Here are words from voices within the United Church of Christ, following the tragic shooting during a Latinx night at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando.
For those mourning the compromising of their sanctuaries:
For the queer clergy who will navigate supporting people and grieving…
For those who want to pray and don’t have the words:
For the Open and Affirming Church that needs a word of encouragement:
For those who refuse to bury their Pride, despite their trauma:
For those who want answers about gun violence:
For those who need the strength to be brave:
Prayers for Identity, Truth, Family, and Intersections:
For these and all other closeted families we pray. #prayfororlando #pulsenightclub @UCCcoalition @justice_ucc pic.twitter.com/4t3q3Jyd0E
— John MacIver Gage (@NeedABiggerGod) June 12, 2016
Our call as humans: care for everyone, find joy in what unites us, & take pride in what defines us #PrayforOrlando #lovewins @unitedchurch
— Katie Kilpatrick (@WAChapK) June 13, 2016
The intersection of this tragedy is heartbreaking #Orientation #Race #Religion in the midst off an election exploiting this intersection.
— Otis Moss, III (@om3) June 13, 2016
Charges to Call out Homophobia and Transphobia:
“47 years after Stonewall, it is still an act of courage for some people to be honest about who they are and who they love.”
“If you are fortunate enough to be able to talk about the people you date and the person with whom you’ve chosen to share your life, and about your gender identity, in every setting, without any thought that you could lose your family, children, friends, job, home, or even your life, be grateful to whatever transcendent truth you recognize.”
“But also be aware that there are many who must still guard our speech, be selective about with whom we share the truth of our lives, be careful about where and with whom we are seen. And even when we’re in a space that should be safe, we still are not safe.”
Excerpt from “47 Years after Stonewall”
“For many members of the LGBT community the bar and/or club are places of both refuge and sanctuary. When we go there we are on holy ground.”
“In the coming days as the world seeks to shape a narrative of what occurred in Orlando, FL, let us be clear that this is an issue of unbridled homophobia and heterosexism wrapped up and codified in an ethic that does foster love.”
“We dodge conversations on the discrimination that happens to our friends of color, the catcalls and assaults and violence in homes that happens to our sisters, the ways that Muslims feel threatened just by living in this country. We can point our fingers at everyone else that doesn’t look anything like us. It’s their fault… It has to be… I’m just sitting on my cozy corner minding my own business.”
“But when the hateful rhetoric in our country is getting louder and louder and more people are dying and being abused because of their color, religion, sexual orientation, gender/gender identity/gender expression, then we as people of faith need to stop sitting in our cozy corners and get ourselves out into the world.”
Excerpt from “For Such a Time as This”