The Statement from the Collective of Queer Christian Leaders released on Ash Wednesday stated: We are leaders of faith-based organizations in the intersectional work of LGBTQIA2S+ justice…we are under attack. But you are not alone, and you are not forgotten—not by our God, and not by us. From the many traditions and denominations we represent, we are with you and among you. Your pain is our pain. Your hope is our hope… The good news of…Jesus is defiant in the face of destruction.
It will outlast every hijacking attempt, including this one by white Christian nationalists….Know that just as you may confound the Empire today, Jesus confounded the Empire of his time and place. We oppose this administration’s attempts to erase or criminalize transgender and nonbinary people. We oppose their violent cruelty, placing immigrants in extrajudicial detention facilities or sending them to nations where they’d likely be imprisoned or killed. We oppose the disintegration of safety nets that protect and uplift our neighbors, like the removal of access to healthcare and the denial of identities.
We oppose the illegal and unconstitutional accessing of personal private data… We oppose the calculated dismantling and disruption to funding that protects the most vulnerable in our society… We…are Queer and Trans people who are immigrants (both chosen and forced). We are disabled, poor, and unhoused. We carry stories in many languages and span every generation. Our liberation is inseparable from one another’s, as the Aboriginal activist Lilla Watson reminds us: “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.
But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” …Leave no space for apathy. Let your mercy be an act of rebellion. And never forget: you are worthy of justice, as much as anyone else who walks this earth. …no oppressive project can separate you from the love of God, the love of community, or the power we hold when we rise together. The statement was signed by: the Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists, Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests, More Light Presbyterians, Open and Affirming Coalition of the United Church of Christ, and 7 other faith organizations.
