Apr 12, 2013
A couple weeks ago, hundreds of people witnessed for marriage equality as the Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California Proposition 8.
Among them were dozens of Unitarian Universalists! Check out our video to hear from these committed activists why they stand on the side of love:
Special thanks to our colleague Annette Marquis for putting together this great video.
I work for immigrant rights because there need to be people who are willing to use the political, financial, and social power that they have in this country to support those who face discrimination. This is not charity work, it is solidarity work. We must be there to say that the demands for just and humane treatment, for compassionate inclusion and loving acceptance, must be heard and honored. I stand with immigrants so that they remain empowered to assert their right to be granted equality and opportunity.
That is why I will be marching for compassionate immigration reform next week in Philadelphia. This rally is one of the ‘echo events’ being held all around the country in concert with the huge rally for immigration reform in Washington, DC on April 10th. Our partners in the immigrant community have asked for the “Love People” to join them—we must heed their call!
Will you join us? Click here to join the Love People in DC or click here to find an echo event wherever you are!
If there isn’t an event in your area, you can still make your voice heard! Click here to ask your members of Congress to support compassionate immigration reform.
As a seminarian, my faith calls me to be with those who are denied the recognition of their full humanity. My evolving call to ministry is one of affirmation, one that moves me to recognize the value of every being and to advocate for the rights that all people deserve regardless of class, creed, gender, ethnicity, or citizenship. For me, to stand on the side of love is to stand on the side of just immigration reform. To stand on the side of love is to celebrate the fact that we are one human family, that we are all miracles created out of and built for love. To stand on the side of love is to stand on the side of change when any members of our human family are mistreated or abused. It is to stand with those who have been otherized and oppressed, to move outside of our comfort zone and into the beautiful messiness of justice-making. When I stand alongside individuals whose lives depend on immigration reform, I stand for the justice and love that I know we as a society are capable of enacting.
I urge people to listen to stories. As you hear the stories of the DREAMers, of the families being split apart, as you meet more immigrants fighting for their human rights, you get to know them not as immigrants but as people. You realize that we are all working towards similar goals. We all want to lead happy and fulfilling lives, we all want to feel at home, to make sure our loved ones are safe and healthy. We all want to thrive.
Help us create this community where all can thrive. Find an echo event near you and write to your members of Congress today!
Love keeps families together. Love respects the inherent worth and dignity of all people. Love knows no borders.
In faith,
Ranwa Hammamy
Ranwa is a seminarian at Union Theological Seminary, Vice President of the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia Board, and serves on the Immigration Task Force of the Unitarian Universalist Pennsylvania Legislative Advocacy Network.
PS: Don’t forget to send us your photos from the event!
The message above went out on Tuesday, April 2, 2013 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.
Mar 28, 2013
SSL Campaign Manager Jennifer Toth with post author Jessica Halperin at the Supreme Court.
“What do we want?”
“EQUALITY!”“When do we want it?”
“NOW!”
I’m sure the walls of the Supreme Court’s building were built to withstand the roar of a crowd. I’m also fairly confident that, unfortunately, the nine justices inside couldn’t hear our dance party, our chants for justice, and the noisy conflicts between those for and against marriage equality. Nonetheless, the steps of the Supreme Court felt like a very important place to be. As the Court heard oral arguments on California’s Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, hundreds gathered on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings to send a message to the world: Marriage is a right that should be available to all people who love each other.
With two full-size Standing on the Side of Love banners and prime real estate on either side of the road in front of the Supreme Court, Unitarian Universalists showed up in numbers. I had a great time chatting with UUs from around the region about why they had taken the morning off work, why they decided to take their kids out of school for a few hours, and why marriage equality is important to them.
Prime real estate in front of the Court. (Credit: Jessica Halperin)
As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Witness Ministries team, one serious perk of my job is the opportunity to live our faith – live our love – out loud. I was proud in ways I can’t fully express to know that our entire faith community was behind us. We arrived in numbers because of our faith, not just in spite of it, because we know that love and sexuality and diversity are sacred gifts that draw us together into more full humanity. My day-to-day work on reproductive justice gives ample opportunity to live into this call of ours, but it was truly a special few days at the Supreme Court, to publically offer Unitarian Universalism and religious and spiritual affirmation to the movement for justice and liberation for all people who love each other.
I was also very proud to be holding up a corner of the Standing on the Side of Love banner, especially during the tense moments that the National Organization for Marriage rally paraded down the street between the pro-equality crowds.
“2, 4, 6, 8! Kids do better with love, not hate!”
They had a permit for the street, and we were crowded onto the sidewalks and the public space in front of the Court. The SSL banners had front-row seats as the NOM supporters marched by – one of our banners even got in front of the NOM rally! – and it was unnerving to look into their faces and signs. We were literally standing on the side of love. We were also standing on the side of justice and the right side of history. As much as I feared their bigotry, I felt sorry for the NOM marchers. It must be so much less fun to be fighting a losing battle for discrimination than propelling forward a movement all about love.
Calling for LGBTQ-inclusive immigration reform. (Credit: Jessica Halperin)
Speaking of love, this post would be incomplete if I didn’t give a shout out to the folks near us who were witnessing at the intersection of immigration reform and LGBTQ advocacy. We were lucky enough to stand right next to them at the Supreme Court and offer our support and cheers, as the Standing on the Side of Love campaign has before. Their presence was a great reminder that justice is interconnected, intersectional, intertwined.
This post was written by Jessica Halperin, a lifelong Unitarian Universalist from Pittsburgh and the UUA’s Witness Ministries Program Associate. Jess holds the environmental justice and reproductive justice portfolios for the UUA.
Feb 26, 2013
Post author Rev. Craig Roshaven and other UUs march under the SSL banner at the Forward on Climate rally. (Credit: Jennifer Toth)
Last Sunday I joined hundreds of Unitarian Universalists and tens of thousands of other concerned citizens at the largest ever gathering in the United States on climate change: the Forward on Climate Rally. One of the major demands of the day was urging President Obama to not approve the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Before the estimated 40,000 participants encircled the White House, we heard a number of inspiring speakers, including Bill McKibben of 350.org, Michael Brune of the Sierra Club, Chief Jacqueline Thomas of Saik’uz First Nation, and Crystal Lameman of the Beaver Lake Cree First Nation.
Many oppose the pipeline because of the threat that extracting all that oil presents to the climate. Others oppose it because of the threat of a major spill from the pipeline and the potential for increased air pollution from refineries processing the tar sands in impoverished communities. While I share these concerns, my principal focus is the effect approving the pipeline will have on the First Nations people whose health and way of life are currently at risk from the impacts of tar sands development. If the pipeline is approved, the rate and extent of extracting oil from the tar sands will increase dramatically. Already people living downstream and downwind are suffering from an increase in rare forms of cancer. Fish in the Athabasca River are often visibly deformed and unsafe to eat.
Mikisew Cree First Nation leaders believe that water pollution from tar sands development may be linked to an increased incidence of cancers found in the population of Fort Chipewyan located directly downstream from the most intensive tar sands development. In 2006, these concerns were brought into the public eye when Dr. John O’Connor, who serves small First Nations communities in the regions where the are sands are extracted, reported a high number of cases of unusual cancers, particularly a rare form of bile duct cancer called cholangiocarcinoma. Despite these and other alarming findings, the Canadian government continues to deny these illnesses are a result of extracting oil from the tar sands. Concerns have also been raised that the amount of water being withdrawn from the Athabasca river system will threaten fish populations and the health of the Peace-Athabasca Delta.
In the face of this denial, First Nation leaders have been forced to turn to the courts to assert their constitutionally protected rights. According to Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation: “The federal government is neglecting its environmental responsibilities and ignoring our concerns. When the government fails to engage with First Nations about our concerns, and fails to respect our rights, these things have nowhere to go but the courts.”
It is because of these concerns that I am standing on the side of love with First Nations people in Canada, and adding my voice to theirs in opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. While the rally might be over, our work continues. Learn more about our work on environmental justice here.
This post was written by Rev. Craig C. Roshaven, Witness Ministries Director at the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Mar 28, 2012
Dear Unitarian Universalists of the Greater Washington Region,
We write to you today as the parents of African American sons, to invite you to join us for a “Rally for Justice for Trayvon Martin.” The rally takes place this Saturday March 31st at noon at Judiciary Square in Washington, DC. (See below for more details.)
Trayvon Martin’s death awakened in us a nightmare that many parents of children of color face: the fear that our children’s lives will be imperiled simply because the color of their skin renders them “suspicious” in the eyes of the world.
Even if you’re not the parent of a child of color, we all love a child who looks like Trayvon Martin—whether they’re our students, neighbors, friends….or fellow Unitarian Universalists.
Many of us have observed that the children in our Unitarian Universalist religious education programs are more racially diverse than the adults in our pews. At All Souls Church in Washington, for example, over 40% of our children identify as non-white, while 23% of our adults do. More and more, the children of Unitarian Universalism look like Trayvon Martin. And to seek justice for Trayvon is to seek justice for all of our children.
So please join us this Saturday in Washington…and don’t forget to wear your hoodie!
Standing with you on the side of love,
The Rev. John Crestwell and the Rev. Robert Hardies
Details about the Rally for Justice for Trayvon Martin:
What: Rally for Justice for Trayvon Martin
When: Saturday March 31st at 12 noon
Where: Judiciary Square, at the corner of 5th and F Streets, Northwest, Washington, DC (Look for UU Church Banners)
Who: All who seek justice for Trayvon Martin and for all our children
Attire: Wear a hoodie, or dress in black. Bring your church banner.
Transport: Judiciary Square is located on the Red Line, one stop from Union Station.
