ATTN Bishops Rowan Williams/Gomez/Orombi/Okoh: "Every day people live in fear because of who they love: We are talking about our family members, our flesh and blood, our humanity..."

Here are the recent words of a true man of faith, Archbishop Desmond Tutu...

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu,  Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

¨Former Archbishop Doctor Desmond Tutu is one of the world's most renowned faith-based leaders. He's a promoter of human rights and tolerance and has repeatedly used his position of power to try and promote peace.

On his birthday last month, the Archbishop announced that he would be retiring from public life, to spend more time with his family. But though his public activism has subsided, his words still carry on.

Including in this month's Essence magazine, where Tutu has an open letter addressing violence based on sexual orientation. The letter makes a plea to citizens in the United States, Africa and across the world, for acceptance of LGBT people. He asks people to stop the bullying, violence and sometimes murder of the gay and lesbian community. The letter was done in collaboration with Essence magazine and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).



LGBTI murder is ¨all to common. This must change¨

"Today I pray for people in Africa and throughout the world who long for freedom because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender," starts the letter. "It grieves me to be retiring at this crucial moment in history, so I write to you in this open letter, to invite you to pick up the work that remains to be done. More than 70 countries still imprison or execute gay and transgender people, and bullying and murders are all too common. This must change."
In a really breathtaking move, the former Archbishop of South Africa talks directly to other faith-based leaders and to politicians alike. This letter comes at a time where the respect for and recognition of LGBT people in Africa is especially weak. A Ugandan newspaper recently published the names and faces of local gays and lesbians in order to promote violence against them in a "war against homosexuality."

"Boldly, I urge all faith leaders and politicians to stop persecuting people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity," he says. "Every day people live in fear because of who they love. We are talking about our family members, our flesh and blood, our humanity. LGBT people are in our villages, towns, cities, countries — and our whole world." please read it all HERE (emphasis added by Leonardo Ricardo)

· Thanks to Archbishop Desmond Tutu
· Thanks to Essence Magazine
· Thanks to Flickr Photosharing
· Thanks to Brandon Miller
· Thanks to Change.Org/Gay Rights, sidebar

PERMISSIBLE PREJUDICES: Responding to Religion-Based Bigotry Our Biggest Obstacle, Part V

Op-ed excerpt from Faith In America’s Founder Mitchell Gold in the Washington Blade

“As thousands converge on the nation’s capital this weekend for the National Equality March, our demand is simple: We want full equality.

Now. Although there has been great progress in the last 50 years, the equality movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans has not moved forward as quickly as we should and could have. In the final analysis, it is because we have not effectively addressed the biggest barrier between us and our equality: religion-based bigotry and prejudice.

For those who do not realize the significance of religion and the impact religion-based bigotry has on our struggle for equality, they will continue to wander about aimlessly, dragging the pink elephant in the room behind them, holding them back.”

¨RELIGION-BASED BIGOTRY CAUSES UNTOLD HARM TO MILLIONS, ESPECIALLY YOUTH¨

RELIGION-BASED BIGOTRY is a giant pink elephant in the room. It is the cause of incredible harm to millions of people and especially vulnerable adolescents and teens
To be clear, I am not anti-religion. I am anti-religion based bigotry. I feel truly blessed to have former Rev. Jimmy Creech, Bishop Gene Robinson, Revs. Welton Gaddy, Reggie Longcrier, Benny Colclough, and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum in my life.¨

····Bishop V.Gene Robinson of the The Episcopal Church diocese of New Hampshire. Consecrated in 2003, Bishop Robinson is the first openly Gay/Partnered Bishop in The Episcopal Church and The Anglican Communion (of course there have been, and currently are, many other Gay Bishops, of many denominations, who were or remain ¨closeted¨).

····Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is since 1992 of New York City’s Congregation Beth Simchat Torah (CBST), Sharon Kleinbaum is as immersed in politics as one can get. She is the openly lesbian leader of the world’s largest gay religious congregation, and is at the forefront of the movement to secure basic civil rights for lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.

····The Reverend Dr. Bennie Colclough named as winner of the 2008 Trailblazer Award, which recognizes an individual who has a record of consistent and significant contributions to the LGBT community and is seen as a role model to others, will be presented to the pastor of the Providence Christian Church, Manning, South Carolina.

····The Reverend Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Interfaith Alliance, Washington D.C. While ministering to churches with a message of inclusion, Welton emerged as a leader among progressive and moderate Baptists. Among his many leadership roles, he is the immediate past President of the Alliance of Baptists and is a twenty-year member of the Commission of Christian Ethics of the Baptist World Alliance. His past leadership roles include serving as a member of the General Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, President of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and Chair of the Pastoral Leadership Commission of the Baptist World Alliance.

¨But moving from New York to North Carolina in the 1980s, I discovered just how pervasive and deep anti-gay sentiment is beyond our urban centers. As I traveled to many areas across our country, it became apparent that the condemning and hateful attitudes and actions could be traced to one source: church teachings.

I spoke to many people who have been victimized by rejection and condemnation. I was burdened most by the young people I had met who had been discarded by their families, churches, communities and lost their own self worth from the onslaught of anti-gay religious language and actions they experienced. I met mothers and fathers who had lost a son or daughter to suicide — young people who believed they'd be better off dead than growing up gay in America...¨

· read it all, from The Washingtonblade, click HERE

·The Reverend Dr. Welton Gaddy/Day1 is the voice of the mainline Protestant churches on the radio and online, offering life-enriching sermons, community, and other resources to help you grow in faith.¨ click HERE

·The Rt. Reverend Robinson is widely known for being the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained a bishop in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate. His sexual orientation was privately acknowledged in the 1970s, when he studied in seminary, was ordained, married, and started a family.¨ click HERE

· Going Head to Head with the Religious Right, An Interview with Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum.¨ read it all click HERE

· The Reverend Dr. Colclough has given much time and effort working as an advocate and straight ally for the South Carolina Equality Coalition (SCEC), the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement (SCGLPM), Faith In America and HRC. A native of Sumter, S.C., Colclough served in the United States Marine Corps for six years with a tour of duty in Vietnam, and is a graduate of Yale University Divinity School. click HERE

·Thanks to The Washingtonblade
·Thanks to Jewish Currents
·Thanks to Wikipedia
·Thanks to Day1 (voice of mainline Protestant churches)
·Thanks to Truth Wins Out
·Thanks to Faith in America
·Thanks to Mitchell Gold
·Thanks to The Human Rights Campaign Carolina´s
·Thanks to Wayne Besen
·Thanks to Matt Comer