I wrote this for the Reconciling Ministries Network; it appeared in the RMN Blog today.
As we stood near the doors of the Ada County Courthouse last October,
same-sex couples walked out with smiles on their faces and marriage licenses in
hand. Each couple was cheered as they
walked out of the building and down the stairs into the crowd. Same-sex marriage was now legal in
Idaho. What joy there was!
However,
these newlyweds can go to work wearing their wedding rings and be fired for
being gay. In Idaho LGBT people have no
protection from being fired, losing their housing, or being denied public
accommodation for simply being who they are.
For 9 years an organization called Add the Words, Idaho has been working
to add the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the Idaho Human
Rights Act but the Republican leadership of the Idaho Legislature refused to
even allow a public hearing. The
movement has grown over the years. Last
year four of us from Hillview UMC were among the first 44 people to be arrested
for civil disobedience at the Idaho State Capitol. More church members became active plus I pulled
together other people of faith to form the Interfaith Equality Coalition.
Finally,
at the beginning of the legislative session in January, a public hearing was
held. The bill was sent to the House
State Affairs Committee, the least likely committee to pass it on. I spent a good portion of that week at the
Statehouse sitting through about 17 hours of the 21 total hours of
testimony. The stories of harm were
heartbreaking: bullying, suicides, beatings, loss of jobs, being kicked out of
public places, denial of housing, fear, hiding, and more. It was also difficult to listen to the opposition,
especially the vitriol and misinformation coming from other Christians,
including pastors. Someone commented
that we didn't hear any atheists standing up there in opposition. We had hoped, by some miracle, that they
would vote to pass it on to the entire House for a vote but in the end the vote
was down party lines—13 Republicans against moving it on and 4 Democrats for
it. While we expected this, it was
disappointing that not one mind was changed.
I was
extremely proud of the LGBT people and their families who stood up in public
and told such personal stories of discrimination and harm. I was also proud of our coalition clergy and
other members who testified. We had additional
clergy in religious attire sitting in the audience to observe the hearing and
to be seen. After all of the harm done
by churches, our LGBT people really appreciate their support. The Interfaith Equality Coalition is holding
prayer vigils every Wednesday in front of the Capitol. I plan to work on expanding our coalition
statewide. The Add the Words Coalition
(about 12 groups, including our coalition) met the afternoon of the vote. More than half of the people around the table
were LGBT—there was a lot of pain. It's
hard but we are not done. We are all
looking at next steps.
Have we
made progress? Getting a hearing after 9
years is a step. It does seem that our
civil disobedience and protests made an impact. We had hoped that a bill would be introduced on
the Senate side but lawmakers have announced that no new Add the Words bill
will be introduced this session. Some
activists have said that this gives us time to get more lawmakers comfortable
with the legislation. But for people
who have waited so long and are being hurt, it is hard to be patient. It's personal. All I can say to them is that I, along with
other people of faith, stand with you. We’re
not done yet.
