The Struggle is Global, Right Here in VirginiaThe Struggle Is Global, Right Here in Virginia
Recently, many of us cheered when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.”
It was part of an historic shift in U.S. foreign policy—aligning our government, in its dealings with other governments, on the side of the struggle for justice for LGBT people around the globe. We may or may not feel the effects of this shift here at home, but activists in other countries will.
Her declaration (you can read the full remarks here) reminded me that the struggle is global. We in Virginia are part of that struggle. Two events in the next couple of weeks reflect this.
First, on January 14, in Fairfax, my husband Jonathan and I will be joining many others in welcoming Unitarian Universalist minister Mark Kiyimba (pictured right) to Virginia. He is visiting NoVA, and will appear Saturday at 7:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fairfax and at morning worship at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington. The events are open to the public. Many call Rev. Kiyimba by the title “Bishop” because he began the first UUA church in Uganda, and because he is an outspoken opponent of the infamous legislation proposed to outlaw homosexuality and kill its practitioners.
The UUA is not a major church in Africa. Bishop Kiyimba chose to serve in the UUA because the Roman Catholic Church of his birth and later the evangelical church in which he chose to minister were opposed to women leaders; also the evangelicals exhibited hatred toward lesbian and gay people.
He says that as the last of ten children raised by his single mother he knows a woman can do anything a man can do. And, while not gay himself, he just could not understand the persecution of a whole group. Neither misogyny nor homophobia fit with his understanding of a loving God.
I surely agree, and you undoubtedly do, too.
So, ten days later, on January 24, I hope you will join me and other people of faith at the annual Equality Virginia lobby day. The day begins at the Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street. It is an opportunity to meet other activists, and to engage your delegate and senator in conversation, educating them about equality in some cases, and encouraging all of them to support it.
We will not be having the annual POFEV Prayer Breakfast this year, but I invite you to join me in the lobby of the Library at 8:30 for prayer before Lobby Day begins. You can see the entire EV Lobby Day schedule here.
Also, beginning Wednesday, January 18, Cameron Hunt, Program Director of POFEV, and I will gather with others, including legislators, for weekly prayer in the General Assembly Building. More details about this soon. I hope you will consider these opportunities to pray and witness for equality.
As I do so this year, I will remember Bishop Kiyimba—who not only faces political opposition but also death threats in response to his work. He has to watch as gay and lesbian Ugandans are killed, and see his government, and other religionists, support the violence.
This struggle is global, and it is ours to engage.
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