National Emergency on LGBTQIA2S+ Rights!

A first! And not of the good kinds of “firsts.” The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an LGBTQIA2S+ civil rights organization based in Washington, DC, has put out the first “National Emergency” on LGBTQIA2S+ rights in the US. In its 40 year existence, HRC has never put out a “state of emergency” declaration. But the time has come now to do it, because of what Republican state legislatures and Republican governors have been doing around the US.

More than 75 anti-LGBTQIA2S+ bills have been signed into law in 2023 alone. This is double the number that were passed in 2022. As reported on the website, joemygod.com, “The sharp rise in anti-LGBTQ+ measures has spawned a dizzying patchwork of discriminatory state laws that have created increasingly hostile and dangerous environments for LGBTQ+ people, prompting HRC today to also issue a national warning and downloadable guidebook for the LGBTIQ+ community--including health and safety resources, a summary of state-by-state laws, ‘know your rights’ information, and resources designed to support LGBTQ+ travelers as well as those already living in hostile states. This guidebook will arm LGBGQ+ people with resources and information to help ensure safety in all 50 states.”

Here is the link from HRC: https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/national-state-of-emergency-for-lgbtq-americans

And here’s the link to the joemygod.com article: https://www.joemygod.com/2023/06/human-rights-campaign-declares-national-emergency/ 

As always, my concern is the silence of our mainline denominational church office leadership teams are staying quiet on this front. I can find nothing on any of the websites of mainline church news websites that point out where our churches are speaking out against the legislation that is hurting those of us in the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Please prove me wrong if I’m missing something. Our leadership should be preaching and teaching against these bills that hurt those of us in the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

May it be so.


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