Position – LGBTQ+ Rights

September 13, 2019

OUR POSITION:

We support full acceptance of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and asexual (LGBTQ+) individuals in their gender expression; their romantic and sexual partnerships; and their creation of families and supportive communities.

We support their right to live free from harassment and abuse, through protections against discrimination in education, job opportunities, housing, medical care and other public accommodations and services.

We support each individual’s right to marry the person of their choice regardless of gender and to form families through birth or adoption with the same rights and protections as opposite-gender couples.

OUR REASONS:

Clinical research in the field of psychology has concluded that sexual or romantic attraction to someone of the same gender is a normal, healthy form of human sexuality.  Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of one’s self that should never lead to discrimination and/or abuse.

Due to the stress of anti-gay stigma, discrimination and harassment, the rate of suicide attempts among LGBTQ+ youth is reported at 3 to 10 times higher than for non-LGBTQ+ young people.  Among transgender people, between 30 and 45% report having attempted to end their own lives.

Justice for LGBTQ+ people is inextricably tied to work for women’s rights and other justice struggles.

OUR ADVOCACY POINTS:

Provide legal protections for LGBTQ+ youth and adults against discrimination, bullying and harassment within schools and communities.

Make it illegal to discriminate in education, housing, hiring, career advancement, military service, medical care and public services or accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender expression.

Allow all Americans to marry the person of their choice, regardless of gender, and to enjoy all the parental rights, medical access and inheritance and property rights of non-LGBTQ people.

Allow LGBTQ+ individuals to serve openly in the US military, and in all other jobs for which they are qualified.

Make prevention and treatment protocols for HIV-AIDS readily available and financially accessible.

Prohibit programs that seek to change sexual orientation through so-called conversion therapy, which have been shown to create deep and lasting psychological damage.

Oppose outdated laws that limit access to assisted reproductive technology, gender reassignment surgery and hormone therapies or criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity

Allow transgender individuals to seek gender reassignment therapies through surgery, hormonal treatments or other means. Require medical insurance companies to offer coverage for transgender health care.

Allow transgender individuals to change their birth certificates to reflect their gender (correcting the gender presumed at birth), to legally change their names and have those changes reflected in their legal documents and identification.

Require that imprisoned trans people have access to treatments and to gender- appropriate placement.

Support access and gender-appropriate placement in shelters for trans people who are un-housed.

Allow individuals to use public restrooms, locker rooms, etc. that correspond to their gender identity, particularly when that is different from the gender they were assigned at birth.

Include gender-neutral facilities in schools and government buildings.

And finally, we call on leaders in all faith traditions to embrace a contemporary understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity and cease the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that does spiritual violence to individuals, divides families, and undergirds discriminatory and punitive policies in this country and around the world.