February 2021 marks the fortieth anniversary of the “Operation Soap” raids in Toronto which saw nearly 300 members of the LGBTQ population arrested in one night. This sweeping action served to galvanize the city’s gay community and would set in motion major social change that swept beyond the downtown core and served as a key inspiration for the gay pride movement across Canada.
On February 15, 1981, RFF founder and Executive Director Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes, then the Senior Pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, began a hunger strike to demand an investigation of the police force and in protest of the raids and their implications on the rights and privacy of those affected.
“People who were arrested in bathhouses or other situations - their names would be published in the newspapers. And often, people would be fired from their jobs or they would be kicked out of their families … or worse yet, commit suicide.”
… Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes on the impetus for his peaceful protest action.
In the days and weeks that followed, protest marches and mass rallies were held in the city as Rev. Hawkes continued his hunger strike.
After twenty-five days, Rev. Hawkes ended his fast when Toronto City Council formally requested an investigation into the raids and into the city’s relationship with its LGBTQ community.
Forty years later, considerable steps have been taken to improve and foster the relationship between the city, law enforcement, and the LGBTQ community. Our work continues today to ensure the progress made is ongoing and evolves to reflect the intersectionality of discrimination and persecution based on sexual identity, race, gender, and faith, both here in Toronto, across Canada, and throughout the world.
Queer Devotions: "Queer Seniors To The Front" with MPP Dr. Jill Andrew
On this week’s episode of Queer Devotions, we welcome special guest MPP Dr. Jill Andrew.
Dr. Andrew is a fierce advocate for queer seniors - fighting the homophobia and transphobia embedded within many governmental institutions and the for-profit model of long-term care homes, which has put so many seniors at risk in this pandemic.
Enjoy this week’s conversation with Dr. Andrew about the many issues facing LGBTQ seniors and how we, as a community, must address them.
You can access this week’s full episode HERE.
Spirituality and Social Justice
How Did We Get Here? How Do Leaders Become Involved In Social Justice?
In many progressive Christian circles, they talk about the spiritual gospel and the social gospel being two sides of the same coin. Historically, this has meant that people of faith are challenged to not only lead deeply personal spiritual lives, but to also engage in actions that make the world a better place, a more just place, a more compassionate place, for everyone. It means that our faith calls us to be engaged in activities that both care for people in need and challenge the systems that might lead to the inequity in the first place. We see this dual approach in the lives of many of the prominent spiritual and social justice leaders. In Canada, this was profoundly seen in the life of Tommy Douglas, who was both a Baptist minister and also a leading politician. As premier of the province of Saskatchewan, he introduced socialized medicine because he believed that the size of a person’s bank account should not dictate the quality of their health care. He did this because his faith called him to be concerned about the sick, and now all of Canada is better off because of our healthcare system.
We also see this dual approach in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was also a minister and a prominent leader in the civil rights movement. Dr. King also spoke eloquently about how his faith caused him to fight for social justice and civil rights for any marginalized community.
So today, as people of faith, we are also called to be committed to spirituality and social justice. And together as a faith based organization, Rainbow Faith and Freedom (RFF) is called to hear the cries of LGBTI people all over the world who want to find faith communities where we can worship without discrimination, and families where we can be loved without exception.
At RFF, we believe that we are called to start a movement that directly confronts and reduces religious-based homophobia. It is our calling and our responsibility to address this issue. Religious-based homophobia stands in the way of both of these objectives, and as a result, is a major obstacle to the achievement of LGBTI equality. RFF is a movement to mobilize people of faith to ensure that families and faith communities are safer for LGBTI people in Canada and around the world. If religion has been a major problem, then it means that religious people of faith need to be a major part of the solution. RFF will mobilize that support; spirituality and social justice coming together.
Our next blog will talk about why religious-based homophobia and the role it plays around the world.
RFF’s podcast "Queer Devotions" is back for Season Two!
Queer Devotions seeks to uncover stories of how faith-based transphobia and homophobia manifest in Canada and identify moments of resilience and transformative change.
Part of Season Two is looking back, exploring our most popular episodes while also bringing you new ones, including our interview with MPP Dr. Jill Andrew, the first Black and Queer person first elected to the Ontario Legislature, who has fought tirelessly for LGBTQ2S+ and progressive issues in the province.
We’ll also hear from Carmen Del Rae, the drag queen who performed with us during Faith in Crisis, about her experience in the divinity of drag.
We’re also looking forward to a special series this spring, 25 Years of Queer Activism partnering with the “Out of the Closet” lecture series to bring you oral histories of queer seniors. This exciting initiative has been generously funded by the Michael Lynch History Grant from the University of Toronto.
Make sure to subscribe to Queer Devotions wherever you get your podcasts and look for new episodes every Tuesday.
A direct link to Queer Devotions can be found HERE.
Caning Sentences In Aceh, Indonesia
February 1, 2021
We at Rainbow Faith and Freedom are distressed to learn of the recent incident in the Indonesian province of Aceh which saw two Muslim men publicly caned for a consensual same-sex relationship.
The fact that this sentence, unquestionably a violation of basic human rights, was carried out publicly and with an audience adds a further sense of concern.
While we recognize that Indonesia no longer considers homosexuality a crime, the continued targeting of members of the LGBTQ community both in Aceh and throughout the country continues to cause concern.
We will continue our work, both at home and internationally, to ensure that the human rights of LGBTQ2S+ people of all faiths are respected and upheld.
A link to this story can be found here.
Black History Month 2021
Rainbow Faith and Freedom joins our friends both at home and abroad in recognizing Black History Month.
Black History Month is an opportunity to acknowledge the contributions and culture of people of colour across Canada and throughout the world. We celebrate the achievements, traditions, leadership and artistry of the Black community.
This year, with the theme of “The Future Is Now,” it is also a time to work for a brighter future by addressing ongoing systemic racism and discrimination faced by the Black community in the present.
There can be no doubt of the importance of faith in many Black communities and we join those communities, particularly this month, in amplifying the call for an end to racial and faith-based injustices. While working to seek an end to persecution on the basis of race, we must acknowledge that an individual or group’s experience of discrimination is also informed by the intersection of their race, gender, sexuality, and faith.
You can learn more about Black History Month in Canada here.
RFF Statement: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
On this annual day of commemoration, recognizing 76 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, we pause to remember the more than six million Jews and countless others who were victims of Nazi atrocities.
This dark period in history devastated an entire faith across Europe and also maliciously targeted people who today would identify as LGBTQ.
As we continue to move forward from the massive acts of hatred perpetrated during the Holocaust, it is incumbent on all of us to refuse to condone persecution on the basis of faith or sexuality.
We must never stay silent when human rights are threatened.
TCDSB's Removal of LGBT YouthLine from Online Resources
Rainbow Faith and Freedoms Response: Toronto Catholic District School Board's Removal of LGBT YouthLine from Online Resources
Rainbow Faith and Freedom (RFF) has been monitoring the events surrounding the removal of LGBT YouthLine from the Toronto Catholic District School Board’s online resources.
LGBT YouthLine provides an important service to LGBTQ2S+ people under the age of 29 across Ontario. The need for this service has become even more imperative during the ongoing pandemic when in-person supports for our marginalized youth have become unavailable.
We are heartened to see the TCDSB, including staff and trustees, working diligently over the past two days to reinstate this valuable resource for their students.
RFF will continue to observe the progress of this work and we are ready, at any time, to collaborate with the TCDSB and YouthLine, should our advice and input be requested.
For more information:
Dave Fraser, Media Officer: Public Relations and Social Media Coordinator
dfraser@rainbowfaithandfreedom.org
Rainbow Faith And Freedom Is A Global Movement To Confront Religious-Based LGBTI discrimination and improve the human and equality rights of LGBTI people everywhere. Decreasing and lessening the effects of religious-based LGBTI discrimination can, and will, make changing punitive laws easier and improve the lives of LBGTI people so they can be who they are, love who they want, and find safe and accepting places to practice their faith.
Pope’s Announcement on Same-Sex Civil Unions
““Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it.””
Today, Rainbow Faith and Freedom (RFF) welcomes the news that Pope Francis has stated that homosexuals have the right to have their relationships recognized in civil unions. In a new documentary titled “Francesco”, by director Evgeny Afineevsky, the Pope says, “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way [homosexuals] are legally covered. I stood up for that.” In addition to support for civil unions, in this documentary, Pope Francis also expresses his support for the inclusion of gays and lesbians in their communities and the Catholic Church. The Pope’s comments are his clearest and most direct statements that demonstrate the acceptance and inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in the Catholic Church. These comments follow earlier gestures of support, such as when the Pope responded with “Who am I to judge?” when asked about gays and lesbians leading Christian lives in 2013. His most recent comments align with the position he held when he advocated for same-sex civil unions as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Though he has not previously suggested he opposes civil unions, this is the first time the Pope has explicitly declared support for them.
RFF is pleased that the Pope, and consequently the Catholic Church, recognizes the inherent value of gays and lesbians to their communities in general, and the Catholic Church specifically. “Most LGBTQ+ activists around the world say that religious-based discrimination, i.e. religious-based homophobia and religious-based transphobia, are the main opposition to full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people. It is wonderful to hear that Pope Francis, a leader of a significant portion of the Christian religious community, is speaking out in favour of legal recognition of LGBTQ+ relationships. This is wonderful, good news from the Christian community,” explains Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes, Founder and Executive Director. The Pope’s comments are timely considering that the United States Senate is set to install a conservative minority on the Supreme Court with the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett, a devout Catholic, whose vote of the court puts the right to marriage for same-sex couples at risk in all fifty states.
The Pope’s recent comments are to be celebrated but are also an indication that many LGBTQ2S+ people across the world have not been treated equally by the state nor the law and continue to face discrimination and exclusion. “Today’s affirmation of my own dignity and my capacity to enter into a full and loving relationship as a gay man from Pope Francis has moved me deeply. He is building bridges and is a healer of many of the wounds that we carry as former Catholics,” says Joe Jamieson, RFF Board President. Though civil-unions do not always allow for equal treatment by the state nor by the law, RFF welcomes this news. RFF believes that this is an important step toward eliminating religious-based discrimination against LGBTQ2S+ people across the world.
Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes C.M
Founder and Executive Director
Rainbow Faith and Freedom
Phone: 647-573-3506
Email: bhawkes@rainbowfaithandfreedom.org
Rainbowfaithandfreedom.org
Reverend June Joplin fired from Lorne Park Baptist Church: A response from Rainbow Faith and Freedom
"God didn't create homophobia and transphobia, people did."
Toronto, Canada: July 23, 2020
Today, through various news outlets, Rainbow Faith and Freedom (RFF) has become aware that Reverend Junia ‘June’ Joplin, Pastor at Lorne Park Baptist Church in Mississauga, Ontario, has been fired from her position as pastor through a vote at the congregation following her coming out as a trans person.
We are deeply saddened. We are angered. We share the grief that June must be experiencing, and we are saddened by that.
We are saddened that once again, for those who are non-believers or those who hold religious doubt, that this is another moment to be dismayed and angry at the Christian church.
“We are saddened, as such events drive more and more people away from faith and faith communities. There is both personal and collective pain when such things as this happen”, explains Joe Jamieson, President of RFF.
Rainbow Faith and Freedom is a Canadian-based organization established to address religious-based homophobia and transphobia. Through changing hearts and minds, RFF hopes to improve the lives of LGBTQ2S people.
“What has happened to June is an example of the very religious-based homophobia and transphobia that have caused pain and vulnerability to the LGBTQ2S community”, notes Reverend Dr Brent Hawkes, Founder and Executive Director of RFF.
This is not what the message of Christianity is about. The Christian message, like all major faith expressions, is about love, inclusion, and seeing the Divine in each and every person.
Our message is that we walk in solidarity with June, and we see God’s image reflected in her.
Psalm 139 (14) in scripture affirms that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”. We remind her, and everyone reading these words, that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made”.
We stand in solidarity with you and we are saddened by religious-based transphobia showing up once again.
Rev. Dr. Brent Hawkes C.M
Founder and Executive Director
Rainbow Faith and Freedom
Joe Jamieson
President of the Board
Rainbow Faith and Freedom
Rainbowfaithandfreedom.org