Subject: SOULFORCE RELEASE: 73 Arrested at Episcopal Convention 7/4/2000
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 11:45:17 EDT

* SOULFORCE PRESS RELEASE *

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE LEADS TO ARREST OF 73 PEOPLE DURING PROTEST AT EPISCOPAL 
CONVENTION IN DENVER JULY 4th

4th Demonstration This Summer of Civil Disobedience  and Arrests All Across 
the United States in Protest of the Exclusion of God's Gay, Lesbian, 
Bisexual, and Transgender Children

PRESS RELEASE
July 5, 2000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura Montgomery Rutt, Media Coordinator
Cell: 717-951-7712

Denver - On July 4th, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender (GLBT) individuals, 
and their families, friends and allies joined together in Denver to protest 
the exclusionary practices by many churches and bishops in the Episcopal 
Church USA and support the full inclusion of GLBT individuals in all aspects 
the church. The protest was organized by Soulforce; an interfaith movement 
committed to applying the principles of nonviolent resistance as taught by 
Gandhi and King to the liberation of sexual and gender minorities. 

After a morning Soulforce training session in non-violent resistance to 
injustice at St Paul's United Methodist Church in Denver, 200 protesters 
moved to the Episcopal Conference at the Colorado Convention Center for a 45 
minute silent vigil and press conference beginning at 1pm. 

As Bishops and Deputies arrived for their 2pm Opening Orientation Session, 
Soulforce volunteers trained in nonviolent civil disobedience moved from the 
steps to the sidewalk in front of the Convention Center, peacefully and 
symbolically blocking the entrance to the Convention Center.  After ordered 
by police to disperse, the demonstrators refused and were handcuffed and 
placed under arrest. Several groups of protesters then followed the same 
pattern, each being arrested after being told to disperse.

A total of 73 people, both gay and straight, from the Episcopal church and 
many denominations all over the United States, were taken to police 
headquarters, and received a citation for Failure to Obey a Lawful Order and 
Trespassing.  All those arrested were released from custody within two hours. 
 The fine has not been set, but carries a maximum penalty of $1000 and 1-year 
in jail.

One of those arrested was retired Episcopal Bishop Otis Charles.  Bishop 
Charles said, "After being true to myself and my church that I was gay, I 
came to understand that God loves just as I am.  There is no place I can, be 
except with Soulforce, speaking the voice of truth about God's children."
 
"From the beginning of this tragic debate, Episcopal bishops, priests, and 
laity have taken courageous and costly stands for full inclusion of sexual 
and gender minorities," explained Dr. Mel White, co-founder of Soulforce and 
one of those arrested. "However, many Episcopal churches still exclude us.  
Many bishops still discriminate against us.  The fundamentalist forces in the 
Episcopal Church want to deny that God loves us the way we are. The debate 
has been going on long enough! Soulforce is here to say that this debate must 
end! God loves us just the way we are.  We are your neighbors, and your 
organists, and your clergy, and your Sunday School teachers, and your 
deacons, and your ushers, and God's children"

In a letter to the Deputies and Bishops of the Convention, The Rev. Dr. 
George F. Regas, Rector Emeritus of All Saints church in Pasadena, CA and one 
of the most esteemed Episcopal clergy, stated, "The debate on the 
homosexuality issue has become a primary source of suffering for millions of 
lesbian and gay people.  The fact that bishops, priests and laity are at this 
General Convention to debate once again whether gay and lesbian persons are 
acceptable is obscene!"

 Similar Soulforce protests were held during the United Methodist General 
Conference in May, and the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian 
General Assembly in June. In November, a Soulforce delegation will conduct 
another civil disobedience at the meeting of the National Council of Catholic 
Bishops in Washington, D.C.  All participants in all direct actions are 
required to sign, wear, and uphold the Soulforce "pledge to nonviolence" used 
by Dr. Martin Luther King and his marchers in 1963.

For additional information on the Soulforce action, or to sign up for civil 
disobedience training and non-violent direct actions, go to 
http://www.soulforce.org or call (949) 455-0999.