Uplift Blog Archive

On this World AIDS Day 2018, as Unitarian Universalists, let us recommit to ending AIDS through our fight and action.

While we celebrate this victory, we envision a country where no one’s right to live is put up to a public vote.

We are trans. And we are holy. We are intersex. And we are sacred. We are gender-diverse. And we are divine.

We offer our witness to this sacred ritual that represents the resting of Matthew’s spirit, as well as the hope of global social healing.

Our Unitarian Universalist faith affirms that no person’s identity is dictated by laws and legislation. In accordance with our First Principle, transgender, genderqueer, non-binary, and ALL persons possess inherent worth and dignity, which includes the right to define who we are.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi hosted a hearing with the Poor People's Campaign on September 26, 2018. Rev. Michael Crumpler represented the UUA at this event, and offered his testimony along with Darin Brooks, a fast food worker involved with the Poor People's Campaign....

It is my greatest privilege to introduce our new Multicultural Ministries intern from Harvard Divinity School, Jade Sylvan. Jade will be assisting the UUA Multicultural Ministries Office with LGBTQ and Intercultural programs. ...

I did a little research on the history of National Coming Out Day. It began in 1988 with the premise that coming out as a queer or trans person was the most basic form of activism one could do, because of the rationale that it is harder for people to hate queer or trans people...

On this 30th Anniversary of National Coming Out Day, let us “come out“ in support of our sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, neighbors and friends courageously living their truth by committing to act in solidarity and give generously to causes affirming our inherit worth...

Editor's Note: This charge was offered by Dr. Janice Marie Johnson, UUA Multicultural Ministries and Leadership Director, for the installation of Reverend Dawn Fortune on Saturday, September 29, 2018 at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Jersey Shore, NJ. We...

The demon that rapes you has a way of making its home within you. You spend the remainder of your life laboring to exorcize this demon that is not you. Today, this demon was exorcised as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford sat before the world and uttered her truth.

A new approach to Welcome Renewal has come! To learn how to begin the Five Practices of Welcome Renewal at your congregation, please attend one (or more) of our monthly orientations.

Sunday, September 23rd is Bi Visibility Day. Today and everyday, let’s let our bi family and friends know #WeSeeYou and we love you! #UPLIFTbisexuals #BiVisibilityDay #BiVisibilityWeek

It is our fault as people of faith that the virus is what it is in the world. American religion, both liberal and conservative, is responsible for the rapid spread of AIDS in the 1980s and the 500K deaths by 1990.

As we honor our lives by celebrating PRIDE throughout the month of June, may all who chose to marry or chose not to marry continue the fight by exposing the hate that we all experience as we go about our daily lives.

On February 13th 2018, QDEP's Bobby Steggert and Ian Zdanowicz participated in a panel organized by Unitarian Universalist Association at the All Souls Church. The topic of the event was forced migration of people identifying as LGBTQ. Debrown Idrissu and Edafe Okporo gave...

The new #ALLPrideMatters pride flag is not a divisive distraction from Pride, but a more perfect expression of Pride for are racialized context. The new #AllPrideMatters pride flag expresses a more perfect union of the Pride that we all hope to celebrate across the country and...

On May 27, 2018, Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation at White Plains had a special LGBTQ Celebration Sunday Service, commemorating our renewal as an LGBTQ Welcoming Congregation. Our Welcoming designation dated back to 2005, but since then the transgender/non-binary...

Fast forward to a couple of months ago when my 80-year old godfather called to share the news that his beloved country, Trinidad and Tobago, had finally changed its legislation on Thursday, April 12, when Judge Devindra Rampersad “determined that sections of the Sexual Offences...

“ When the sharpest words wanna cut me down; I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out; I am brave, I am bruised I am who I'm meant to be, this is me. ”

The power of grace to save us, to move us towards our best and truest selves, even when we don’t know what we’re looking for or what we need, is amazing and beautiful. What a blessing it is for me that Unitarian Universalism has been a part of the grace that has shaped and...

Georgia and the Southeastern United States are in crisis because of HIV/AIDS. The people living in the Southern region of the United States are at the highest risk of contracting HIV. Now that I have your attention I want to provide some statistics for the State of Georgia....

I came out when I was 12, prompting several years of severe bullying. Soon after I turned to religion for help, only to find out that I was not welcomed, that I was not “the child of God” the church wanted me to be. I quickly learned that being a member of the church meant...

I am a privileged, cisgender woman. The world sees me as white. I often pass as heterosexual without trying. My body works in the ways most people expect bodies to work. For these, and many other reasons, I benefit from a vast, unspoken ranking system of privilege and oppression...

But can we talk about what everyone is wearing to Pride, General Assembly, around the house in 90 degree weather, the beach and the cookout? There are so many options to how we adorn ourselves and articulate our lifeforce. As a Gemini and summer babe, I get VERY excited about...

Not wanting my parents to find out about my newly blended Black/queer life on the 6 o’clock news; I took a deep breath and made “The Phone Call”. They asked a few questions and said that they loved me. My mother closed the conversation with “Just don’t get arrested.” I promised...

The line “In the moonlight, black boys look blue” will likely go down as one of my favorite movie lines of all time. This line captures and reclaims the beauty and softness of queer black bodies that is so often stripped away from us. I felt visible when I watched this film......

As we celebrate Pride in 2018, I am proud of the courage and resilience of our beloved LGBTQ and Non-Binary Unitarian Universalists who are showing up in the common struggle for justice and truth. Thanks to you, we continue the vital work of building Beloved Community

This reflection comes from Rev. Michael J. Crumpler, UUA's LGBTQ and Intercultural Programs Manager in Multicultural Growth and Witness. On Monday, May 14, Michael joined hundreds of people of faith and conscience for the kick off of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call...

But more than any program or initiative, it is the lived experience of queer and non-binary folx in our congregations that is the real measure of inclusivity. Here’s where the intersectionality of race, gender, age and sexuality play out, because the younger generations in our...

In late spring of 2003, nearly 15 years ago now, I was classified to a bunk at Ft. Devens prison with a man named Douglas. We later learned that we were intentionally bunked together with the hope that we would have conflict with each other.

You might wonder why a little church in upstate NY is doing this. There are many reasons, but the most pertinent one is that we are a congregation of deep welcome. We know and practice it. We are certified as a “Welcoming Congregation,” and we know that if that means anything...

I see many similarities between “passing” and being “in the closet.” Ironically, while many black people view passing as betrayal, they fail to see the similarities between being black and being queer. By dimensioning queerness as a choice that can be acted on or avoided, they...

There is a spiritual loneliness when looking for your people in the eyes of a congregation that is well read, but not well practiced in the art of addressing racial and trans justice. As a Black trans person whose history has been stolen, erased, and gaslit I had to take...

As a 6’5” African-American humanist, atheist, Unitarian male, I have spent much of my life defying stereotypes. This boldness came out of a lot of privilege in that I was raised by a liberal grandmother with whom I traveled to many countries in order to expose me to many...

Trans* persons navigate loss, change, and transitions with grace and beauty. Trans* persons of color do it with fierceness, passion, and soul. Our theology teaches us to persist in spite of one's pain, to love those who hate us, and to continue fighting though we are exhausted.

I almost believed that the presence of queer, Black folks in movies like Moonlight meant that a call for representation in Black Panther was excessive—how could queer folks be selfish enough to want to be represented in movies that aren’t particularly about wrestling with gender...

February 7, 2018 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day . #NBHAAD was founded in 1999 as a national response to the growing HIV and AIDS epidemic in African American communities. The four key focus areas encourage people to get educated about HIV/AIDS, get involved in...

“Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving. Ours is no caravan of despair. Come, yet again, come” . These famous words of the prophet Jalal al-Din Rumi, – may he be forever remembered , often ring throughout our Unitarian Universalist congregations on...

On this World AIDS Day, as Unitarian Universalists we reaffirm our belief in “the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” We reaffirm our commitment to remember the 35 million lives to HIV and AIDS. We reaffirm our commitment to celebrate the lives of people living with HIV...

We hold within each of us, the spark of the divine, the love of the divine, the image of the divine.

We honor our ancestors by keeping their stories alive within us we also honor the ancestors by being resilient.

More than anything, though, on this Day of Remembrance I hold in my thoughts and prayers the countless thousands of individuals, a significant number of whom have been transwomen of color, who have been brutally killed because they dared to live their lives as their true selves.

I yearn for a time when instead of memorializing transgender and genderqueer individuals who have been killed for living their lives authentically, we will take time to celebrate the gifts these individuals offer our communities. Until then I will attend the vigils, not only to...

“As a Welcoming Congregation, the Pagosa Unitarian Universalist Fellowship invites everyone to share in our faith community. We cherish diversity and foster a safe environment for all.” - PUUF Statement of Inclusion

Unwarranted arrests of 70+ LGBTQ persons gathered at a meeting at the Vintage Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria have put those living with HIV/AIDS and the agencies committed to supporting them at risk.

Listening and paying attention are spiritual practices. They are also acts of justice. There was a time when I saw the number of queer people in our congregation on the rise. Now it’s on the decline. We think we’ve done that. “We’re welcoming.” “Sexual orientation doesn’t matter...

The UUA condemns the Nashville Statement in the strongest terms. It is spiritually damaging and culturally oppressive to all people.

When faced with unfair taxation after the death of her same-sex spouse, Edie Windsor stood for the right not to be overtaxed or undertaxed because of who you love and how you love.

Tim Byrne discusses life transitions after difficult challenges.