Subject: IWG Raleigh Alveda Celeste King comments
From: Interfaith Working Group <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 22:37:22 -0500 (EST)

The following went out on IWG letterhead listing 12 congregations and
organizations and 53 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.

February 21, 1998

News and Observer
Box 191
Raleigh, NC 27602 

Dear Editors:

One might think from reading Alveda Celeste King's
comments in your January 19 edition that sexual
minorities have never suffered systematic
discrimination or enjoyed religious support.   

She is right that gay men and lesbians as a group were
not targeted for slavery or segregation.  However,
(thanks in part to Ms. King's own efforts) gay people
can still legally be denied housing and employment in
most states purely on the basis of the perception of
their orientation, cannot legally serve in the
military, cannot get legal recognition for their
marriages in any state, and cannot legally engage in
consensual sex in quite a few states.  In many school
districts around the country, gay students cannot form
clubs or talk to counselors or teachers about
relationships.  And while they are denied ordination
and even membership in many religious institutions,
there is growing support for the gay rights movement
among people of all faiths, races, and orientations, as
anyone reading about recent debates in the Episcopal,
Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Mennonite, and even
Southern Baptist denominations can attest.  

Lastly, it is important to note that Alveda's aunt,
Coretta Scott King, has signed a resolution supporting
civil marriage for same-sex couples.  We appreciate her
recognition of the lack of civil rights enjoyed by
sexual minorities and her support for the community of
activists working to rectify that situation.

Sincerely,
Barbara Purdom     Christopher Purdom
Interfaith Working Group Coordinators

-- 

Interfaith Working Group                Religious organizations, congregations
[email-masked]                      and clergy supporting gay rights,
http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/         reproductive freedom, and the 
215-235-3050                            separation of church and state.