National Standing on the Side of Love Day…
…Valentine’s Day Re-imagined
Sunday, February 14th, 2010 will be ‘National Standing on the Side of Love Day.’ Join us and celebrate a Valentine’s Day re-imagined. Love is about more than romance, greeting cards and chocolates. We want to celebrate love’s power to transform communities!
Sunday February 14th, 12:30-2:30 pm
Unitarian Universalists of Sterling, 22135 Davis Drive, Sterling VA
Contact: Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael
703-731-9018 (cell)
minister@uusterling.org
Standing on the Side of Love, Panel and Public Forum
Standing on the Side of Love in Loudoun County Virginia means healing old wounds of oppression and exclusion and building a welcoming community. This event is open to all, especially those who are wondering why some ministers, elected officials, and other community leaders have chosen to speak up for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning citizens and their rights.
Too much of our public discourse is driven not by love but by fear, which often scapegoats particular people and deems them somehow less than human. This forum will invite participants to engage in a civil discussion in the hopes that we will all learn a bit more about what it means to be partners in our shared humanity by moving as a community beyond tolerance toward welcome and acceptance.
This is an opportunity to ask questions of these leaders whose work shapes our Loudoun County:
Stevens Miller (Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, Dulles District who recently submitted the successful proposal to amend the county government’s policy on equal employment opportunity, to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity), Wendi Manuel-Scott (Professor of African American Studies at George Mason University who recently produced a documentary on the lives of GLBTQ African Americans on Campus), John Stevens (Loudoun County School Board Chair), Joy Cobb (PTA president, and lesbian parent,) and Lori Stevens (president of Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents, and Board member of PFlag.)
Facilitator: Rev. Lisa Kemper, The Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Loudoun
Sponsored By: The Standing on the Side of Love Campaign, The Unitarian Universalists of Sterling and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Loudoun.
What: Reimagining Valentine’s Day by Standing on the Side of Love, Panel and Public Forum: to heal old wounds of LGBTQ discrimination in Loudoun and to rally support for creating a more welcoming community.
Where: The Unitarian Universalists of Sterling, 22135 Davis Drive, Sterling VA.
When: Sunday February 14th, 2010 / 12:30-2:30.
Contact: Press, RSVP to Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael at 703-731-9018 or minister@uusterling.org
The Standing on the Side of Love campaign, sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association, seeks to harness the power of love to stop oppression, exclusion, and violence.
Is it really appropriate to use your Loudoun schools blog to essentially promulgate your own religious views and disrespect the many Loudoun residents who happen to believe that homosexuality (and heterosexual sex outside of marriage)is clearly against biblical prinicples. We can love the sinner but still hate the sin.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, this is not an official LCPS blog. It is the personal blog of a member of the LCPS School Board. He can write whatever he wants here.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't agree with what he writes, you don't have to read here, or you can comment, or you can attend the forum this coming Sunday at the UU Sterling congregation.
I hope to see you there.
Liz - But Stevens is participating as the "Loudoun County School Board Chair." Thus he is seeking to do more than provide a personal endorsement, but make a political statement. And he wants to drag our schools and my kids into this political issue. I personally don't think that is appropriate, but it is par for Stevens. It won't be long before he will belittle the beliefs and opinions of those who disagree with him, while he tries to implement his ideas within our school system without a truly public discussion.
ReplyDeleteAs the "School Board Chair" he is obligated to the students in Loudoun County who are gay or who are questioning. The event is a FORUM. And GBW - gay people are everywhere - they roam the same halls as your children. Enjoy your bubble.
ReplyDeleteHow is he dragging your children into a discussion? Why is this about you and your kids?
ReplyDeleteObviously, this forum is needed when even the announcement that a forum will take place brings out resistance.
And hello? Press release announcing a forum! Public invited to attend! This is a truly public discussion!
Liz - You are the one who stated this was a personal blog, not related to LCPS. I just noted the that Stevens has already made it about LCPS by ensuring his position on the board is in the press release.
ReplyDeleteYou don't seem to think this is about our schools, yet three of the "panel" members are there representing the school board, PTA, and LEAP in some capacity. How is this not about what some people want changed with respect to policy and practice within LCPS?
I don't have a problem with people who are gay, and I challenge you to find anything I have written that indicates otherwise. I have problems with the process and Stevens approach to his role as a member of the school board.
But I question the premise of the event. Too often the people organizing these "events" and those like "anonymous" are the ones with the real problems with regard to welcoming and accepting other points of view.
This is a political event with an agenda, not a forum. Otherwise there would be a broader range of viewpoints among the "leaders" called out in the press release.
Maybe afterwards Stevens, Miller, and "anonymous" can come out of their bubble and start working on resolving the truly imminent problems in our county. But I have not seen anything original out of them in the last few years, so I don't expect much.
Well, GBW, I hope you'll consider attending the forum.
ReplyDelete