wfn.org | Metropolitan Community Churches: On The U.S. State of the Union

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Statement By The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson
Office of the Moderator, Metropolitan Community  Churches
_www.MCCchurch.org_ (http://www.MCCchurch.org) 
 
On The	State of the Union Address
by the President of the United States
 
For far too many Americans, the President's declaration that, "The  state of 
our union is strong," is far removed from their everyday  experience.

The reality is this: So long as millions of our  citizens live beneath the 
poverty level and are denied access to quality	healthcare, out union is not 
strong. So long as the U.S.' reputation in the	world deteriorates and so
long as 
our nation remains divided by a war that  is not supported by a majority of 
people in either country -- a war that	continues to claim a horrifying
number 
of lives -- our union is not strong. And  so long as civil liberties are 
endangered at unprecedented levels, our union is  not strong.

Coretta Scott King was right, when in echoing the words  of her late husband 
she said, "We are all tied together in a single garment of  destiny." So long

as any people are left behind, our nation's garment is frayed  and in need of

mending -- and our union is not strong.

And  regrettably, the U.S. President's State of the Union Address once again 
failed	to acknowledge the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender 
(LGBT)	persons in the United States.

Despite the promise of the U.S.  Constitution to "establish Justice...and to 
secure the blessing of Liberty to  ourselves and to our Posterity," the 
reality is that millions of LGBT people  live our day-to-day lives without
the full 
legal rights and protections accorded  to most citizens.

-- In most of the United States,

LGBT people are denied the right to marriage equality, and to the benefits  
provided by civil marriage law.

-- In most of the United  States, LGBT people are still not accorded full 
legal protection from  discrimination in their employment.

-- In most of the United  States, our transgender brothers and sisters are 
denied legal  protections based upon gender variance, and horrific hate
crimes 
against  transgender people, including murder at alarming rates, too often
fly  
beneath the radar of civil authorities and media coverage.

--  In most of the United States, LGBT couples are not	afforded standardized

and equal rights under a patchwork of adoption	laws, and in many places, 
LGBT couples face overt hostility from adoption  laws.

-- In most of the United States, government at	every level too often ignores

the plight of LGBT teens, who experience high  rates of discrimination in our

nation's schools, and experience higher rates of  depression, attempted 
suicide, and homelessness than their  counterparts.

-- In the United States, the nation's  immigration laws devalue our LGBT 
relationships, and place undue and unnecessary	hardships on LGBT couples,
and 
unjustly treat	persons with HIV and  AIDS.

-- Despite the alarming new rise of HIV and  AIDS among people of color, 
women, and youth, the U.S. government  continues to under-fund HIV
prevention, 
research, and treatment. And for  far too many, HIV medications are often 
difficult and too expensive to obtain;	for them, words and promises are too
little 
too late.

It is  appropriate on this day that marks the passing of Coretta Scott King 
to also  remember her words, "We are all tied together in a single garment of

destiny...I  can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what

you ought to  be. I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies
were 
unjust and  unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans 
who believe in	democracy."

Until all people -- including lesbian, gay, bisexual  and transgender people 
-- are afforded full equality under all the laws of the  United States, the 
"state of our union" is not strong. The reality for millions  of Americans is

that this nation, which is a work in progress, has not yet lived  up to the 
promise of its founding creeds.

Until equality and  justice are realities for all people, we must not be 
silent. I urge all people  of goodwill to renew our commitment to speak truth
to 
power, to address  injustice, and to act on behalf of all who are yet denied 
the promise of this  nation's founding vision.

This much I know: 

Our union  will be stronger when we speak out for those who are still left 
behind, and  when we work to bring justice and equality to all	people.

/signed/
The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson
Office of the  Moderator
Metropolitan Community	Churches

_________________________________________________

For  Additional Information, Contact:
MCC Communications Department
E-mail:  _info@MCCchurch.org_ (mailto:info@MCCchurch.org) 
Web: _www.MCCchurch.org_ (http://www.mccchurch.org/)