Leaders and members of various religious congregations will gather at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Monday night to show interfaith solidarity with the Charlotte area’s gay and lesbian community. The event is part of a larger series of statewide vigils protesting the North Carolina Legislature’s special session on an anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution.
Among the speakers at tonight’s vigil is Jay Leach, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Charlotte, who said this morning that N.C. lawmakers need to hear from religious congregations that do not support the right-wing anti-LGBT status quo.
North Carolinians, Leach said, hear a lot from the Christian right, but not nearly enough from religious people who support progressive social change. “There have always been those voices coming from the status quo, resisting change, even threatening God’s wrath on people who support change,” said Leach. “But there’s also always been religious voices calling for meaningful change.”
Leach cited the religious backing of past monumental issues of rectitude ranging from the abolition of slavery to women’s suffrage, civil rights and interracial marriage. “Tonight we will coalesce a strong religious voice in Charlotte that says we should go forward” in terms of equality for gays and lesbians, “and not hold the status quo, and certainly not go backwards.”
Other religious leaders appearing at tonight’s vigil alongside Leach include Holy Trinity minister Nancy Kraft and Temple Beth El associate rabbi Jonathan Freirich. The gathering, sponsored by Equality N.C., will begin at 7 p.m. at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1900 The Plaza.
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2011.
MR LEACH, WILL YOU STAND FOR MY RIGHT TO HAVE EXTRA MARITAL SEX? AFTER ALL GOD IS LOVE. I WILL LOVE ALL THE WOMEN I HAVE SEX WITH. IN SOME THINGS THERE IS “RIGHT” AND THERE IS “WRONG”. AS IN THE CASE ABOVE AND IN YOUR CASE YOU ARE WRONG. ALSO I AM GLAD THIS ARTICAL SEPERATED THE “CHRISTIAN RIGHT” FROM YOU “RELIGIOUS PEOPLE”. AS LONG AS YOU AGREE WITH THE HOMOSEXUAL LIFESTYLE DONT CALL YOURSELF A CHRISTIAN.
J Adams, your “argument” makes no sense at all. Equating extramarital sex with people who want to get married and be faithful to each other is so illogical, even you should be able to see it. Also, I’d love to see your credentials for declaring that someone else isn’t a Christian — what are you, Jesus’ designated Christian rater? Get over yourself, you small-minded, fearful bigot. And one more thing: it’s “article” and “separated.”
There are plenty of Gay Christians that would disagree with you J Adams.
I can only assume that given their tolerance, they are living through Christ much more faithfully than someone like you ever could.