Fun Size Bytes (from @Tj)

Senate passes Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act

I just received this via email from The Covenant Network of Presbyterians which is a group I belong to… most of their work involves trying to get “full participation” in the PCUSA for people who are gay/lesbian/trans-/bi- (meaning that they can be ordained ministers, deacons, elders, etc).

They wrote today about a larger issue.

(Note: this email was written by a woman who works for the Covenant Network)

Dear Friends,

One of the great though often unrecognized blessings white, straight Americans – that is, most of us who are reading this note – enjoy, is that we can generally assume when we leave home in the morning that we’ll return safely home at night.

Sadly, not all our fellow citizens can assume that.  While as a woman who’s lived most of my life in cities, I pay attention to my surroundings in strange places, I’ve been very startled when walking with strong, healthy gay men to find that they are far more attuned to potential dangers of random violence.

So I rejoice in the news that the Senate has finally – after years of effort – passed a comprehensive hate crimes bill – the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  (The House has already passed it, and the president – unlike his predecessor – has promised to sign it.)

The Covenant Network Board of Directors moved our spring board meeting to Washington earlier this year in order to participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s “Clergy Call” lobby days.  This bill was one of the principal focuses.  What, after all, could be a more obvious “Christian value” than the equal right of all to be safe in their persons, regardless of their perceived identities?

Passed within days of the 11th anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death (which occasioned one of the Covenant Network’s earliest board statements), this bill, soon to become law, moves our country just a little closer to the commonwealth I believe God intends for us all.

Thank you, all, for all you do every day to move our church and our country closer to a place and society that genuinely welcomes all!