UUA President William Sinkford Addresses World AIDS Day Worship Service
December 2, 2008
On Monday, December 1st, Rev. William G. Sinkford, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), spoke at an interfaith World AIDS Day worship service at Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, DC. The theme of the worship service was “Deliver the Truth: Lead the Way to Effective HIV Prevention.” This year marked the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.
The worship service, sponsored by a coalition of religious and secular organizations, also featured Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, the North American President of World Council of Churches; and the Jubilee Singers of All Souls Unitarian Church of Washington, DC. A candlelight vigil was held following the worship service.
“HIV/AIDS gains a foothold in the places where information and resources are scarce,” Sinkford said. “But one of the most significant factors in the spread of HIV/AIDS is our failure to speak honestly about how the risk of transmission can be reduced… The abstinence-only programs sponsored for years by the U.S. government withhold from our brothers and sisters, in this country and around the world, the most crucial facts about protecting themselves. It is a terrible sin of omission.”
In addition to advocating for comprehensive sexuality education, Rev. Sinkford also emphasized the importance of increased access to HIV/AIDS testing and treatment, and full legal rights for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people.
Sinkford expressed optimism that Barack Obama’s presidency “will mark a turning point in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Adam Gerhardstein, acting director of the UUA’s Washington Office for Advocacy, remarked after the service, “For years, we have insistently and consistently called for our government to support HIV prevention programs that address the realities of people’s lives. What we hear from the Obama transition team suggests that our calls might finally be heard.”
At the close of his remarks, Rev. Sinkford reflected, “Every December 1st, I come to Washington to bear witness on World AIDS Day. I consider it a religious duty. But my friends, I do not want to be here twenty years from now. And I know you don’t either.”
The Unitarian Universalist Association is a faith community of more than 1000 self-governing congregations that bring to the world a vision of religious freedom, tolerance and social justice.
Contact:
Shelby Meyerhoff, Public Witness Specialist
Unitarian
Universalist Association
(617)
948-6103
pw_specialist @ uua.org
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Last updated on Tuesday, May 24, 2011.
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