Posts Tagged ‘Iowa’

Zach Wahls receives Courageous Love Award from Iowa congregation

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Zach Wahls receives Courageous Love Award from Iowa congregation Share/Save/Bookmark Apr 25, 2012

In 2011, Zach Wahls, a then 19-year-old Iowa resident and UU, made national news for his comments to the Iowa House of Representatives against a resolution that would overturn marriage equality for same-gender couples in Iowa. The YouTube video of his speech became 2011’s most watched political clip with over two million views.

On April 22, 2012, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City presented Wahls with a Courageous Love Award. In their award announcement, the congregation cited Wahls’s ongoing work for marriage equality and said, “Zach has been inspirational in his conviction and action.”

The Iowa City Press-Citizen covered the event.

At the service Sunday morning, the award presentation prompted a standing ovation among the audience, including [Zach Wahls’s] mothers, who still attend the church, which eventually broke into loud cheers. ['Iowa City church recognizes Wahls, 20-year-old receives Courageous Love award from Unitarian Universalist Society']

Last year, in an email to Standing on the Side of Love supporters, Wahls said: “I am humbled that someone thought my family’s story might be an inspiration to others across the country and have been truly touched by the outpouring of support not just for my family, but for families like mine all across the world.” He also honored the Courageous Love of his mothers:

The courageous love I want to honor is that of my two moms – Terry and Jackie. Together for 15 years, they created a loving family for my sister and me, despite living in a culture that doesn’t always treat them, or their love, as equal. In 2009, the year marriage discrimination ended in Iowa, they finally were able to get married. As my moms’ best man, I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life. Two years later, I had the opportunity to share my story and to my utter surprise, millions of people responded. I hope you’ll share yours too.

Wahls’s 2011 testimony is only one example of his advocacy and witness on the side of love. He went on to become a Huffington Post ‘Gay Voices’ blogger, write a book about his family, and co-chair the Family Equality Council’s national advocacy program for young adult children of LGBT families (“The Outspoken Generation”) with Ella Robinson, daughter of Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson.

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Know someone whose words and deeds exemplify the values of inclusion, diversity, community, and equality? Share your story of Courageous Love.

Want to give a Courageous Love Award of your own? You can download a certificate here!

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Across the Nation, Unitarian Universalists Stand on the Side of Love at Pride!

3 Comments | Share On Facebook| Across the Nation, Unitarian Universalists Stand on the Side of Love at Pride! Share/Save/Bookmark Jun 30, 2011

Over the past couple of weeks, Unitarian Universalist congregations from across the country have celebrated Pride and the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in a plethora of amazing ways.  Here are some shining examples:

Capital Pride Parade in Washington, DC

UUs at Capital Pride Parade

Almost 90 UUs from a dozen local UU congregations from around the DC-area joined together to march in the Capital Pride Parade and host a UU booth at the Pride Festival.

UUs at Capital Pride Parade

Elizabeth Fogarty of the UU Church of Arlington says, “What was really wonderful was that it was a whole group of UU congregations coming together for the Pride Parade and Festival. No one congregation took the lead or did all the work. It was truly a shared effort. Not only did we Stand on the Side of Love for GLBT equality, but we reached beyond our individual congregations to do it.”

Marching on the Side of Love in Iowa

The UU Fellowship of Ames and the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines joined together to march with their Standing on the Side of Love banners at the 2011 Pride March.  Between the two congregations, they had 132 participants, wow!

Third Annual Gay Rights March in Racine, Wisconsin

Racine Gay Rights March

Olympia Brown UU Church and the LGBT Center of Southeast Wisconsin co-hosted Racine, Wisconsin’s third Gay Rights March in honor of Pride Weekend.  OBUUC minister Tony Larsen says that the congregation organized the first march in 2009 in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.  They specifically tailored it to be a “gay rights” event instead of a “pride” event to make it safe space for community members who may not be out to participate.

Mayor John Dickert gives a speech on inclusiveness and diversity.

The event had interfaith participation from a local Episcopal church and Mayor John Dickert even turned up to give a speech and issued a proclamation declaring June 26, 2011 as “Gay Rights Day” in Racine. It was also the inaugural event for the congregation’s brand new Standing on the Side of Love banner!

For more photos and video of the event, check out the local news coverage.

Standing on the Side of Love with Ugandans in Georgia

Congregations in Aiken and Augusta, Georgia celebrated Pride weekend by hosting Rev. Mark Kiyimba, head of the Unitarian Universalist Association in Uganda and outspoken opponent of the country’s recent anti-homosexuality bill.

In Aiken, the Sunday morning service featured Rev. Kiyimba and they later screened the documentary “Homosexuality: Africa’s Last Taboo.”  The congregation in Augusta held a “Walking in the Light of Love” service followed by a screening of “Missionaries of Hate.”  What a great example of standing on the side of love across oceans and continents!

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Honoring My Two Moms

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Honoring My Two Moms Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 10, 2011

Zach Wahls, pictured left testifying before the Iowa State Legislature, is an engineering student at the University of Iowa. He celebrated the marriage of his two moms in 2009.

The message below went out to Standing on the Side of Love supporters on Thursday, February 10, 2011. You can sign-up for these emails here.

Two weeks ago, I took a stand for equality, and for my family. Taking time away from classes at the University of Iowa, where I am an engineering student, I testified before the Iowa House of Representatives in opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. “I was raised by a gay couple,” I told lawmakers, “and I’m doing pretty well.”

A young Zach Wahls and his family at his moms’ 1996 commitment ceremony.

A young Zach Wahls and his family at his moms’ 1996 commitment ceremony.

More than one and a half million people have now viewed my testimony on YouTube, and a lot of people have heaped an inordinately large amount of undeserved praise on me. As a Unitarian Universalist, my testimony was simply what I was raised to believe – that we all should stand on the side of love.

A few days ago, I found out that the Standing on the Side of Love campaign was launching a new, online map of “courageous love” to mark National Standing on the Side of Love Day and had posted my testimony before the legislature to the map. I am humbled that someone thought my family’s story might be an inspiration to others across the country and have been truly touched by the outpouring of support not just for my family, but for families like mine all across the world.

So, let me ask you — who in your life and your community would you like to honor for the tremendous ways in which they stand on the side of love?

Share a story of courageous love online so that others may be inspired.

The courageous love I want to honor is that of my two moms – Terry and Jackie. Together for 15 years, they created a loving family for my sister and me, despite living in a culture that doesn’t always treat them, or their love, as equal. In 2009, the year marriage discrimination ended in Iowa, they finally were able to get married. As my moms’ best man, I’ll remember that day for the rest of my life. Two years later, I had the opportunity to share my story and to my utter surprise, millions of people responded. I hope you’ll share yours too.

This National Standing on the Side of Love Day, you can shine the spotlight on the courageous love in your life by telling your online community about people you know who exemplify an unshakeable faith in the power of justice and love.

Honor your personal hero by uploading their story online so others may be inspired.

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Quote of the Day: Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal

3 Comments | Share On Facebook| Quote of the Day: Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 09, 2011

gronstal“I’m not going to put to a vote of the people anybody’s constitutional rights. Because if I can do that to gay people, I can do it to Catholics, I can do it to Methodists, I can do it to Baptists, I can do it to blacks, I can do it to Hispanics. If I can put to a vote of the people, people’s constitutional rights, then you may be popular today – old white guys like us might be popular today and our rights will be fine – but someday the baby boom will be gone and there won’t be enough old white guys left to protect us from the tyranny of the majority.”

-Senate Majority Leader Michael Gronstal, justifying his blockage of a constitutional amendment to revoke the ability to legally marry from same-sex couples in Iowa

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“Mark, I’ll give you five dollars if you offer a prayer.”

No Comments | Share On Facebook| “Mark, I’ll give you five dollars if you offer a prayer.” Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 04, 2011

Rev. Mark Stringer is the minister of the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines

Rev. Mark Stringer is the minister of the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines



The Following Post by Rev. Mark Stringer originally appeared on Facebook.

As a lead-in to the meditation I offered at the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines on Sunday January 30, 2011, I shared this story:

January 24, I attended the Subcommittee meeting at the Iowa Statehouse on the proposed ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions. In order to secure a seat, in the small room where the meeting was originally scheduled, I arrived 90 minutes early, requiring me to sit for a previously scheduled, nearly 90 minute-long prayer meeting, held by a non-denominational group, that claimed it held these meetings on a regular basis. I took my seat in a chair against the wall, along with some other marriage equality supporters who also wanted to be sure to have a seat for the meeting to follow. The dozen or so members of the group doing the praying sat at the big table in the middle and traded off extemporaneous prayers for our legislators, for our country, for our state, or each other, for unborn children, confessing their love for all people, and their desire that the meeting that would follow would be civil and that all voices would be heard. At one point, the chairman of the subcommittee, Rep Dwayne Alons, entered the room (apparently the prayer group had invited him) and they asked if they could pray for him. They put their hands on him and they prayed. Then he offered his insistence that he believed the people of Iowa should be allowed to vote on protecting marriage, which really means that he wants Iowans to be able to vote on taking away people’s rights, even if he won’t acknowledge it.

Soon he left, and the group continued their prayers. I remained silent, taking in the scene, thinking of my time in the room as an opportunity to meditate on the complicated humanity and inherent worth and dignity of my neighbors.

Just past the one hour mark, one of my friends and fellow marriage equality activists leaned over to me and said, “Mark, I’ll give you five dollars if you offer a prayer.”

I brushed off the offer. It wasn’t my place to invade their prayer meeting when my theology is so clearly different. But just a few minutes later, around the time one of them offered a prayer for those “perverting the Lord’s sexual intentions”, I couldn’t help myself. I broke a moment of silence with a prayer for all those couples I have had the privilege to marry, and for their families, a prayer of celebration for them receiving the rights and benefits and equal treatment that they have deserved for so long. I offered my gratitude to live in a state where this is possible and to be able to be at the statehouse that day in support. And I prayed that we could all be inspired and motivated by the spirit of love.

I didn’t get that five dollars, but I got a lot more. You see, I was glad I spoke, that I offered my voice into the mix. It was, after all, the least I could do for my faith, for my friends, and for my hopes for our state.

Even with my friends beside me, I felt really alone in that prayer meeting until I was able to muster the courage to respectfully participate on my own terms, with my own terms.

In the days ahead, may all of us be inspired to share our voices, too. On behalf of those who came before us and those who will follow.

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