GALAH Press Release on the Millennium Rally

GAY AND LESBIAN ATHEISTS
AND HUMANISTS
klem0@ibm.net

June 28, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact person: Tom Klem

Upon reflection and consideration of the issues involved, the Board of Directors of Gay and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists (GALAH) has decided to express our organization's strong objections regarding both the proposed "Millennium March" and the Metropolitan Community Church's position as one of the two main sponsors. This proposed rally is more than a year away, giving the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) plenty of time to recognize that it is inappropriate for a religious group to be a main sponsor of such an event and that the concept of the rally is severely flawed.

GALAH's Concerns About MCC Sponsorship

The leadership of the Human Rights Campaign has not been charged with designating the chaplaincy of any national event. There are many groups in the community that style themselves as "spiritual organizations," as does the MCC. They will likely participate in any rally or march along with non-believers, the vast numbers of the religiously indifferent, and partisans of myriad other religious and political causes. The MCC are not our national spokespersons. We are not united by "spirituality": we are divided by it. The MCC is a pariah church with its origins in the marginalization of sexual minorities by the Christian sects.

Itemized concerns:

• MCC's presence as one of the two main sponsors of the proposed march is a violation of Separation of Church and State. The experiences of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities make it clear how important it is for churches to stay out of politics. Not only is state/church separation important for atheists and humanists, it is vital to the prevention of persecution of minority sects, including the MCC.
• The presence of religion in politics is divisive in general, and this case is no exception. Previous marches had some degree of dissention beforehand, but previous strife and disagreements were far less frequent and far less heated than what is happening now.
• Another issue is the tax-exempt status of churches. Our movement should focus its energies on creating pressure for the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of churches that get involved in political activities, activities which are overwhelmingly homophobic, not to encourage the largest lgbt-identified religious group to get involved in activities which may violate its tax-exempt status. The recent retroactive loss of tax-exempt status by the Christian Broadcasting Network shows that enforcement of tax laws against the political activities of religious groups is a viable course of action.
• Having a religious group as one of the two main sponsors creates a less-than-friendly atmosphere for non-Christians including Atheists, Agnostics, and Humanists.
• The homophobic nature of Christianity makes having a Christian church as a main sponsor a tactical error. Having a "Christian" march will only remind homophobes of the main reason why they think they should be hostile towards us and our civil rights. While some in our community have tried to rationalize condemnations of homosexuality in the Bible, the attempts have been based more on hope than reality. The fact that the homophobic passages in the Bible are worded differently should make even the most desperate queer Christian realize that the problem is not one of translation, but one of prejudice within the original text.
• Through its sponsorship, the MCC has the power to push agendas which are not consistent with the views and needs of the community as a whole. The most glaring example is the theme of the rally, "Faith and Family," an attempt by the MCC to impose religion on those of us who are atheists, agnostics, and humanists.
• The two largest religiously sponsored rallies in Washington, The Million Man March and the Promise Keepers Rally, had limited impact after the events were over. If we want to have any chance of all of the effort behind such a march to have a lasting effect, our only hope is to keep it secular.

Concerns About "Millennium March"

The very conception of the rally is discriminatory to non-believers. The millennium has Christian context based on the supposed date of Christ's birth. With any other calendar, we would not be at the "Millennium." Also, the timing and form of a national event in the coming years must not be determined and proclaimed by any single group or pair of groups. Any organization which presumes to make so great a claim on community resources also must be non-partisan and non-sectarian in its call. Itemized concerns:

• The emphasis on faith and spirituality rather than diversity is a major problem. Not all queers have any religious or spiritual beliefs whatsoever. The attempt to create the false impression that most lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders place a strong emphasis on religion in their lives flies in the face of the reality that most Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, do not even attend church regularly.
• The "Millennium" in the name of the "Millennium March" is an unfortunate mistake which can only fuel fundamentalist hysteria surrounding the year 2000. Much of the grassroots fervor behind the Religious Right is based on end-of-world prophecies whose timetables occur around the year 2000. We should do nothing to encourage any special significance to the year 2000. Besides, no one will be marching because they are thrilled with the year 2000. The word "Millennium" would be better replaced with words such as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender" which would have the added benefit of bringing this march out of the closet.
• Past marches were not proprietary events of two organizations. They belonged to the community as a whole. In order to have a march that addresses the entire community, we need a March Committee like past March Committees which were more broadly representative. Besides, the HRC and MCC should not try to capitalize on the tremendous efforts of people who put together past marches for their own gain.

GALAH hopes that the HRC and MCC will abandon their irrational approach and support a secular and more broadly based march at a time agreed upon by a broad cross- section of our community.

Do you know of other lesbian/trans/gay/bi organizations which are concerned about the Millennium Rally and have information about their views on their web pages? Let us know. Let us know!

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