invested as the Ninth Bishop of New Hampshire in 2004, and his selection sparked a firestorm of debate on clergy and sexuality.

"If you want to know my homosexual agenda, it’s Jesus," CNN reported Robinson saying during a recent panel discussion hosted by the Washington Region for Justice and Inclusion in Washington, D.C.

"And I would propose to you that peoples' coming out – gay and lesbian folk being honest about who they are, what their lives are, what their families are like, their desire to contribute to this culture, to serve in the military, to take their place as full citizens of this country – is God at work."

Robinson has been a leader in the Episcopal Church on issues including clergy wellness, youth ministries, AIDS education, debt relief for impoverished nations and making health insurance more accessible.The lecture will be recorded for podcast on VUCast, the Web site of Vanderbilt News Service, at www.vanderbilt.edu/news.

Media Contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS

jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu

HRC | Applause for Episcopal Bishops

HRC Religion & Faith News: Apr. 3, 2007

Religion and Faith Program Director Harry Knox and the Rev. Susan Russell, a member of HRC’s Religion Council, applauded the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church USA, who resoundingly rejected the anti-gay demands of international Anglican leaders. Said Knox, "The bishops calmly and prayerfully reiterated their firmly held beliefs in principles that have developed over time." Read Knox’s full comments on The Huffington Post. Also read Russell’s blog for The Washington Post and Newsweek’s On Faith. Russell argues that the Bishops’ decision moved the Episcopal Church one step further "Out of the Closet."

Trouble Makers

The following Easter ad is appearing this week in the Bay Area Reporter...



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Gay Christians Vs Archbishop of Canterbury

Thursday 29 March, 2007

The Reverend Richard Kirker, Chief executive of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement is unimpressed with a statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury on making the Anglican Communion a "safe place" for lesbian and gay people.

"It is being kind to call this statement too late, too little and too vague." said Mr Kirker.

Only last week, the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement took out a full page advert in the Church Times aimed at highlighting the plight of lesbian and gay people in the many countries where they are still executed, tortured and imprisoned. Kirker is appauled that the Anglican Church continues to turn a blind eye or in some countries, even bolsters homophobic legislation.

He said: "The fact is that the Anglican Church of Nigeria is the leading advocate of a new law there that will put you behind bars for five years just for supporting the rights of gay people. While the Anglican Church in Singapore is behind a current attempt to newly criminalised and imprison lesbians there."

Click here to read the rest.

Grace Episcopal's wedding fast draws praise, wrath

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer
Amherst Bulletin
Published on March 30, 2007

To some, the Rev. Robert Hirschfeld is a hero, a prophet, even a Gandhi.

Others call the rector of Grace Episcopal Church a demon, a moral anarchist, a promoter of eternal damnation.

Hirschfeld announced at a sermon March 11 that the church will take a "holy fast" from all weddings because Episcopal bishops do not allow marriages of gay and lesbian couples. He says he didn't know it would arouse such strong feelings and that he is uncomfortable with the extremities of praise and condemnation.

Click here to read the rest.

That gay ol’ religion

By Joe Pompeo
for The Brooklyn Paper
March 31, 2007

...while some Christian denominations, like the Episcopalians, have made significant strides towards eliminating discrimination within their churches, only two--the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ--have eliminated all barriers, including marriage, between gay and straight members.

Many Christians, both gay and straight, believe the Bible’s message of unconditional acceptance supports the notion of equality for homosexuals...


click here to read the rest.

Rice is asked to oppose draconian Nigerian bill

March 30, 2007
by Eric Resnick
Gay People's Chronical

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been asked by 32 members of Congress to oppose legislation in Nigeria that would criminalize gay and lesbian "relationships" as simple as having dinner together, as well as the mere act of witnessing a same-sex union. So far, Rice has been silent.

The letter was initiated by lesbian and gay Reps. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Barney Frank of Massachusetts. They were joined by Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, House Committee on Foreign Affairs chair Tom Lantos of California, and 28 other Democrats. The letter was also signed by one Republican, Chris Shays of Connecticut.

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The nation’s Anglican bishop, Peter Akinola, leads an effort in the world Anglican Communion to make the Episcopal Church back away from its pro-gay stances or leave the communion.

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"It’s important that the United States of America go on record opposing discrimination against LGBT people in Nigeria," said Baldwin.

"Human rights of life, liberty, and security of person should have no border and no nationality, and no exceptions for one’s sexual orientation and gender identity."

Click here to read the rest.

No schism among local Episcopal churches

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

By TANYA DROBNESS
of The Montclair Times

As the rift over homosexuality splits the worldwide Anglican Communion to the brink of schism, that is not the case in Montclair [NJ].

The global divide has not fractured the wing of the Episcopal Church in the township, where religious leaders are keeping sanctuary doors open to the gay and lesbian community.

"All the Episcopal parishes in Montclair invite gay and lesbian people who are seeking to know God in Christ to come and be a part of the parish,' the Rev. John Perris, rector of St. James Episcopal Church, said last Thursday, two days after The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church USA acted to reject primates’ demands and affirm their support of gay clergy and religious leaders.

"I think that the position that our bishops took is a position for the gospel, which is that we are saved by grace and God loves everyone," said the Rev. Diana Clark, rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church on Montclair Avenue...

Click here to read the rest.