A Spiritually Fulfilling Valentine's Day
I didn't go to work yesterday. I took the day off so kubrickfan and I could drive down to the State Capitol to join about 700 people from all over Washington state and take part in a faith-based rally for equality for the LGBT community sponsored by The Religious Coalition for Equality.
"We have allowed the far-right fundamentalists to distort the truth," Pastor Stephen D. Jones of Seattle First Baptist Church told the crowd. "God loves each and every one of you, all of us, and reaches out to us with acceptance and love. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
Exactly! I'm sick and tired of feeling like if I participate in a religious community and study Scripture and have "moral values" that I should apparently be supporting the hateful things preached by the evangelical religious groups in this country.
We gathered on the steps of the Legislative building, where the state Senate is considering a bill to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in housing, jobs and insurance. On the other side was the state Supreme Court, where arguments are scheduled for March 8th in our state's marriage case.
Unfortunately, we were standing in the shade and it was cold! But one of the things that made it worth driving down for and using a vacation day was that at least 20 people were there from our synagogue!
Sure, dozens of leaders from different faiths - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian - attended the rally wearing brightly colored robes and prayer shawls. Sure, they were joined by hundreds of other people from their congregations and others. And, sure, we attend a very welcoming, progressive congregation that has many gay and lesbian couples (and families) as members... But what made this so meaningful was that kubrickfan and I were the only same-sex couple there from our congregation. (That doesn't speak well of the commitment of those folks, but I digress...) Our fellow congregants took time out of their day to come down and stand with us, to bring some of their children with them to teach them about politics and standing up for what you believe in, and to be a small part in a truly historic struggle happening all around us right this very moment. I couldn't feel more loved and accepted by our religious community than I did at that moment.
The second experience that made yesterday worthwhile was how the rally ended. One of the last speakers was a cantor from Bellevue who is a plaintiff with his partner in the marriage case here. After speaking, and chanting a Hebrew prayer before all of us, he lead a fellow Jew in blowing the shofar -- to call on everyone to stand up, to fight for freedom, to heed the call to action...
I just stood there in awe. Listening to the sounds of the shofar echo between the buildings and across the Capitol campus. I could never have imagined such an intersection of my faith and Washington state politics. I could never have associated the sounds and ideas of biblical Israelites and struggles for freedom with the politics and struggles going on right now. Today. In my life. For that brief moment, it truly was a faith-based rally for me.
This year, the Anti-Discrimination Bill, as we've dubbed it, has the best chance of passing it's had since it was first introduced 29 years ago. A bipartisan majority in the House passed it last Friday and it's now being considered by the state Senate. Arguments for marriage equality will be held in front of our Supreme Court justices on March 8th, and we're confident that we will receive a favorable ruling by some time this summer. With Democratic control of all branches of government we are confident that we can prevent any attempts to amend the state constitution until at least 2006.
After the rally, and lobbying our legislators, I had the opportunity to do an alumni interview of a delightful young woman who has applied to Vassar, followed by dinner with Maxine's brother Joel and his family.
It was just a perfect escape from work and from all things mundane around Seattle. It was a good balance of political activism, volunteering, and spending time with friends. And it allowed me some good time with kubrickfan that got us out of our usual routines.
What a great day!
"We have allowed the far-right fundamentalists to distort the truth," Pastor Stephen D. Jones of Seattle First Baptist Church told the crowd. "God loves each and every one of you, all of us, and reaches out to us with acceptance and love. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
Exactly! I'm sick and tired of feeling like if I participate in a religious community and study Scripture and have "moral values" that I should apparently be supporting the hateful things preached by the evangelical religious groups in this country.
We gathered on the steps of the Legislative building, where the state Senate is considering a bill to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in housing, jobs and insurance. On the other side was the state Supreme Court, where arguments are scheduled for March 8th in our state's marriage case.
Unfortunately, we were standing in the shade and it was cold! But one of the things that made it worth driving down for and using a vacation day was that at least 20 people were there from our synagogue!
Sure, dozens of leaders from different faiths - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian - attended the rally wearing brightly colored robes and prayer shawls. Sure, they were joined by hundreds of other people from their congregations and others. And, sure, we attend a very welcoming, progressive congregation that has many gay and lesbian couples (and families) as members... But what made this so meaningful was that kubrickfan and I were the only same-sex couple there from our congregation. (That doesn't speak well of the commitment of those folks, but I digress...) Our fellow congregants took time out of their day to come down and stand with us, to bring some of their children with them to teach them about politics and standing up for what you believe in, and to be a small part in a truly historic struggle happening all around us right this very moment. I couldn't feel more loved and accepted by our religious community than I did at that moment.
The second experience that made yesterday worthwhile was how the rally ended. One of the last speakers was a cantor from Bellevue who is a plaintiff with his partner in the marriage case here. After speaking, and chanting a Hebrew prayer before all of us, he lead a fellow Jew in blowing the shofar -- to call on everyone to stand up, to fight for freedom, to heed the call to action...
I just stood there in awe. Listening to the sounds of the shofar echo between the buildings and across the Capitol campus. I could never have imagined such an intersection of my faith and Washington state politics. I could never have associated the sounds and ideas of biblical Israelites and struggles for freedom with the politics and struggles going on right now. Today. In my life. For that brief moment, it truly was a faith-based rally for me.
This year, the Anti-Discrimination Bill, as we've dubbed it, has the best chance of passing it's had since it was first introduced 29 years ago. A bipartisan majority in the House passed it last Friday and it's now being considered by the state Senate. Arguments for marriage equality will be held in front of our Supreme Court justices on March 8th, and we're confident that we will receive a favorable ruling by some time this summer. With Democratic control of all branches of government we are confident that we can prevent any attempts to amend the state constitution until at least 2006.
After the rally, and lobbying our legislators, I had the opportunity to do an alumni interview of a delightful young woman who has applied to Vassar, followed by dinner with Maxine's brother Joel and his family.
It was just a perfect escape from work and from all things mundane around Seattle. It was a good balance of political activism, volunteering, and spending time with friends. And it allowed me some good time with kubrickfan that got us out of our usual routines.
What a great day!