Subject: Texas Judge Rules Which Churches Acceptable For Gay Families
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 18:21:48 EDT

N E W S   R E L E A S E

From The News Service
of The Universal Fellowship of 
Metropolitan Community Churches

Texas Judge Rules Which Churches Are Acceptable for Gay Families
- Decides Metropolitan Community Church Not Acceptable -

DATELINE TEXAS, USA -- A district judge in the Texas court system has 
released an official ruling that the predominantly gay Metropolitan Community 
Church (MCC) is not an acceptable church for the daughter of a lesbian mother.

The ruling came in the midst of a custody ruling as part of a divorce between 
the lesbian mother and her husband.

"I'm holding the judge's order in my hand and reading and re-reading his 
words. I can hardly believe what I am seeing," said the Rev. Troy D. Perry, 
Moderator of more than 300 MCC congregations. 

In his legal opinion, Judge Keith Nelson of the 78 Judicial District of Texas 
wrote:

"The primary issue is where the child would attend Sunday school and 
church...the intent was for mainline churches to be utilized in the religious 
training of the daughter. This would include the Catholic Church, and church 
in the Protestant faith such as Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, Christian, 
Episcopalian, which are considered to be the standard religious institutions 
in the Protestant field. The Metropolitan Community Church does not fall 
within this category."

"This is a violation of the First Amendment protections to freedom of 
religion," said Perry. "We have joined hands with the National Center for 
Lesbian Rights to fight this injustice and protect the constitutional rights 
of this lesbian mother and her child."

"This is not only shocking," said Perry, "it's an attack on GLBT families and 
people of faith. Because we're gay or lesbian, this homophobic, sexist judge 
feels he can decide by official government decree which churches or 
synagogues are "acceptable" and which are not. What in God's name will it 
take to get the government out of our lives -- or from attempting to control 
our GLBT families?"

The lesbian mother reports she tried to comply with the judge's ruling and 
attended the types of churches listed in his order. "We never felt 
comfortable in those places," said the mother, whose name is being withheld 
to protect her daughter's legal rights. "My heart almost broke when my 
daughter begged me to take her back to the MCC church."

"I am asking all people of goodwill to support this case. And I encourage 
those who believe in prayer, to remember this courageous mother and her 
beautiful young daughter with their prayers," said Perry.

According to Perry, an appeal of the judge's decision was filed in the Texas 
court system on Friday, April 23. "I have made a personal commitment to this 
family that we will pursure the appeals process as far as we have to to 
ensure that justice is done, and to protect other GLBT families from this 
kind of government interference into our personal, family and spiritual 
lives," added Perry.

Since its founding in 1968, UFMCC has been at the forefront of the drive for 
spiritual and social justice for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered 
persons. The denomination successfully fought for the of rights of gays and 
lesbians to serve as chaplains in public jails, and has fought a variety of 
anti-gay laws and ballot initiatives.

UFMCC is composed of more than 300 local congregations in 15 countries. UFMCC 
has 42,000 official members and adherents, and more than 225,000 persons 
attend the services and programs of UFMCC annually. Additional information on 
UFMCC is available on the Internet at http://www.ufmcc.com.

(END)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
James N. Birkitt, UFMCC Director of Communications
UFMCC
8704 Santa Monica Blvd., 2nd Floor
West Hollywood, CA  90069

Tel. (310) 360-8640, Ext. 226

Fax: (310) 360-8680

E-Mail: [email-masked]

website: http://www.ufmcc.com

============================================================

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 14:53:40 EDT
Subject: RE: Texas Judge's Ruling On "Acceptable" Churches for GLBT Families

TO NEWS MEDIA:

Both the Rev. Troy Perry and the UFMCC Director of Communications are on the 
road today. Due to their travel schedules, we are experiencing difficulty 
connecting them with reporters covering the story of the Texas judge who 
ruled that predominantly-gay MCC churches are not acceptable houses of 
worship for the child of a lesbian mother.

If you are on deadline -- or wish another perspective -- please contact Kate 
Kendell at the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. Her 
office # is 415-392-8442. 

NCLR has joined hands with UFMCC to appeal the judge's decision. The appeal 
was filed this past Friday afternoon.

Thank you.

UFMCC HQ STAFF