Subject: IWG Washington Monthly Letter Date: Sun, 4 Feb 1996 21:02:52 -0500 (EST) From: Chris Purdom The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 2 congregations, 4 religious organizations and 20 clergy from 9 denominations. If you are in the general Philadelphia area and represent a congregation or religious organization or are clergy, let us know if you want to be added - all faiths are welcome. We will also be happy to help start similar organizations in other areas. Visit the web page at http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/ January 29, 1995 The Washington Monthly 1611 Connecticut Ave. Washington, DC 20009 Dear Editors: We were flabbergasted by Charles Peters' comments on liberalism and sexual orientation, suggesting that we should sacrifice the basic civil rights of our fellow citizens in the name of consensus. Thirty years ago people were arguing that racial equality was too divisive an issue, and that we should find common ground with conservative whites and stop pushing so hard on integration. They were wrong then, and Peters is wrong now. Rather than give in to the fears of conservatives, we should be educating them about why gay rights are common rights. When Peters speaks of good schools for all students as a liberal value, we trust that he is including queer students among their number. And good schools for queer students are schools where they are not taunted, or beaten, or told by the administration to expect such treatment, schools in which they are represented on the faculty and in sex education, and in history texts and on the literature syllabus. Homosexuality is not a disease, and it does not spread. Unfortunately this basic idea is not understood by many people. It has been very difficult to get comprehensive sex education into the schools precisely because people are afraid that talking about sexual orientation can change it. The core values of liberalism are not programs, but equal rights, Civil Liberties, and the protection and advancement of the oppressed. Programs are a means to that end. Only the worst demagogues want bad schools, and only the stupidest would say so in public. The question is not whether we all want good schools, but what constitutes a good school and how we get there. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators