WHEREAS, there are millions of persons in the United States and Canada who are blind, deaf, physically or mentally disabled, or otherwise with special needs; and

WHEREAS, these people suffer from discrimination and segregation in education, employment, transportation, and freedom of access because of architectural barriers in public and private buildings; and

WHEREAS, both Judeo-Christian and humanist traditions in Unitarian Universalism express concern about and sympathy with disadvantaged minorities;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1977 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association urges the inclusion of the category "persons with special needs" in the 1964 National Civil Rights Law so that the handicapped may better function as free and equal members of society, and requests the Canadian Unitarian Council to communicate any similar concerns it may have to the appropriate level of government in Canada; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That all societies and organizations in the Unitarian Universalist Association are encouraged to study and implement methods of integrating persons with special needs into both our own and the larger society, starting with the year 1977.