By Brent Woodard
Windermere Valley Shared Ministry
In celebration of June as Pride Month, I would like to share a resolution that unanimously passed on May 25 at the annual meeting of the Anglican Church of the Diocese of the Kootenays.
Resolution to Support the Queer Interfaith Coalition
The Queer Interfaith Coalition was formed in late 2023 in response to an increase in homophobic and anti-trans* rhetoric. The Queer Interfaith Coalition is a group of religious leaders and laypeople from Jewish, Muslim, Christian and other backgrounds. The QIC seeks to reclaim the word “religious” to mean a word of faith, of safety, of inclusion and especially of love. As well, they seek to acknowledge that every human being is born in the image of God and that God’s love has always been and will always be inclusive.
On the 14th of March, the Queer Interfaith Coalition launched an open letter to the Canadian government demanding action in response to the rise in homophobic and anti-trans rhetoric. In this open letter they write: “We affirm that the shared understanding of our religious duty is to dedicate ourselves to advocating for the full and comprehensive human rights of all members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community; promoting mental health, realizing the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ children and youth, and ending gender-based violence.”
The Anglican Church of Canada prides itself on inclusion, and has undertaken significant work to throw the doors of welcome open to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in all its fullness. It is now time to go further. To sign onto the open letter to the Canadian government which states, “We believe that every person is holy, every love and life is sacred, and that our faiths invite us to be more of who we are, not less. We call upon all people of faith to join us in denouncing the damaging heresy that some people are more deserving of equality than others.”
Therefore, be it resolved that the Anglican Church of Canada, the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia, and the Diocese of Kootenay, encourage each lay person, deacon, priest and bishop sign the Open letter reinforcing that the Anglican Church of Canada is a safe place for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community to be. And that we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our 2SLGBTQIA+ brothers and sisters who are at risk, and thus we commit to creating and advocating for religious communities that are reflective of these sacred tenets of intersectional equity so that all 2SLGBTQIA+ people can flourish.
