RevCyn

Today was lobbying day with the HRC Clergy Call.  We started out with a little lobby training, then each state was assigned an HRC staff person.  We all went to the press conference, and then off to the lobbying visits with our staffer.  The press conference was at a beautiful spot with the Capitol in the background.  It was, unfortunately, extremely hot and sunny.  The press conference offered no shade, and few of us had worn hats.  Only one seemed to have brought sunscreen, but as she was a UU she offered me some.  (I'm sure she would have happily offered to any denomination, but it was a small tube, so I was grateful to get some.)  We put up umbrellas, but were told it would ruin the pictures.  Since most of the cameras were pointed at the speakers, and we were not behind the speakers but seated in front of them, I opted after a while to go back into the shade.  Clergy can be long-winded at these sorts of things, after all. Once I...

Right now I'm in Washington, D.C. for the 3rd biannual HRC Clergy Call for Justice and Equality.  There were many wonderful moments today worth talking about, but I want to tell you about some recent poll's results.  HRC just commissioned a new poll to study religious responses to GLBT issues .  The amazing and wonderful results are that people of faith overwhelmingly -- yes, overwhelmingly -- are now in support of LGBT justice issues. I know this may seem hard to believe.  The media keeps showing us the voices of hate and telling us that's the faith perspective.  But the truth is it's not.  Some specifics: When asked "Do you favor protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations?" 70% of all people said yes, and 68% of Christians said yes. 85% of people say their faith leads them to believe in equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. 76% of all peop...

I finally found video of the HRC Clergy Call 2009 press conference: And here's the link, so you can jump to whichever person you want to watch: HRC Clergy Call 2009 Press Conference UU minister Rev. Manish Mishra does a very fine job, so if you only watch part, I recommend him. Most of the speakers were excellent and inspiring, though, so the whole thing is worth a watch.

I'm back now from the whirlwind HRC Clergy Call . I want to tell you about the experience of lobbying itself. Amongst the 300+ clergy and other participants from all 50 states, there were only two of us from Michigan, myself and a very wonderful staff person, Heather Grace, from the Faith Action Network of the American Friends Service Committee. HRC provided a staff member to go with each state team, as well. We had Cristina Finch , who grew up in Michigan. So the three of us together went to see Senator Levin and Senator Stabenow , and we met with their staff representatives (although not the senators themselves). Levin is already a co-sponsor of the Matthew Shepard Act, which is wonderful, and we're hoping for Stabenow's co-sponsorship, as well. The meetings were upbeat and very friendly to our message. We're hoping both of them will vote for the employee non-discrimination act when it is introduced. Since the AFSC doesn't have a position yet on the Matthew She...

Today is the lobbying day with the HRC Clergy Call. We're spending the morning in lobbying training. As I sat down in the bench marked "Michigan," I introduced myself to a man standing in the aisle from South Carolina. He told me about his step-son, Sean William Kennedy. Sean was in his twenties when he was killed in an anti-gay hate crime. His murderer got a very short jail sentence, cut shorter because hr earned his GED. Some people don't believe hate crime legislation is necessary, because it's already covered by other laws. I invite them to learn about Sean: http://www.seanslastwish.org . And another quick answer... This federal legislation kicks in when local law enforcement doesn't adequately prosecute, for example because of prejudice.

Why do we need the T in lgbt? That was the question we started with at the HRC clergy call today. And well we should examine this. One of the hard truths being told here is that HRC hasn't always been a strong advocate for transgender people. Another hard truth is that it's still not always easy to be transgender in Uu congregations, even "Welcoming" ones. This is still our cutting edge. One answer is that transgender people help us to break out of the tired question about whether or not sexuality is a choice, and move us to a question about the societal construction of gender, breaking us out of binay paradigms. One speaker pointed out how many places where sexual orientaion is becoming a protected status, where gender expression is not. Even repealing"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will not protect a transgender person in the army. And in Jackson County, we know well how easy it is to fire someone for being transgender.m

My morning of the HRC Clergy Call began with waking up in the wonderful home of UU minister Ginger Luke, who was kindly hosting six ministers coming to clergy call. She kindly took us in groups to the Metro station. Cynthia Cain, from Lexington, KY, and I bravely started out, but our train broke down at Dupont Circle. Because of the crush trying to get in the already-full trains, we decided to go out (in thr rain) and try to hail a cab. Two unsuccessful blocks later, Cynthia went into the Peruvian embassey and asked for help. Thet pointed us to a hotel at the corner--The Beacon, if you can believe it! I looked over to the Beacon and atRTED LAUGHING. Right across the street was the HRC headquarters! We went in from the rain, and the friendly receptionist called a cab for us. We arrived at the beautiful Calvary Baptist Church just in time to hear the end of Bishop Gene Robinson's kmeynote address. It's so good to be here, in a room full of clergy of different faiths, who all cele...