From: Interfaith Working Group Subject: IWG Hickory NC letter Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 22:56:18 -0400 (EDT) The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 12 congregations and organizations and 56 clergy from 15 religious traditions. 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. April 6, 1998 Mr. Larry D. Clark Editor Hickory Daily Record 1100 Park Place & 11th Avenue SE Hickory, NC 28602 Dear Mr. Clark: We read your March 22nd editorial with interest, and felt that some of the points you made required a response. You said that the "great majority of Americans avoid the homosexual lifestyle." First, what do you mean by "homosexual lifestyle?" Gays and lesbians are found across all economic, ethnic, geographic, educational, professional, and religious divisions in society, and lead a number of very different "lifestyles." Second, the great majority of Americans do not have overwhelming same-gender attractions, and therefore have nothing to "avoid." We are also growing weary of people complaining that sexual orientation is not a race. Pointing out that sexual minorities have suffered many of the same types of persecution as racial minorities is not the same as claiming that they are a race. The similarity between the acts of persecution is a fact; the reason for the persecution is obviously different, but the outcome for those affected is the same. We believe that everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law without respect to race, religion, or gender (since religion is included, the list is clearly not restricted to genetic characteristics). Sexual orientation discrimination is gender discrimination: unequal treatment on the basis on the gender of perceived sexual partners. It is also akin to religious discrimination: unequal treatment on the basis of belief, association, and affection. Even if your statistics were correct (look closely at your sources; you will find some serious flaws), we object strongly to judging individuals on the basis of statistical norms of a single characteristic. If someone is female, African American, Christian, and homosexual, what set of statistics would you use to judge her? People of faith have disagreed over many issues in the last few millennia. The argument over sexual orientation is no less contentious and no more important than disagreements over slavery, women's ordination, temperance, governance, the baptism, papal infallibility, the role of Mary, communion, the divinity of Christ, or the Sabbath. Sincerely, Barbara Purdom Christopher Purdom Interfaith Working Group Coordinators -- Interfaith Working Group Religious organizations, congregations iwg@libertynet.org and clergy supporting gay rights, http://www.libertynet.org/iwg/ reproductive freedom, and the 215-235-3050 separation of church and state.