Faith and Community Leaders Strategized Next Steps in the Fight to Secure Equal Rights for LGBTQ Communities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 26, 2017

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MEDIA CONTACT

Michelle Nealy mnealy@faithinpubliclife.org, (443) 854-1405

Kahran Myers, kmyers@faithinpubliclife.org, (727) 742-5193

Greensboro Faith and Community Leaders Strategized Next Steps in the Fight to Secure Equal Rights for LGBTQ Communities

Greensboro, NC — On Tuesday, October 24th, LGBTQ people of faith and allies gathered at Founders Hall on the campus of Guilford College to discuss harmful effects of the DACA repeal, the impacts of legislation rooted in discriminatory intent on LGBTQ people and communities of color in North Carolina and the role of faith communities in combating discrimination.

Panelists included. Rev. Nelson Johnson, Director at the Beloved Community Center; Irving Zavaleta Jimenez, Assistant Director for Multicultural Education at Guilford College; Rev. Julie Peeples, Senior Pastor at Congregational United Church of Christ.

Rev. Nelson Johnson, Beloved Community Center:

“We have to reject every and all attempts to make another human being other. We become sanctuary for others when we are open to receiving them as a fellow human with all the attributes of positive humanity that everyone else has. We cannot buy into cultures attempt to reframe and redefine what it means to be human.”

Rev. Julie Peeples, Congregational United Church of Christ:

“When you take a risk on the side of justice, there are going to be unforeseen spiritual blessings that pour forth.”

Irving Jimenez; Guilford College:

“Sanctuaries are brave spaces where we can speak up against injustice…sanctuary churches wouldn’t have to be, if we had other laws in place that didn’t target undocumented immigrants.”

The next NC Faith Forward convening is scheduled for Saturday October 28th, 2017 in Wilmington, NC at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wilmington.

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The NC Faith Forward Coalition consists of seven organizations: Believe Out Loud, Equality North Carolina, Faith in Public Life, The Freedom Center for Social Justice, Many Voices: A Black Church Movement for Gay and Transgender Justice, More Light Presbyterians, and the National LGBTQ Task Force.