RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 15: BEYOND BINARIES – THE STRUGGLE FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER EQUALITY
BY BY REV. COLIN BOSSEN AND REV. JULIA HAMILTON
© Copyright 2011 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 11:25:30 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The program presents the problems of the invisible minority as they face a society where the majority view homosexuality with confusion, fear and hostility. The emphasis throughout is on understanding and accepting all people as human beings of worth and dignity. — from the 1972 Leaders Manual for The Invisible Minority: The Homosexuals in Our Society, published by the Unitarian Universalist Association
The fight for marriage equality has been a success of modern Unitarian Universalist activism, which has been instrumental in changing marriage laws in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa, and Washington, DC. Unitarian Universalists' work for marriage equality continues across the country, extending our history of working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights. In 1969, Unitarian Universalist minister James Stoll was the first United States clergyperson affiliated with a religious denomination to publicly "come out." Unitarian Universalists ordained openly gay and lesbian ministers and officiated at same sex unions long before many other religious groups. In 1970, at General Assembly, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) became the first religious denomination to decry discrimination against "homosexuals and bisexuals" and to acknowledge the presence of bisexual, gay, and lesbian clergy. By 2006, more than half the Association's congregations were designated as Welcoming Congregations—congregations with a commitment to be "inclusive towards bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender people."
Nevertheless, there are still Unitarian Universalist congregations, which, in practice, will not consider calling a LGBT minister or allow LGBT youth advisors. This workshop invites participants to reflect on their own congregation's work for LGBT rights and inclusion—the work that was necessary in the congregation to change attitudes about LGBT members and leaders, and the work which still needs to be done. Participants explore how the UUA's public position on LGBT rights has influenced the nation overall and strengthened the ability of the Association and its member congregations to advocate for social change.
The title of this workshop, Beyond Binaries, emphasizes that the movement for LGBT equality is, in part, about persuading people to think beyond the simplistic notions of gender and sexuality that pervade the dominant culture: male/female, gay/straight. Full, fair inclusion of LGBT people requires an understanding that expressions of sexuality and gender identity fall along a continuum and are fluid in nature.
To ensure you can help adults of all ages, stages, and learning styles participate fully in this workshop, review these sections of the program Introduction: "Accessibility Guidelines for Workshop Presenters" in the Integrating All Participants section, and "Strategies for Effective Group Facilitation" and "Strategies for Brainstorming" in the Leader Guidelines section.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 20 |
Activity 1: Struggle for Equal Rights | 25 |
Activity 2: The Welcoming Congregation | 20 |
Activity 3: The Price We Pay | 15 |
Faith in Action: Standing on the Side of Love | |
Closing | 10 |
Alternate Activity 1: The Invisible Minority | 30 |
Alternate Activity 2: The UUA and the Boy Scouts of America | 30 |
Alternate Activity 3: The Common Vision Report | 30 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Think about how your Unitarian Universalist community has made you feel welcome and included, whether you grew up in the faith or have come to it as a youth or adult. Were/are there particular people who welcomed you? Is it the liberal religious message as a whole that makes you feel included? Is it the public stances that the Unitarian Universalist Association and/or your congregation has taken?
Talk with people who know your congregation's history with the LGBT community. Are there any events in that history that fill you with a sense of pride or leave you feeling a little unsettled? Is your congregation a Welcoming Congregation? Are LGBT issues something that causes emotions to run high within you or in your community?
Take time to center yourself so you are ready to be fully present and to respond appropriately to any challenging moments in the workshop.
Before you lead the workshop, take time to complete this sentence: "At the end of this workshop, I hope participants leave feeling..."
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As participants enter, invite them to sign in, put on name tags, and pick up handouts. Direct their attention to the agenda for this workshop.
OPENING (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite a participant to light the chalice while you lead a unison reading of Reading 449 from Singing the Living Tradition, "We hallow this time together by kindling the lamp of our heritage."
Lead the group in singing the hymn you have chosen.
Make sure that each participant has their journal and something to write with. Invite participants to consider:
Recall a time when you felt marginalized or unwelcome in a situation because of who you are rather then because of something you did or said. What happened? Who was there? How did you feel? How did you respond?
Allow participants five minutes to reflect and make notes in their journals. Then, invite them to turn to a partner and share their story. Allow ten minutes for paired sharing.
Now share this quotation from Unitarian Universalist minister Jen Crow:
It is our calling, I believe, as people of faith to take off our armor—to remove to the best of our ability the fear that distances us from one another, to face hatred with calm and gentleness, to sing with love as we pass those who might call us an abomination, to stand together with all who are oppressed as we use own experience of wholeness and liberation to help liberate others. It is our calling, I believe, as people of faith, to create for others and for ourselves the conditions in our church and in our whole community in which we can all say—I believe in you, my soul—and know our uniqueness, and know our sameness—and feel our deep connection.
ACTIVITY 1: STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS (25 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity gives an overview of Unitarian Universalist involvement in the struggle for the rights of sexual and gender minorities.
Because this history is relatively recent, some participants may have personal knowledge of some of the events described. If so, be sure to give those participants the opportunity to share their recollections and reflections.
Invite participants to work together to create a time line of Unitarian Universalist involvement in the struggle for LGBT rights. Explain that "LGBT" is shorthand for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender."
Designate one marker color for events within Unitarian Universalism, one for events in the wider society, and one for events in your own congregation. Invite people to come forward and write, in the appropriate time period on the mural paper, important events that took place. Ask them to write the year if they know it. Encourage collaboration as participants recall events.
After a few minutes, distribute Handout 1, History of Unitarian Universalist Involvement in and Support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues, to help move the activity along. If the group has trouble getting started or gets stuck recalling events from the wider culture or from your own congregation, prompt them with information you have researched about your congregation and/or from Handout 1, History of Unitarian Universalist Involvement in and Support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues, and Leader Resource 1, History of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Rights in the U.S. since 1969.
After 10 minutes, lead a discussion, using these questions:
ACTIVITY 2: THE WELCOMING CONGREGATION (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Handout 2, The Welcoming Congregation. Invite participants to read it and reflect on the meaning of Welcoming Congregation status in our Association and in the wider world. Lead a discussion using these questions:
ACTIVITY 3: THE PRICE WE PAY (15 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Read aloud this November 24, 2006, article from UU World, written by Don Skinner:
Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalists, a congregation of 100 members in Finksburg, Md., has experienced at least three attacks of vandalism since late summer. In late August or early September, BB pellets damaged several plain-glass windows. In the weeks that followed, several hateful messages, including a swastika and two messages attacking the church's theological beliefs, were drawn upon an outside table. In the most recent incident a peace pole in the congregation's meditation garden was damaged when it was dismantled and defecated on. The youth of the church had just created the meditation garden during the spring and summer.
"In my mind, it's clear that these events were hate crimes," said the Rev. Henry Simoni-Wastila. "They were intended to send a theological message of hate about our beliefs, or better, a misunderstanding of our beliefs." Scrawled on the table was the message, "You don't believe in God. You (expletive)." There was also a message that the congregation should "want to be more Christian."
Simoni-Wastila said the congregation has spent a lot of time dealing with the incidents. "It's made people afraid and anxious," he said and some events have been cancelled.
Tell the group the experiences of the Cedarhurst congregation are more common than we would hope. Several other Unitarian Universalist communities have experienced similar vandalism. The First Unitarian Church of Rochester, New York, for example, had their gay pride banner ripped in half. The United First Parish Church (Unitarian) in Quincy, Massachusetts, had their gay pride flag stolen four times. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County in Media, Pennsylvania had their flag stolen and then returned burned and partially shredded. If you know of other examples, add them to these.
Lead a discussion using these questions:
CLOSING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Make sure each participant has their journal and something to write with. Then, invite participants to respond to one of these questions:
Allow eight minutes for writing in journals.
Distribute Taking It Home and invite participants to continue to write in their journals between workshops.
Invite a participant to come forward and extinguish the chalice as you say these words: "As we extinguish this chalice, may we let the light of our tradition kindle our hope for a better world."
FAITH IN ACTION: STANDING ON THE SIDE OF LOVE
Description of Activity
The Unitarian Universalist Association developed the Standing on the Side of Love (at www.standingonthesideoflove.org/) campaign to serve as an umbrella for local actions and advocacy on behalf of justice and inclusion for all people. Find out about local efforts for marriage equality and join those efforts, or engage your congregation in an advocacy project of its own. If your congregation has not already done so, investigate the Welcoming Congregation program and begin a conversation with congregational leadership about participating. If your congregation completed the program some time ago, consider renewing your commitment to LGBT inclusion and equality. Use the resources in the Living the Welcoming Congregation (at www.uua.org/leaders/idbm/bglt/livingwelcoming/index.shtml) program or the Welcoming Congregation (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=691) program.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other:
Review the next workshop. Are there any questions to research or logistics to arrange between workshops? Make a list of who is responsible for which preparations and materials.
TAKING IT HOME
The program presents the problems of the invisible minority as they face a society where the majority view homosexuality with confusion, fear and hostility. The emphasis throughout is on understanding and accepting all people as human beings of worth and dignity. — from the 1972 Leaders Manual for The Invisible Minority: The Homosexuals in Our Society, published by the Unitarian Universalist Association
With friends, family members, or a group from your congregation, watch the 2008 Gus Van Sant movie Milk, which portrays the life and work of San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk. Use Mark Belletini's "A Study Guide to Milk (at www.uua.org/documents/belletinimark/milk_study_guide.pdf)" to lead a discussion after the movie.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: THE INVISIBLE MINORITY (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Show Leader Resource 2, The Invisible Minority, explaining that the material you are showing is a part of a curriculum published by the UUA in 1972. Then, lead a discussion using these questions as a guide.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: THE UUA AND THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite the two volunteers to read aloud the correspondence in the story, "The UUA and the Boy Scouts of America." Then, invite participants to share their experiences and/or reflections related to this controversy.
Explain:
While the UUA still offers both the program (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=739) and the emblem (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=755) through the bookstore, "Religion in Life" is not sanctioned by the Boy Scouts of America. Individuals and congregations have responded differently to the controversy. Some ignore the stance of the national organization and complete the program as part of their scouting experience, while trying to change the position of the national organization. Some refuse to take part in or host Boy Scout troops. Some have formed a separate organization called the Unitarian Universalist Scouters Organization.
Engage a discussion, using these questions:
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: COMMON VISION REPORT (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Introduce the activity with these words from the introduction to the 1989 Common Vision report to the UUA Board of Trustees:
In the winter of 1987-88, the Common Vision Planning Committee conducted a survey of Unitarian Universalists to collect basic information about how UUs feel about the inclusion of gay and lesbian (and bisexual) persons in our religious movement. Responses were gathered through a four-page questionnaire in the December 1987 World and from direct participation in the survey by 37 UU societies... About 14 percent of the respondents were gay, lesbian, or bisexual; 86 percent identified themselves as heterosexual. Although most of the survey comprised agree-disagree statements, there were two short response questions that asked respondents to write how UUA Principles and Purposes or resolutions have affected their behavior relative to BGL persons (the survey did not include questions about transgender people).
Tell the group they will now listen to some of the voices of those who participated in the survey who identified themselves as heterosexual. Pass the basket and ask each participant to take a slip of paper and read it aloud without comment. Invite anyone who does not choose to read aloud to pass, and return their slip to the basket.
Continue until all slips have been read. Then, invite participants into a time of reflection. Share these prompts, one at a time, allowing two or three minutes of silence after each:
After reflection, invite participants to form groups of three and share some of their reflections, either about their own journey, or in response to statements from the survey. Allow ten minutes for triads to talk.
Re-gather the large group and invite comments and reflections based on small group conversations or on the survey. Ask: How have attitudes and assumptions changed since 1989 in our Association? Our congregation? The broader society? What work remains to be done?
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 15:
STORY: THE UUA AND THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
These letters are excerpted from correspondence between the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Boy Scouts of America. They detail a public controversy between the two organizations over the BSA's policies toward the LGBT community and atheists.
Letter to Lawrence Ray Smith, Ph.D., Chair, Religious Relationship Committee, Boy Scouts of America, from John Buehrens, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, dated June 11, 1998
Our Youth Office received your letter of May 7 (1998) stating that Scouting youth may no longer be awarded the Unitarian Universalist Religion in Life award for Boy Scouts... You do this because our manual for the Religion and Life award includes statements designed to help Unitarian Universalist youth deal with the tension that they may feel between Unitarian Universalist religious principles and certain aspects of BSA current policy, particularly... discrimination against gay Scouts and leaders and... those whose conscientious ethical and spiritual principles may not include a belief in God.
Surely the Religious Relationships Committee of the Boy Scouts of America cannot intend to tell a religious group what we may teach with regard to our own religious principles. We teach our youth, as a matter of religious principle, that discrimination against people simply by virtue of their belonging to a particular category of human being is wrong. We cannot be expected to ignore the question of discrimination against gay scouts and leaders in our guidance to boys studying our religious principles and history.
Unitarian Universalism also has a special openness, ministry and mission to those who may have trouble with traditional ideas about God. This too is a matter of religious principle with us. We know that we are not alone in regarding doubt, as well as piety, as a part of faith. Moreover, if a good Buddhist Boy Scout said, "No, I do not believe in a God," would you exclude that child for following the teachings of his own faith?...
We will not acquiesce in such discrimination. We will not stop distributing a Religion and Life manual that reflects our religious principles. We will not stop providing Religion and Life awards to... Scouts and Scout leaders. If you and the BSA honestly believe that it will promote or defend Scouting to refuse our awards or to have Scout officials tear them off the uniforms of boys, I think that you are sadly mistaken. Most Americans will see such actions for what they are: blatant discrimination against children on the basis of their religion.
Yours regretfully,
John A. Buehrens
Open letter from Rev. John Buehrens, President, Unitarian Universalist Association, dated April 28, 1999
Dear Friends:
...the (UUA) has been involved in discussions with the (BSA).regarding the status of our Religion in Life award. In May, 1998, the BSA informed us that... we could not award the Religion in Life emblem to our scouts. We strongly protested this decision. It pleases me to tell you that this conflict has been resolved: the UUA has revised its Religion in Life manual to the satisfaction of the BSA without abandoning the UU values at its core. I want to share with you a portion of the letter... which I received from Thomas Deimler, Director of the Relationships Division of the Boy Scouts of America. The letter reads, in part:
Many thanks for your early response to matters concerning the revision of the Religion in Life booklet... I am very happy to report that the committee has unanimously expressed their endorsement of this new material... Thus the Boy Scouts of America now reauthorizes the awarding of the Religion in Life emblem (by the UUA) to Scouts and the wearing of that emblem on a Scout uniform...
... The new edition of Religion in Life will be available from the UUA Bookstore this summer. Along with each copy, the Association will separately provide a letter from me, along with resources appropriate to dealing with issues of homophobia and religious discrimination...
Yours faithfully,
John A. Buehrens
Letter to John Buehrens from Lawrence Ray Smith, dated May 7, 1999
Dear Dr. Buehrens:
It has come to our attention that you have posted on the UUA web site a letter... in which you state that the UUA has revised its "Religion in Life" manual to the satisfaction of the Boy Scouts of America, referring to a letter... from Thomas Deimler of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
Your letter goes on to say the following: "The new edition of Religion in Life will be available from the UUA Bookstore this summer. Along with each copy, the Association will separately provide a letter from me, along with resources appropriate to dealing with issues of homophobia and religious discrimination." Unfortunately, this simply reopens the entire issue of using boys as a venue to air your differences with the policies of the (BSA)...
Therefore, (the BSA) is not in a position to authorize the awarding of the Religion in Life emblem to Scouts and the wearing of that emblem on a Scout uniform.
Sincerely yours,
Lawrence Ray Smith
Open letter from UUA President John A. Buehrens, dated May 18, 1999
What has happened to Boy Scout honor?
The Boy Scouts of America have sent the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) yet another letter. This one rescinds the decision to reinstate Boy Scouts of America (BSA) recognition of our Religion and Life Award for UU scouts. Moreover, they have taken the initiative to contact the press on the matter... I have tried consistently to be cooperative with the BSA, while staying true to Unitarian Universalist principles... It was agreed that the UUA would issue a new edition of the Religion and Life manual; that the manual would contain nothing objectionable to the BSA; and that the UUA would then make available... some separate materials that would be helpful to our young people... Unitarian Universalism has long been a strong supporter of equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, and we have a responsibility to our young people to instruct them in the religious values which underlie our commitment to this struggle.
This is all we have done. We have prepared a new manual, which they have accepted and which we will publish. We have also prepared some materials aimed at advising young people whose religion teaches "the worth and dignity of every person" how they might want to respond to slurs aimed at another person's, or their own, sexuality, or supposed sexuality. These materials are coordinated with our comprehensive new curriculum on human sexuality, Our Whole Lives...
In the course of this controversy I learned that the BSA actually knows that what it is doing in response to the so-called 'gay' issue has more to do with politics than with children's safety. The BSA knows the difference between pedophilia and homosexuality. It does training on the subject. Yet they continue to practice arbitrary discrimination. Ignorance is one thing. Knuckling under to anti-gay pressure groups is quite different, and entirely unworthy.
The UUA will continue to teach its religious principles and to help its young people to apply them. This is our religious duty...
Rev. John Buehrens
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 15:
HANDOUT 1: HISTORY OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST INVOLVEMENT IN AND SUPPORT OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES
1967 Unitarian Universalist Committee on Goals conducts a survey on the beliefs about and attitudes toward homosexuality within the Association: over 80 percent of Unitarian Universalists believe that it should be discouraged.
1969 James Stoll publicly declares himself to be homosexual at a Student Religious Liberals Conference.
1970 The General Assembly passes a resolution to end discrimination against homosexuals and bisexuals. The resolution includes a call to congregations to develop sex education programs that promote healthy attitudes toward diverse forms of sexuality.
1971 The Unitarian Universalist Association publishes About Your Sexuality which attempts to teach positive attitudes about homosexuality and bisexuality; Richard Nash and Elgin Blair co-found the Unitarian Universalist Caucus (later Interweave Continental) to lobby for the creation of an Office of Gay Affairs.
1972 UUA publication of The Invisible Minority, an adult curriculum about homosexuality.
1973 The General Assembly votes to create an Office of Gay Affairs that will be staffed by gay people and be a resource to the Unitarian Universalist Association.
1974 The General Assembly votes to fund Office of Gay Affairs.
1975 Arlie Scott hired as first Director of Office of Gay Concerns.
1979 Rev. Douglas Morgan Strong becomes the first openly gay man to be called to serve a Unitarian Universalist congregation, All Souls Church in Augusta, Maine.
1980 The General Assembly passes a resolution calling for congregations and the Unitarian Universalist Association "to lend full assistance in the settlement of qualified openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual religious leaders."
1984 The General Assembly votes to affirm "the growing practice of some of its ministers of conducting services of union of gay and lesbian couples and urges member societies to support their ministers in this important aspect of our movement's ministry to the gay and lesbian community."
1986 The General Assembly passes a resolution calling Unitarian Universalists to work to end discrimination against people with AIDS.
1989 The General Assembly creates the Welcoming Congregation Program to help congregations become more inclusive of members of the LGBT community.
1992 The UUA Board of Trustees passes a resolution expressing disapproval of the Boy Scouts of America's policy of discrimination against gay and atheist scouts and leaders.
1993 The UUA endorses the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Equal Rights and Liberation. Echoing its actions in Selma, Alabama, the UUA Board of Trustees adjourns its quarterly Boston meeting to reconvene in Washington, D.C., and attend the March. Later that year, the General Assembly passes a resolution supporting openly lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the military.
1996 The UUA Board of Trustees and the General Assembly pass a resolution in support of same-gender marriage; the UUA office becomes the Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Concerns to reflect the Association's commitment to the transgender community.
1997 The UUA sponsors its first training on transgender issues.
1998 The Boy Scouts of America informs the Unitarian Universalist Association that it will no longer allow Unitarian Universalists to earn the Religion in Life merit badge because it is "inconsistent with Scouting's values." The Boy Scouts specifically object the UUA's stances on "homosexuals."
1999 After more than a year of meetings and correspondence between the UUA and the Boy Scouts, John Buehrens, the president of the UUA, pens an open letter, "What has happened to Boy Scout honor?" In the letter he notes that the UUA and the Boy Scouts have failed to resolve their conflict over the Religion in Life badge and lifts up the religious principles of working for the "equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people." Later that year the General Assembly passes a resolution calling for an end to the Boy Scouts discriminatory practices.
2000 More than 25 percent of all UUA congregations have become Welcoming Congregations.
2002 Rev. Sean Parker Dennison is called to serve South Valley Unitarian Universalist Society in Salt Lake City, Utah, becoming the first out transgender person to be called to the Unitarian Universalist parish ministry; Rev. Laurie Auffant is called to serve Follen Church Society in Lexington, Massachuetts, becoming the first out transgender person to be called as a Unitarian Universalist Minister of Religious Education.
2004 UUA President William Sinkford legally marries Hillary and Julie Goodridge, lead plaintiffs in Goodridge v. Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Eliot Hall at the Unitarian Universalist Association; Living the Welcoming Congregation, a follow-up program to the Welcoming Congregation program, is launched. Also, the Unitarian Universalist Scouters Organization is formed, providing Unitarian Universalist scouts a way to earn the Religion in Life badge.
2006 More than 50 percent of all UUA congregations in the United States have become Welcoming Congregations.
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 15:
HANDOUT 2: THE WELCOMING CONGREGATION
By Donald E. Skinner. Previously published in UU World magazine, June 2, 2006. Used with permission.
The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations marked a milestone in its support for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people this week as a Georgia church become the 500th UU congregation to commit to welcoming (LGBT) people to all aspects of its life.
UU Metro Atlanta North, a congregation in Roswell, Ga., completed the UUA's Welcoming Program with a formal vote in a congregational meeting last week. The Welcoming Congregation program involves 18 months to two years of congregational study about being intentionally welcoming to (LGBT) people. The process culminates with a congregational vote.
The program began in 1989 when delegates at General Assembly approved a resolution drafted by Interweave (then known as UUs for Lesbian and Gay Concerns), the UUA-affiliated membership organization for bisexual, gay, lesbian, and transgender people and their allies. The Welcoming Congregation curriculum was created in 1990 and the first congregation was certified in 1991.
Reaching the 500 milestone means that almost half of the UUA's 1,017 congregations are now Welcoming Congregations. The halfway point will be reached when the 509th congregation is certified. That should happen sometime this summer, said the Rev. Keith Kron, director of the UUA's Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Concerns.
The Georgia congregation's minister, the Rev. Greg Ward, said parishioners' interest in becoming a Welcoming Congregation grew along with anti-gay rhetoric in the larger society, including passage of a Georgia law prohibiting same-sex marriage, until the commitment was made to engage in the program.
Kim Palmer, a Welcoming Congregation committee member, said the process changed the congregation. "I think we became more aware of (LGBT) issues generally," she said, "and many individuals grew personally in their knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of sexual orientation and gender-identification minorities." Janet Lacey, a co-chair of the committee, added that hearing gays' and lesbians' experiences as they came out to their families made evident the need for a place for (LGBT) people to feel safe and accepted.
"It was exciting to formally agree that we wanted to be that kind of place," Lacey said, adding, "I think the challenging part is still ahead of us, to continue to do the work of actively being a Welcoming Congregation."
Lacey cited several special moments during the process, including a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple. She also cited the number of people who came forward to be on the committee and to facilitate the workshops. "After two years," she said, "we still have 10 people on the committee who are dedicated to this." The congregation has 192 members.
When an anti-gay-marriage amendment to the state constitution was proposed in 2004, members tied a rainbow ribbon around the church building, declaring it a hate-free zone, one of very few Georgia churches to take this step.
"We learned a lot—including that doing justice to this work was not nearly as simple as was first thought," Ward said. "We learned how to take risks, how to hold conversations that were safe for everyone, how it is difficult to always be conscious of making room for different identities, needs, and perspectives. I think we began to discover that the lessons at the heart of this program were not just applicable to sexuality and gender issues but were as valid when applied to our theological diversity, our program diversity, and even the range of diversity in our leadership styles."
The first Welcoming Congregation, certified in 1991, was the First Parish in Brewster, Mass. Gloria Davies and her partner Linda Bailey joined the congregation three or four years later and Davies is currently part of its Welcoming Congregation program. "It's been an incredible journey," she said.
"When we first started going to First Parish there were 10 or 12 of us who identified as gay to each other," she said. "Now there are 60 or 70 in a congregation of 600. And it's not just that we're welcome and accepted at services. The gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community is totally integrated and visible everywhere in the church. The whole congregation has a sense of ownership about being welcoming to us."
Brewster has taken its support of (LGBT) people into the larger community. It is one of the sponsors of GAYLA, an annual dance open to (LGBT) people and others. "It started as a community-builder for (LGBT) folks and now it's an annual event the whole community looks forward to," she said.
Shortly after becoming a Welcoming Congregation, First Parish initiated a campaign to require the Town of Brewster to provide domestic partner benefits for employees. Most of the congregation attended a Brewster town meeting and the measure passed.
"I wish you could hear the testimonials at First Parish," said Davies. "You would hear the most heart-rending stories of people who found the church and were finally allowed to be themselves and reconnect with their own sense of spirituality. This is a religious community that is more than accepting, more than tolerant. It celebrates diversity. And has a real sense of pride about it."
Davies said the support she felt at First Parish helped her and Bailey decide to become one of the plaintiff couples in the lawsuit that culminated two years ago in Massachusetts becoming the first state to approve same-sex marriage. "If it weren't for First Parish we would not have joined that case," she said. "The whole congregation was very involved in that."
Kron said 80 percent of Unitarian Universalist congregations with more than 550 members have completed the program but that congregations with less than 100 members often struggle to muster enough volunteers to conduct the rigorous program. "Perhaps the group who should lead the process in small congregations is the board of trustees, who might do a little of the process at each board meeting," he said. "Very small congregations can also consider doing Welcoming Congregation segments as part of Sunday worship."
He said a turning point for many congregations came in 1998 when the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man in Wyoming, drew national horror. "A lot of congregations began thinking about hatred and bigotry and what they could do in response," said Kron. The current marriage equality movement has also inspired congregations to act.
An earlier inspiration came at the UUA's 1996 General Assembly in Indianapolis when, in support of an Interweave marriage equality resolution, UUA President John Buehrens invited all same-sex couples up on stage. "That provided a visual reminder of why we were doing this work—that there were people in our midst as well as the larger world who needed to be welcomed," said Kron. "The reaction to this was extremely positive. There were a few who thought that John was strong-arming the process, but it really was a group effort with our office and the public information office. We all decided it was the right thing to do." A photo of that event hangs in the lobby at UUA headquarters. How many people were there? "The stage was pretty full," said Kron.
He said people are constantly amazed at the power of Welcoming Congregation. "Doing the workshops leads people into conversations they've never had before," he said. "There's just a richness they didn't expect. To understand what LGBT people have gone through is extremely powerful."
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 15:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: HISTORY OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER RIGHTS IN THE U.S. SINCE 1969
1969 Stonewall riots occur in New York.
1970 LGBT rights marches held in New York and Los Angeles to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
1972 East Lansing, Michigan and Ann Arbor, Michigan and San Francisco, California pass the first ordinances offering homosexuals some protection under the law; the first openly gay and lesbian delegates to Democratic Convention advocate for the inclusion of gay rights plank in the Democratic Party Platform.
1973 The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, thus removing it from the list of mental disorders.
1974 Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first "out" lesbian elected to public office in the United States when she is elected to the Ann Arbor City Council; Robert Grant founds America Christian Cause, the first group to oppose the "gay agenda."
1975 Homosexuality is legalized in California; Elaine Noble, elected in November 1974, becomes the second "out" lesbian American to assume elected public office when she takes a seat in the Massachusetts State House.
1977 Harvey Milk is elected city-county supervisor in San Francisco, becoming the first openly gay man elected to public office; Dade County, Florida enacts a Human Rights Ordinance; it is repealed months later after a militant anti-gay rights campaign led by Anita Bryant.
1978 Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone are assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White; the first known use of the rainbow flag.
1979 First march on Washington, DC, for LGBT rights; thousands riot in San Francisco during the White Nights riots when White is convicted of voluntary manslaughter for his assassination of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.
1980 The Democratic Party includes the rights of homosexuals in its party platform; David McReynolds of the Socialist Party USA becomes the first openly gay man to run for President.
1981 The Moral Majority, founded by Jerry Falwell in 1979, begins its anti-LGBT campaign; first known case of AIDS.
1982 Laguna Beach, CA elects the first openly gay mayor in the United States; the first Gay Games is held in San Francisco.
1983 Gerry Studds "comes out" on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first openly gay member of Congress.
1987 As the AIDS crisis grows, disproportionately affecting the LGBT community, ACT UP begins a campaign of direct action and civil disobedience to demand access to experimental AIDS treatment and a national policy to fight the disease.
1993 Minnesota becomes the first state to adopt laws protecting transgender people; the U.S. military adopts the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
1996 The Defense of Marriage Act is passed by Congress, defining marriage, on a federal level, as "between one man and one woman."
1998 Matthew Shepherd is murdered; Rita Hester is murdered, inspiring the creation of the international Transgender Day of Remembrance.
1999 California passes a domestic partnership law, making it the first state to recognize the rights of same-sex couples.
2000 Vermont becomes the first state to legalize civil unions.
2003 The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down any sodomy laws still on the books.
2004 Massachusetts legalizes same-sex marriage. Eleven other U.S. states ban it through public referenda; domestic partnerships are legalized in Maine and New Jersey; James McGreevey becomes the first openly gay Governor (New Jersey), he "comes out" and resigns after it is revealed that he has had an extra-marital affair with another man.
2007 Civil unions are legalized in New Jersey; domestic partnership in Washington.
2008 Civil unions are legalized in New Hampshire; the California Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage only to have voters outlaw it with the passage of Proposition 8 months later; same-sex marriage becomes legal in Connecticut.
2009 New Hampshire, Iowa, and Vermont legalize same-sex marriage; the District of Columbia recognizes same-sex marriage; Maine passes a same-sex marriage law only to have it overturned by referendum; Nevada passes a domestic partnership law.
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 15:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: THE INVISIBLE MINORITY
This is a portion of a 1972 curriculum, which consisted of filmstrips and LP records. This resource includes an audio file and a video file. There are beeps in the audio file indicating when to advance from image to image just as there were in the original.
Filmstrip Part 1 (at www.uua.org/documents/lfd/tapestry/invisible_minority1.ppt) (PPT)
Filmstrip Part 2 (at www.uua.org/documents/lfd/tapestry/invisible_minority2.ppt) (PPT)
Filmstrip Part 3 (at www.uua.org/documents/lfd/tapestry/invisible_minority3.ppt) (PPT)
Filmstrip Part 1 (at www.uua.org/documents/lfd/tapestry/invisible_minority1.pdf)(PDF)
Filmstrip Part 2 (at www.uua.org/documents/lfd/tapestry/invisible_minority2.pdf) (PDF)
Filmstrip Part 3 (at www.uua.org/documents/lfd/tapestry/invisible_minority3.pdf)(PDF)
Audio Part 1 (at s3.amazonaws.com/uuavideo/audio/tapestry/invisible_minority1.mp3)
Audio Part 2 (at s3.amazonaws.com/uuavideo/audio/tapestry/invisible_minority2.mp3)
Audio Part 3 (at s3.amazonaws.com/uuavideo/audio/tapestry/invisible_minority3.mp3)
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 15:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: COMMON VISION SURVEY RESPONSES
These are some responses to the Common Vision Planning Committee survey as reported to the UUA Board of Trustees, January 1989.
I try to be to be tolerant of it even though I’m not very comfortable about it. I try to be welcoming. I guess you could say my feelings and thoughts are inconsistent. Perhaps education could change my feelings.
By insisting on civil rights and screaming for attention and demanding acceptance, they ask more than the mere compassion they deserve… The UUA should concern itself with worthier issues (such as) civil rights of blacks, racial justice, hunger here at home, shelter, poverty.
…they make me proud of the UUA and more certain of staying in the Association.
I am very compassionate toward the blind, deaf, physically handicapped, poor, black, abused adults and children, but hardly see the need for compassion for gays, lesbians, or bisexuals… Of course, this is one way to reduce the population.
I don’t want the bedroom to enter the church. The sexual practices of a man and/or a woman should be left at home.
…it is love we’re talking about. In a world that tolerates the obscenity of nuclear arms, surely we can work out an accommodation for a way of love that differs from our own…
…Our minister is more than our religious leader. She is a symbol, she is our representative in the community. Publicly we are thought odd enough, without our symbolic leader openly, publicly proclaiming gay or lesbian preferences.
Their sexual behavior is abnormal and disgusting, no matter what they say! Compassion and counseling is needed for such people. I think everyone would be happier if you’d all stayed “in the closet.” I would leave a church headed by a gay or lesbian minister…
…my husband and I continue to learn and learn and appreciate and appreciate because (of our gay friends).
Dealing with “relationships” and “sexuality” as human issues will break down barriers between gays and non-gays… I want to make gays feel welcome as people, not “gays.”
I loathe them regardless. They actively prey on young people, have multiple sex partners daily and do spread AIDS. Sex is the over-riding concern in their tawdry lives; all else is meaningless. Many…are hate-filled anti-straight.
…(gays, lesbians and bisexuals) need relief from discrimination, and support for acceptance as individuals of inherent worth.
As a black person, I strongly resent any comparison of my racial group with the movement. The AIDS problem further complicates all aspects of this issue.
We are in an ideal position to offer acceptance and support of alternative family structures…
I cannot handle too many around me. I get uncomfortable. I feel they are unhealthy. Unclean…Let them stay in their space, and I’ll stay in mine.
I would like to see one’s sexual preference become immaterial, just like (maybe, finally, someday) the color of one’s skin… The fact that in our society love may be expressed only with a person of the right gender, at the right time, in the right place, and in certain forms is an outrage.
I make them uncomfortable and they make me uncomfortable. Let’s just be polite and stay away from each other as one does from other humans who make one uncomfortable.
Divergent sexual behavior exhibited by gays, lesbians and bisexuals needs to be accepted as a fact of life, both ancient and modern, but need not be approved of or offered as a role model pattern for children or young adults.
My denomination has gone beyond a paper endorsement of gay rights to a living endorsement in each member’s heart of a fellow person’s right to an equal quality of life.
FIND OUT MORE
Unitarian Universalist Association Office of Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Concerns (at www.uua.org/leaders/idbm/bglt/)
UUA General Assembly Resolutions on Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Equality (at www.uua.org/socialjustice/socialjustice/)
Unitarian Universalist Scouters Organization (at www.uuscouters.org/), Welcoming Congregation (at www.uua.org/leaders/idbm/bglt/welcomingcongregation/index.shtml) and Living the Welcoming Congregation (at www.uua.org/leaders/idbm/lgbt/livingwelcoming/index.shtml) programs
The Welcoming Congregation Handbook: Resources for Affirming Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, and/or Transgender People (at www.uuabookstore.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=691)
Correspondence between the UUA and the Boy Scouts of America (at www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/uua-9899-letters.html),
Report and Recommendations of the Common Vision Planning Committee (at www.uua.org/documents/commonvision/1989_report_to_bot.pdf), January 1989