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Table of Contents Thanks to all of TJD's 2003-2004 Fair Share Congregations Paying Our Dues: An Expectation of Membership Thomas Jefferson District Communications Guide UUA General Assembly - June 24-28 - Long Beach, CA |
Accepting Allies Two members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem raised funds to put up a billboard on a major highway to draw attention to anti-gay bullying in the local schools. The billboard reads “Reading, Writing, Hate. What are students really learning in school?” Its sponsors are the local chapters of GLSEN (Gay lesbian straight education network) and P-FLAG (Parents, family, friends of lesbians and gays). The two members who did this are Janet Joyner (founder of the local GLSEN chapter and Flora Isassi (facilitator of the local chapter of P-FLAG). The major force behind the drive for a constitutional amendment against gay marriage (as well as domestic partner benefits and civil unions) is based in Alexandria, Virginia. It is called “The Alliance for Marriage” and is headed by a local attorney, Matt Daniels. While it is a tax exempt organization, its board includes David Caprara, a Sun Myung Moon operative, and The Rev Walter Fauntroy of Washington DC. They are raising funds to pass the amendment and have support from such congressional allies as Rep. Hyde of Illinois and Sen. Santorum of Pennsylvania. You may recall that Sen. Santorum equated gays with incest, polygamy, adultery, and bestiality. North Carolina’s Board of Education is reviewing state science standards to see if room can be made for the teaching of creationism. Union County Board of Education members are pursuing a revision that would require teachers to “discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the theory of evolution.” This would introduce religious concepts into what should be a science class. The minister of the United Church of Christ in Hickory, NC, has initiated an e-mail campaign to stop the ordination of a lesbian minister in Asheville. The minister being threatened is The Rev Cindy Maddox, who has been in a monogamous relationship for more than 10 years and didn’t want to hide it. The people opposing her say that “God’s gift of sexuality is to be expressed in marriage or not at all.” President Bush has signed on to the religious right’s anti-gay marriage campaign by setting the second week in October as “Marriage Protection Week.” Ministers are being asked to use their pulpits to win support for the proposed anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment limiting marriage to a man and a woman and wiping out all domestic partner and civil union benefits. This is a time for our UU ministers to stand beside their GLBT members in this terrible and frightening time. Frank Bendetti Congrats and Thanks to all of TJD’s Welcoming Congregations
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