David Mixner's blog post "Is this the Birth of a Civil Rights Movement?" offers interpretation and inspiration from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" to the recent pro-LGBT protests and arrests in Washington, DC and San Francisco. 

Are these the beginning stages of a new civil rights movement? Are we willing to escalate our tactics in order to press those in power to show leadership and demand our freedom? I honestly don't know. But I have hope. I have hope that over the next months these initial actions will build to a modern day civil rights movement that is as unique as our community. The stirring for non-violent civil disobedience has been building since the National Equality March late last year. Most of it has originated within the ranks of our youth. Their impatience is a powerful message that the failure to make our freedom a priority in Washington is just no longer acceptable.

More Light Presbyterians is committed to LGBT equality in both the Church and in civil society. What might this blog have to say to us and our justice work in the PCUSA and in civil society?

Tom Kam's essay, "Wanted: A Church that listens," from the Washington Post's "On Faith" series offers wisdom for all of us as we consider what kind of Church we are seeking to create. Kam, a former Roman Catholic priest now Director of the Religion and Values Program at the Arcus Foundation says: "My love for my Church is inspired by people whose lives challenge us to bear witness to God's truth to our world." He speaks Francis of Assisi and Teresa of Avila. He also speaks of the Berrigan brothers who faith led them to protest against the Vietnam War. Of these religious leaders Kam says: 

"These men and women were religious leaders who possessed the courage to enter into the lives of everyday people, and in the midst of religious and political turmoil, proclaim God's unrelenting call of love, truth, and justice."

Kam calls religious leaders to listen to God's continuing revelation that can be found within the lives, love and faith of the LGBT community. Moreover, he calls the LGBT community to claim an equal moral place at the table: 

"We must also remember that we speak as moral equals, and that we speak with the strength of conviction that comes from our recognition of God's presence in our lives, in our love, and in the sexual expression of that love."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, wrote "In Africa, a step backward on human rights" published on March 12 in the Washington Post. We commend this extraordinary article to you and encourage you to share this widely. While the first context he speaks to is his beloved Africa, his message of love, reconciliation and justice is for the whole world.

"Hate has no place in the house of God. No one should be excluded from our love, our compassion or our concern because of race or gender, faith or ethnicity -- or because of their sexual orientation. Nor should anyone be excluded from health care on any of these grounds. In my country of South Africa, we struggled for years against the evil system of apartheid that divided human beings, children of the same God, by racial classification and then denied many of them fundamental human rights. We knew this was wrong. Thankfully, the world supported us in our struggle for freedom and dignity."  Tutu goes on to say,"It is time to stand up against another wrong."

The Outspoken Award

Archbishop Desmond Tutu received the 2008 Outspoken Award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. Here is his acceptance speech at Grace Cathederal in San Francisco.

The HRC Foundation launched the second year of the Generation Equality Scholarships for LGBT and allied students who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the fight for LGBT equality. The three $2,000 scholarships are part of the HRC Foundation’s Youth and Campus Outreach Program, which aims to provide tools, facilitate connections and empower young people to fight for LGBT equality on campus and beyond.

This year, we will be awarding one $2,000 scholarship in each of the following categories:

• First-year students
• Returning four-year school students
• Returning community college students
  

MLP needs you at the 219th General Assembly (2010)! Volunteers are critical to a successful MLP presence at the General Assembly. This page lists the volunteer opportunities and the types of tasks associated with each. For the events, volunteers need to arrive one hour before the event begins.

Register to Volunteer

MLP Legislative Strategy Team
Times vary with committee process.
Minneapolis Convention Center

• Ordination Committee Liaison
• Marriage Committee Liaison
• Testimony to Ordination Committee
• Testimony to Marriage Committee
• Commissioner Briefings Liaison

• Greet booth visitors
• Keep materials/hand-out  supplies refreshed
• Distribute MLP rainbow scarves
• Answer basic questions about the MLP organization/mission

• Serve as host/hostess
• Greet visitors
• Offer snacks and beverages (MLP will keep suite stocked with supplies)
• Make coffee
• Answer basic questions re: MLP organization/mission
• Tidy-up suite (i.e., making sure empty cups are thrown away, put snacks away at end of evening)
  

• Room set-up--e.g., placing printed materials, center-pieces, etc. on tables, Shower-of-Stoles display.  No heavy lifting required.
• Ticket takers (Tickets will be sold in advance through the Office of the General Assembly for the dinner.  The reception will be free-of-charge.)

• Greet worshipers with song and signs proclaiming the wildly inclusive love of Jesus Christ.

• Room set-up--e.g., placing printed materials, center-pieces, etc. on tables, Shower-of-Stoles display.  No heavy lifting required.
• Ticket takers (Tickets will be sold in advance through the Office of the General Assembly for the luncheon.)

• Room set-up (e.g., display stoles from Shower of Stoles, etc.)
• Usher
• Sing in the choir
  

The Shower of Stoles is a collection of over a thousand liturgical stoles and other sacred items representing the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith. These religious leaders have served in thirty-two denominations and faith traditions, in six countries, and on three continents. Each stole contains the story of a LGBT person who is active in the life and leadership of their faith community in some way: minister, elder, deacon, teacher, missionary, musician, administrator, or active layperson.

This extraordinary collection celebrates the gifts of LGBT persons who serve God in countless ways, while also lifting up those who have been excluded from service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The collection bears witness to the huge loss of leadership that the church has brought upon itself because of its own unjust policies.

Last month the stoles were on display at University Presbyterian Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and were featured in Baton Rouge's

This will be the seventh year that University Presbyterian has brought the display here, said the Rev. Patti Snyder, senior pastor.

“We’ve had a lot of support for doing this,” Snyder said of her congregation.

“It’s an important reminder, not just for the Presbyterian Church but for the broader church” of those who feel a call by God to serve but are not allowed to do so, she said.

“This particular congregation is very welcoming and open,” Snyder said.

The church’s Web site, at http://www.upcbr.org/, welcomes people “of every generation, of varied religious and cultural backgrounds, of varied theological and political views, and of different races and sexual orientations.”

While the Presbyterian denomination is welcoming in general regarding its congregations, such issues regarding its pastors are more complicated, Snyder said.

The denomination regulations regarding ordination have have been interpreted in various ways, she said.

“We have a longtime struggle over the ordination of people who are openly gay or lesbian,” Snyder said.

The Presbyterians are not alone. Among the other major Christian denominations represented are the United Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Southern Baptist Convention and the Episcopal Church.