Rainbow Faith and Freedom shares in the grief, shock and anger of all Canadians following the recent discovery by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation of the remains of 215 Indigenous children on the grounds of a former residential school.
This unthinkable loss is a stark reminder of a dark and shameful period in Canada’s not-so-distant history. In the name of religion and education, innocent children by the thousands were removed from their homes, families and cultures to endure pain, torture and, tragically, death.
We stand with our First Nations friends, partners, supporters and allies during this difficult time. We believe firmly that they must be allowed and encouraged to share their stories, their personal, cultural and family histories and, most importantly, their vision for how to move forward in reconciliation.
We must commit to learning from the cruelties of the past, particularly those fueled by colonialism and racism, to ensure that our future will not see such atrocities ignored or repeated.
Resisting The Script With The Queer Evangelist Cheri DiNovo
Today’s guest, Rev. Dr. Cheri DiNovo, gives new meaning to the word icon. With the Order of Canada, a seat in Ontario parliament for twelve years, and as the only woman to sign Canada's first gay liberation manifesto "We Demand" in 1971, Cheri has done it all.
This April, Cheri released a new book called, "The Queer Evangelist," a memoir which looks back at her 50+ years of activism. In this conversation as part of the Resisting the Script special series, host Brigitte and Cheri discuss radicalism versus reform and what resistance means today.
RFF is also excited to announce that Cheri will be joining us for a book talk on June 17th at 8:00 pm. Watch for registration information coming soon!
You can listen to the full episode HERE and don't forget to subscribe to Queer Devotions on Apple, Spotify or wherever you vet your podcasts to make sure you never miss an episode.
Resisting The Script with Cait Glasson
Cait Glasson is singular - a polyglot, linguist and translator - who in 1994 also formed a core part of a key battle for queer rights in Ontario, pushing then Premier Bob Rae and his party to include same-sex equality rights in the omnibus bill. It ultimately failed - by nine votes - and showed the continued power of religious conservatives to influence politicians' stances on queer rights, particularly in the Kitchener-Waterloo region.
In this interview, Cait describes her team's incredibly grassroots approach.
Listen to the full episode in the Resisting the Script series here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/queer-devotions/id1539414887#episodeGuid=Buzzsprout-8580251.
Cait is generous with her stories and speaks vulnerably about the toll the pandemic has taken on her, calling for greater radicalism in old age. We thank Cait deeply!
You can also follow Cait on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FullmtalFemnist
Stay tuned for more podcasts as we ramp up for Pride month and announce a live event with our featured guests - and be sure to subscribe to Queer Devotions on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode!
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
Today we recognize the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. While the rights of LGBTQ2S+ people in many parts of the world have been significantly advanced in recent decades, there is still much progress to be made.
We call on governments and institutions of faith, both at home and abroad, to reaffirm the fundamental right of all LGBTQ2S+ people to be treated with equality, equity, respect and dignity.
There can be no true equality until everyone is free from discrimination, persecution and stigma.
Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission Report
Seniors across Ontario and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community have been disproportionately affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as evidenced by the dire situation that unfolded in Long-Term Care facilities across the province in 2020.
Rainbow Faith and Freedom recently participated in the consultation and development of Ontario Senior Pride’s submission to the Long-Term Care (LTC) COVID-19 Commission to ensure the voices of LGBTQ2S+ seniors were included in the Commission’s report and recommendations.
RFF participated in the consultation and development process to ensure the inclusion of the intersectionality of LGBTQ2S+ seniors and fulsome, multi-faith-based considerations
Two recommendations made by Ontario Senior Pride in submissions to the Commission were adopted by the Commission as their recommendations 37 and 38a, in the Diversity and Inclusion section of the report (page 234):
“Long-term care home residents reflect the diversity of Ontario's population. The Ministry of Long-Term Care, long-term care home licensees, management and staff must respect and support this diversity in the care and services provided to long-term care residents.
37. The Residents' Bill of Rights should be amended to align more closely with the prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Ontario Human Rights Code.”
Currently, the Residents' Bill of Rights does not include sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination.
Recommendation 38a states that LTC home licensees should be required to, “Recognize and respect 2S-LGBTQ+ spousal relationships and chosen/non-biological family relationships generally and in any rules or policies regarding visitation and the provision of essential care to 2S-LGBTQ+ residents.”
Unfortunately, other recommendations made by Ontario Senior Pride have not been explicitly included or accepted in the Commission’s report. Those recommendations were directed to the Ministry of Long-Term Care and LTC homes to adopt requirements, policies and practices to ensure the LTC homes are positive, welcoming, safe and inclusive environments for LGBTQ2S+ residents, their families and caregivers and for LGBTQ2S+ staff. For example, Ontario Senior Pride recommended that the Ministry of Long-Term Care require LTC homes to provide compulsory LGBTQ2S+ seniors sensitivity, inclusion and cultural competency training for all staff, family council members and volunteers.
Although the Commission’s report does not include all of the recommendations put forward by Ontario Senior Pride, the report and recommendations are a breakthrough for the recognition of, respect for, and equitable inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ elders and seniors in the LTC system. RFF joins Ontario Senior Pride in calling upon the Ontario Government to accept the recommendations and to implement them without delay.
For more information on Ontario Senior Pride’s submission to the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission, please contact Tom Warner – warnertom10@gmail.com
Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission Final Report April 30, 2021
http://ltccommission-commissionsld.ca/report/pdf/Ontarios_Long-Term_Care_COVID-19_Commission_Final_Report.pdf
Ontario Senior Pride’s submission to the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission, October 2020
http://cloud2.snappages.com/dc2e80b91489071f85f20ad99eab8984caed145e/LTC%20COVID-19%20Commission%20Submission.pdf
Parliament of the World’s Religions
Rainbow Faith and Freedom (RFF) had an important presence at the Parliament of the World’s Religions (PWR) Conference in Toronto in November, 2018. This was followed immediately by a symposium (organized in conjunction with EGALE) on November 8, 2018, where 25 invited guests from around the world provided feedback and guidance on the vision and direction of RFF. I’ll share more details with you about the symposium in the next blog article.
At the PWR, which meets every three years, there were 7500 delegates in attendance from 120 of the world’s religions. When we heard that it was coming to Toronto, Doug Kerr and I thought this would be the perfect time for us to gather folks from around the world to look at the issue of religious-based homophobia and also to have an impact on the PWR. We had been trying for the last few years to organize a conference on religious-based homophobia and this seemed to be the perfect time. Never in the past had the Parliament had any LGBTI content in their official program, so we approached the Parliament’s head office in Chicago and expressed that it was time since their theme for this Parliament was Love and Inclusion. We received an enthusiastic response! They asked us to submit names for speakers and suggestions for workshops and panels. We got the word out to other LGBTI organizations and, as a result, the PWR accepted 19 workshops with LGBTI-supportive content to be included in the official program. They also contacted us to offer a free hospitality space for the whole conference. It became the Rainbow Lounge! It was decorated with large panels depicting LGBTI couples and some photos of members of the local LGBTI Mosque. We opened the Lounge with a special reception to a full room. It was an electric atmosphere as we made history with the first ever PWR LGBTI event!
As the week progressed, many of the LGBTI workshops and panels were held in the Lounge. There was a constant flow of conference delegates dropping into the Lounge to talk about coming out, raising LGBTI children, how to influence their faiths to be more LGBTI-positive, etc. Rev Pat Bumgardner from MCC New York and Rev Jim Merritt from MCC in Florida spent the whole conference in the lounge with me greeting the people who dropped by. My husband John made 300 rainbow ribbons for people to wear and they were all taken and worn. The panels we organized included “Creating a Different Future: Building Faith Communities Inclusive of LGBTI People - from Muslim and Christian Perspectives”, “Sacred Knowledge: Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity in Sacred Texts and Other Teachings”. In “The Global Inter-Faith Movement for Human Rights of LGBTI People”, I handed out brochures describing my international human rights initiative, RFF, and collected 70 names and emails from people across the globe interested in learning more about RFF. On the Sunday of the Parliament a minister from the Unity Movement came to me and said that a young couple wanted to use the Rainbow Lounge to celebrate an engagement ceremony, and would that be ok? We responded that we’d certainly be honoured to have it in the Lounge. On Monday the ceremony occurred, and it was very moving. For the rest of the Parliament, this young gay couple walked around the conference site proudly holding hands.
We closed our Lounge on the final evening of the PWR and the room was packed. We recognized and celebrated the great beginning that this PWR represented and we pledged to build on this foundation for an even better PWR in three years’ time. Many folks signed up to help plan the LGBT content for the next one. I can’t state enough how exciting it was to be part of this historic event. To meet spiritual activists from all over the world from many different faiths and to see this potentially transformational entry into the Religions of the World. At the official closing ceremony of the Parliament, the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Parliament put on the screen for all 7500 delegates to see the pictures of the Engagement Ceremony and said that this was an example of the success of the Parliament, and indicated his support for LGBTI inclusion. For many in the room this was a clear signal that the time had come to seriously look at being more inclusive of LGBTI people. As a side event, I hosted a dinner for 10 people from RFF, the Global Justice Institute, and the Global Interfaith Network out of South Africa, so that our three organizations could talk about what makes each of the organizations unique and how we might work together. It was a great start for an exciting cooperative relationship.
This was the first time that RFF had been a visible presence at a major international event. Our impact was a significant breakthrough and laid the groundwork for RFF to improve the lives of LGBTI people around the world by ensuring that religious-based discrimination against the LGBTI community is addressed and diminished.
Halton Catholic District School Board Forbids Flying of Pride Flag
Rainbow Faith and Freedom is disappointed to learn of the Halton Catholic District School Board’s (HCDSB) decision to forbid the flying of the Pride flag outside its schools during the month of June.
The disheartening decision came after a Grade 12 student put forth a motion to fly the Pride flag at all HCDSB schools during Pride Month and to put “Safe Space” posters in all classrooms. The Board voted to allow the placement of one poster per school building.
“This school board has a persistent and shameful record of anti-LGBTQ actions tracing back to the late 1990s when programs and efforts to provide care to these students were repeatedly rejected,” says Joe Jamieson, President of Rainbow Faith and Freedom. “How much more harm to young people will occur at that board before it starts to treat LGBTQ persons with dignity and recognize all in their care as the unmistakable image of Christ”
It remains the belief of RFF that the elimination of religious-based LGBTQ2S+ discrimination serves to improve the human and equality rights of all. To continue to see such discrimination here in Canada is deeply disappointing and we hope for a change of heart at the HCDSB.
We will continue to observe the progress of this situation and we are ready, at any time, to collaborate with the HCDSB, should our advice and input be requested.
Further reading: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/halton-district-catholic-school-board-denies-request-to-fly-pride-flag-in-june-1.5404774
Queer Devotions: Resisting The Script with Anthony Mohamed
A new episode of the Queer Devotions podcast is now available!
In our second episode of Resisting the Script, award-winning community activist Anthony Mohamed shares stories about his early life of activism in Toronto, the impact of the AIDS epidemic on queer politics, and continuing the efforts in the face of a global pandemic.
Thank you to Anthony for joining us on this episode!
Thank you, as always, to our wonderful podcast team, particularly Hannah Maitland, Stephanie Jonsson, Brigitte Pawliw-Fry and Angela Stanley!
You can enjoy this week’s episode by clicking HERE.
Don’t forget to subscribe to Queer Devotions on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode!
Testing The Case for RFF
During my 40 years as the Senior Pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, I was involved in not only building a faith community but also in numerous LGBTI human rights causes. I decided to retire so I could devote more time to this passion for LGBTI human rights around the world.
In 2015, I took a three-month sabbatical. I visited over 10 LGBTI international organizations, allied organizations and numerous individual activists in New York, Washington and Geneva, including the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) World, Human Rights Watch, ARC International, the World Council of Churches, the Global Justice Institute, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (ILGHRC), the Council for Global Equality, Soulforce, Center for Social and Information Initiatives Action, European Forum of LGBTI Christian Groups, and Franciscans International.
I looked at the state of LGBTI rights internationally, especially related to religious-based LGBTI discrimination. I found that most international LGBTI groups are secular and are not addressing religious-based LGBTI discrimination. I asked most of these organizations if they were proudly secular and the response was almost always, “yes”. I followed up with a question about whether they were involved with LGBTI Christians, Muslims or Jews in the struggle for human rights. The answer was usually, “no, they were not”. I then outlined my plan to start an international organization to combat religious-based LGBTI discrimination, changing hearts and minds. I asked if they would work with me and this new organization and I received overwhelming support. Often, the individuals I met expressed that there was very little work in this area that was coordinated and adequately supported. Particularly, little attention was being given to best practices and whether something working in one part of the world would work in other parts of the world.
With their positive feedback, I continued to work on the concept for a new organization. After retiring in 2018, I formed a steering committee which has drafted the Vision, Mission, the three key Pillars, Manifesto and Values for the organization. The name Rainbow Faith and Freedom (RFF) was chosen and and the organization was mandated to tackle religious-based LGBTI discrimination.
I also made a few international trips in 2019, which went really well, including a trip to Geneva (sponsored by Global Affairs Canada) where I participated in a side panel with the UN Human Rights Commission and had a meeting and presentation with the Permanent Mission of Canada in Geneva (Embassy). The Embassy staff were very supportive of the vision for RFF and indicated the willingness to be supportive. I also attended the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington, DC, and on the same trip, attended the Human Rights Campaign Forum “Religious Liberty or Discrimination?” co-hosted by Human Rights Watch and the Human Rights Campaign.
Through these interactions, it has become very clear that the vision for RFF is timely. It has been overwhelmingly greeted with enthusiasm. It is often seen as the missing piece of the puzzle. The world needs the crucial contribution that RFF can bring.
International Day of Trans Visibility 2021
Today we at RFF join partners, friends and supporters around the world to recognize the 12th Annual International Day of Trans Visibility.
Today celebrates the resilience, determination and successes of transgender and gender non-conforming persons around the world, while raising awareness of trans rights issues both here at home and abroad.
We celebrate our trans friends and family of all faiths today and commit ourselves to standing with them and supporting them until and beyond the day when equal rights, equal treatment and equal respect have been achieved.
The International Day of Trans Visibility was established in 2009 by US-based trans activist Rachel Crandall to enhance and celebrate worldwide visibility of trans people.
Queer Devotions: Resisting The Script with Nicole Tanguay
In our first official episode of the series, Resisting the Script: 25+ Years of Queer Activism, poet and activist Nicole Tanguay joins us to talk about their forty-plus years of attending demos, raising hell and the experiences of queerness later in life.
We say the biggest thank you to Nicole!
You can hear the full episode HERE.
Be sure to subscribe to Queer Devotions on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts!