Sermon for June 16, 2016

Pride

The Stonewall uprising, which erupted 50 years ago this month, in the early hours of June 28, 1969 — is a patchwork of accounts. What we know for sure is that the police raided the Greenwich Village gay bar called the Stonewall Inn — and it wasn’t the first time. But this time, patrons had enough. The raid ignited a violent conflict, and then protests, that lasted for days. The lesbian, gay and transgender people who were herded out that night fought back: shoving, punching and throwing stones, bottles and bricks at police officers.

Aside from that, few can agree on almost anything other than that it was a messy evening that accelerated and defined gay rights.

Rising from the Stonewall Resistance, a group called the Gay Liberation Front formed the night of the uprising, and members spoke on the steps of Stonewall the second night. For the next year, they handed out leaflets announcing they were gay. They shared information about medical and legal developments affecting the community. One year after the uprising, the Gay Liberation Front organized the first gay pride march on the street where Stonewall is located, called Christopher Street Liberation Day. Thousands participated, heading straight up Sixth Avenue to the Sheep Meadow in Central Park for a “gay-in.”

In that year between the uprising and the march, they created the first transgender organization and the first L.G.B.T. community center.

And they were done being pushed around or aside by society. As one person said, “We were no longer were professional men and housewives pleading for our rights, we were demanding them. We would no longer let others label us.”

We’ve come a long way since then, I’d like to think. Those of you who attended Capital Pride last weekend went to a joyful celebration. Capital Pride was originally called Gay Pride Day.  The event was initially organized in 1975 by Deacon Maccubbin, owner of Lambda Rising Bookstore. He and his associates hosted the event for the first five years of its existence, until it grew to 10,000 attendees and spread over three blocks. These days, it draws 100,000 people and includes religious groups, and military color guards.

When I came to CCC in 2011, we were involved in making sure that marriage equality became the law of Maryland. There were plenty of defeats early on, but it was thrilling when the law was finally recognized in 2013. It was even more thrilling when the US Supreme Court struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, legalized it in all fifty states, and required states to honor out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses. It was June 26, 2015.

Looking at LGBT rights these days, it seems to be a good news/bad news situation. The good news: Marriage equality is the law of the land according to the Supreme Court. The bad news: let’s not forget it was an ideologically divided court, and that today’s Supreme Court represents a threat to equality.

The good news: “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was overturned in 2010. The bad bews: the current presidential administration proposes a transgender ban in the military, which is much worse than the original don’t ask don’t tell policy.

The good news: Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equality Act after it was proposed 25 years ago. The Equality Act provides a blanket of protection against discrimination throughout the country. The bad news: until this is passed, only 20 states have outlawed LGBT discrimination. There are still countless states, even today, where one can be fired solely on the basis of being queer.

The good news: we have seen a wider acceptance of same-sex couples in the media and a growing acceptance of the transgender community. The bad news: In 2018, advocates tracked at least 26 deaths of transgender people in the U.S. due to fatal violence, the majority of whom were Black transgender women. Fatal violence disproportionately affects transgender women of color. The intersections of racism, sexism, and transphobia conspire to deprive people of employment, housing, healthcare and other necessities. Members of the LGBTQ community in our country still have to decide where and when it is safe to be out and accepted. There are whole groups of people who have to listen to the biases and misinformation that society communicates to them about their group. People simply can't fight effectively for themselves when they are told that the problem is their own fault or that something is inherently wrong with them.

The truth is, whether it is immigration inequality for same-sex couples, hate crimes, the rights of children of same-sex couples, or queer youth who are at a higher risk of suicidal thinking, members of the queer community face struggles that their straight counterparts simply do not. While coming out can be a source of pride for many, for others, coming out is damaging. Some people lose their families and their jobs.

Religious communities like CCC have a unique stage to bring these issues to light. It is part of our mission to fight bigotry and discrimination with love and understanding. We can fight for our cause while still embodying the same values we are fighting for. For some of us, it means lobbying our political public servants for equality. For others, being loud and making noise for equality is important. And let’s not overlook the fact that just standing in your own truth, in your community, is the most influential way to affect change. I believe that even a community like Silver Spring needs to hear clergy speak out. In our sermons, in public spaces, in off-handed conversations, the community needs to hear clergy support queer rights unequivocally. We have the power to de-stigmatize the words “gay” “lesbian” “Transgender” and “queer” just by our ability to speak them with ease.

It’s easy to think that just because we go to an inclusive church like CCC, other religious groups are also on board with queer rights. The Equality Act I just mentioned has been opposed by The Latter-Day Saints and the U.S. Council of Bishops, with their tired claim that enforcing LGBT Rights compromises religious liberty. A story came out yesterday about a Tennessee minister who preached a sermon calling for the execution of LGBT people. He said, "God has instilled the power of civil government to send the police in 2019 out to the LGBT freaks and arrest them and have a trial for them, and if they are convicted, then they are to be put to death.”

In a rising tide of hatred and isolationism, the power is squarely in our hands to teach that God is synonymous with love, and that the world we believe in, celebrates life and love. There must not be any confusion about whether we are pro-equality. I want everyone in our church, from our infants to our seniors, to know that our Open & Affirming covenant teaches that every soul is made in the image of God and is entitled to the same rights and respect as everyone else.

I believe that a house of worship is where one should bring their most authentic selves. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to a person’s understanding of who they are and how they experience the world. We must not ask anyone in our congregations to leave any part of their identity at the door of their church. So, we will continue to provide a spiritual home for the queer community where people’s lives are not merely accepted or welcomed, but celebrated, and our communities will be made stronger in the process.

Let us continue to build communities where people can be proud of who they are – communities our wounds are healed by deliberate listening and non-violent action. We do the work of liberating ourselves from hatred, beginning in the modest places of our longing souls and always reaching out with our words, our actions, our prayers, our love and our hands to all souls – to all souls. This is how we can be made whole again. This is how the world can be made whole again and all her people one.

For my reading today, I picked a quote from the Jewish sages: “You are not expected to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist from it.” The words embody what I think God expects of us. In partnership with God, we endeavor to make the world a more just place for the generations that will succeed us. May we have the strength, patience, love, and forward thinking, to strive to make our world as beautiful, lively, colorful, and diverse… as a rainbow.

SOURCES:

https://www.nytimes. com/2019/06/04/us/stonewall-riots-gay-pride.html

https://rac. org/sample-pride-shabbat-sermon-iii

https://reformjudaism. org/blog/2013/06/19/let-your-sermon-be-your-sword-celebrating-lgbt-pride-month-our-communities

https://www.cnn. com/2019/06/14/us/tennessee-preacher-cop-lgbtq/index.html

Breath of Life, create a spark of light in the hearts of your workers; empower those who strive to dismantle injustice surrounding the LGBTQ community, creating equity in a system of oppression. This month as we celebrate 50 years of PRIDE, renew the passion in us to continue to this holy work of welcome, inclusion, and celebration.

God of grace and mercy. Forgive us of love that is self-satisfied and teach us love that is self- and other-affirming. Forgive us of faith that makes us rush to judgment and give us faith that fills us with compassion. Forgive us of peace we have made with our divisions and unite us in peace that passes understanding.

Hear our groans, Holy Spirit, particularly to make a home in all churches that call themselves the body of Christ for all people. At times we are overwhelmed and hurt by this angry exclusion. At these times let us realize how much more hurt you are.

Today, we also pray for fathers. We honor fathers who have struggled to balance the demands of work, marriage, and children with an honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice. We thank fathers who, lacking a good model for a father, have worked to become a good father. We recognize fathers who by their own account were not always there for their children, but who continue to offer those children, now grown, their love and support. We support fathers who have been wounded by the neglect and hostility of their children.

Let us remember fathers who, despite divorce, have remained in their children's lives.

Let us remember fathers whose children are adopted, and whose love and support has offered healing.

Let us remember stepfathers who freely choose the obligation of fatherhood and earn their stepchildren's love and respect.

Let us remember fathers who have lost a child to death and continue to hold the child in their heart.

Let us remember men who have no children but cherish the next generation as if they were their own.

Let us remember men who have "fathered" us in their role as mentors and guides.

Let us remember men who are about to become fathers; may they openly delight in their children.

And let us praise those fathers who have died but live on in our memory and whose love continues to nurture us.

May all of us, no matter what our place in the cycle of life, experience nurture and love, and may we pass on that love to those we encounter on our own paths.