My family in Christ in the Episcopal Church in the Bay Area,
In light of last week’s disheartening Supreme Court rulings against affirmative action, student loan forgiveness, and LGBTQ+ protections, I commend our Presiding Bishop’s two statements to The Episcopal Church, which are pasted below. I would also like to add the following personal reflection:
At the 2008 San Francisco Interfaith Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast, I heard our then-mayor, Gavin Newsom, say that as a lifelong member of the Church, he believed that the then-freshly passed Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage was contrary to his understanding of Christianity. “I was taught,” he said, “that the Church works to expand rights, not constrict them.”
Immediately after Proposition 8’s passage, I and many within our diocese and the wider faith community partnered with LGBTQ+ advocates to overturn the proposition, along with the U.S. military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and the disastrous Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage. I particularly remember the optimism of the advocates we invited for a gathering at Grace Cathedral; they were steadfast in their view that these policies would be overturned, and sooner than many thought.
Leveraging the far-reaching influence of our diocese, our own chancellor, Canon Christopher Hayes, asked me to join him in enrolling dioceses across The Episcopal Church to follow our lead and sign amicus briefs to the Supreme Court opposing Proposition 8. All of California’s six Episcopal dioceses joined us in that historic effort. We then rallied them to join Episcopal dioceses from nine other states and Washington, D.C., 23 in total, in signing a second brief challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
A short time later, in 2013, I found myself at San Francisco City Hall amidst a crowded, jubilant throng gathered to hear the official news that the Supreme Court had indeed rejected Proposition 8. It also deemed as unconstitutional the section of DOMA that barred federal recognition of married same-sex couples. By this time, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell had also been repealed. Of course, these overturns were no accident but the result of patient, persistent advocacy.
I recount all of the above to illustrate that DioCal — through its solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, with young people disadvantaged by race and income, and with all who experience injustice — breathes life into the Beloved Community principles that are so central to our identity. St. Paul taught us that love will not fail; everything that is not love will pass away; this I believe.
+Marc
Pastoral word from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to LGBTQ+ community
Courtesy of The Episcopal Church, Office of Public affairs
Statement from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in college admissions
Courtesy of The Episcopal Church, Office of Public affairs
“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action in college admissions, I am saddened for all who will be negatively impacted, and I am mindful that we must continue to root out white supremacy and systemic racism.
Our mandate as followers of Jesus is clear: to create the Beloved Community by facing painful truths from our past, learning from them, and then turning and joining hands together to right wrongs and foster justice and healing. In so doing, we can be and build that community and world where there is truly liberty and justice for all. This is the work of love.
The Episcopal Church has long supported programs of affirmative action to address inequality wherever it exists. This work continues, and our faithful witness is more important now than ever before.”
0 Comments