Category: stories
Rainbow History Flows On
Fall UURMaPA Conference Report — October 7-10, 2019 Wisdom House Retreat Center in Litchfield, CT By Jaco ten Hove “Wisdom[…]
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A Personal Proclamation
by Rev. Rhett D. Baird © March 24, 2002, Rev. Rhett D. Baird “The UU Rainbow History Project has my[…]
Read moreIntersectionality and More Changes
Keynote Address given by Meg Riley UURMaPA Fall Conference, 2019 Note that this is not a word-for-word transcription of Meg’s[…]
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Celebrating Love and Commitment
Offered by Rev. Leslie Westbrook Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, Bethesda, MD July 20, 2003 I officiated at my first[…]
Read moreConfronting Our Prejudice
A sermon offered by Rev. Roger Fritts Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington, Kentucky November 4, 1979 One Monday evening in[…]
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Worship Service, UU Rainbow History Project
Offered by Jane Dwinell, October, 2019 UURMaPA Conference Opening Words We gather this morning in good company, remembering those who[…]
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Memories, Thoughts, Reflections on the Journey of GLBTQ People in the UUA
Offered by Rev. F. Jay Deacon, D.Min. Keynote Address, UURMaPA Conference, October, 2019 (Note: This is not a word-for word[…]
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Kay Greenleaf (1939 – 2018)
Researched by the UUMA; Offered by Cathie Severance UURMaPA Conference, February and October, 2019 Kay Greenleaf was born on December[…]
Read moreWhat in your ministry should be part of the queer history of our faith?
Rev. Kim K. Crawford Harvie Arlington Street Church I’ve been thinking about how many secrets I’ve kept about our queer[…]
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Personal Reflections – Brendan Hadash
Offered at UURMaPA Conference, October, 2019 In January 1982, I began my extension ministry in North Hatley, Quebec, and West[…]
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Rev. Robert P. Wheatly (1919 – 2002)
Offered by David Hunter UURMaPA Conferences, February and October, 2019 The Rev. Robert P. Wheatly died in 2002 at the[…]
Read moreNewell Deane Starr (1923 – 1996)
Offered by Rev. Arthur Severance UURMaPA Conferences, February and October, 2019 Writes John Buehrens: Deane Starr was raised in Michigan[…]
Read moreRobert L. Hadley (1928 – 2012)
Offered by Rev. David Hunter UURMaPA Conferences February and October, 2019 Rev. Robert L. Hadley died in 2012, at the[…]
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Dorothy M. Emerson (1943 – 2019)
Offered by Marni Harmony, Written by Dee Graham UURMaPA Conference, October, 2019 When Dorothy Emerson launched her life as an[…]
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Rosemarie Carnarius (1938-2015)
Offered by Rev. Barbara Child UURMaPA Conferences February and October, 2019 It is my honor to share with you a[…]
Read moreEqual Marriage Statement Prepared for The Massachusetts State Legislature Hearing on Same-Sex Marriage
by the Rev. Eugene B. Navias Associate Minister Emeritus, Arlington Street Church, Boston October 23, 2003 I am the Rev.[…]
Read moreKatherine (Kay) Greenleaf
Personal Reflection – by Pat Sullivan Offered at UURMaPA Conference, October, 2019 I met Kay in 1986, and after a[…]
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James L. Stoll (1936-1994)
Offered by Rev. Jaco ten Hove UURMaPA Conferences February and October, 2019 “In the world of religion, one of the[…]
Read moreRichard L. Nash (1935 – 1997)
Offered by Rev. Jaco ten Hove (researched by Rev. Marni Harmony) UURMaPA Conferences, February and October, 2019 The Rev. Richard[…]
Read moreFrank Robertson (1936 – 2008)
Offered by Rev. Ginger Luke UURMaPA Conferences, February and October, 2019 I knew Frank Robertson as a religious educator. He[…]
Read moreHaunted Man of the Cloth and Pioneer of Gay Rights
By MARK OPPENHEIMER SEPT. 18, 2010, New York Times The death this month of Seymour Pine, the vice officer who[…]
Read moreCelebrating Fifteen Years
This sermon won Kathleen the Interweave sermon contest, and she delivered it again at the Interweave gathering at General Assembly[…]
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Eugene Barnett Navias (1928-2014)
Offered by Rev. Judy Welles UURMaPA Conferences, February and October, 2019 “Gene” Navias was born on March 18, 1928 to[…]
Read moreOur UU Rainbow History
UU Fellowship of Salina, Kansas September 15, 2019 Rev. Diane Miller Change happens. (This is an ancient religious truth). Changes[…]
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Mark Mosher DeWolfe (1953 – 1988)
Offered by Rev. Diane Miller UURMAPA Conferences, February and October, 2019 His name was Mark Mosher DeWolfe. Born in 1953,[…]
Read moreRecollections of Conducting Same-Sex Weddings in New Paltz, New York, March 2004
I knew that New Paltz Mayor Jason West had been performing same-sex weddings, but I learned of the ceremonies officiated[…]
Read moreMy Journey From Homophobia
A sermon by Rev. Jaco B. ten Hove (Last preached at Paint Branch UU Church, Adelphi, MD, January 8, 2006)[…]
Read moreLGBTQ Movement in the Salina, Kansas, Fellowship
When I moved back to my home state of Kansas in 2009, I began providing monthly pulpit supply at the[…]
Read moreRemarks About Gay Pride
A Homily Delivered by Doddie Stone Mount Diablo Church, Walnut Creek, CA June 26, 1988 (Note: This was Doddie’s “coming[…]
Read moreResponsive Blessing for a Same-Sex Couple Commitment Ceremony
LEADER: Because our love for one another is often not recognized, because our commitments are not yet legal, ALL: We[…]
Read moreReport to the 1987 General Assembly
From the report of Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz UUA President, to the 1987 General Assembly: We Unitarian Universalists have[…]
Read moreUnitarian Universalist Ministers’ Statement of Concern 2002
Issued at Convocation in Birmingham, Alabama March 10, 2002 During Convo, with the leadership of Alabama Unitarian Universalist ministers, we[…]
Read moreInterview with Rev. Richard Kellaway
December 6, 2010 (Interview presumably conducted by Lee Paczulla) Q: Was the issue of homosexuality already being talked about within[…]
Read moreHomosexuality at Fourth Universalist Church: An Interview with Edmund Pease
Submitted by Rev. Richard A. Kellaway, minister at Fourth Universalist Church from 1968 to 1973. (At that time, the church[…]
Read moreHow We Love: On Growing a Soul
A Sermon Offered at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson, AZ November 18, 2012 – Stephen C. Kraynak “The hand[…]
Read moreUntil All Are Equal: Refusing to Sign Marriage Licenses
A sermon delivered by Rev. Josh Pawelek, Unitarian Universalist Society, East Manchester, CT on November 2, 2003 When I initially[…]
Read moreTying a Ribbon Around the Church
It was the Fall of 1992, and I had just arrived in Portland, Oregon, to take my position as the[…]
Read moreConducting Services of Union
Prior to the legalization of marriage During the 1990s while I served May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society in Syracuse, I[…]
Read moreGay and Lesbian Divorce Form
Be it known that on October 28, 2000 Rose ________ and Harriet ________ were joined in Holy Union by the[…]
Read moreGay/Lesbian Wedding Ceremonies
Assembled by Elizabeth Strong in the 1990s OPENING WORDS 1) Friends, we are gathered here at this hour[…]
Read moreThe First Out Lesbian and Gay Unitarian Universalist Ministers
Singing for Our Lives The First Out Lesbian and Gay Unitarian Universalist Ministers[1] Celeste DeRoche ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS I set[…]
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Book Review: The Gay Revolution
The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle. Lillian Faderman. New York: Simon and Shuster, 2015. 816 pp. $11.99 (Kindle).[…]
Read moreLaunching the Grassroots Continental UU Rainbow Movement
Although UUs had been officially engaged in working for gay, lesbian, and bisexual rights since the 1970 General Assembly resolution[…]
Read moreThe Education of a Hayseed in Academia
I became a Unitarian Universalist in 1963, a few years before Stonewall, but my contribution to the Rainbow History Project[…]
Read moreTo Love and to Cherish, For Better or For Worse
Unitarian Universalists of the Cumberland Valley October 3, 2004 © The Rev. Judy Welles Invitation to Worship Christopher Lemelin, Worship[…]
Read moreLGBTQIA Rights and Inclusion
In 1974, after the worship service in our Quad Cities (Iowa) UU congregation, a member approached me with a challenge:[…]
Read moreThe Journey of A Congregation
This is the story of a congregation coming to new understandings and new actions regarding lesbians, gay males, bisexuals, and[…]
Read morePersonal Memories of LGBTQ Groundbreakers in the UUA
I was a surprising, and surprised participant in some important moments in the LGBTQ history of the UUA. I say[…]
Read moreAbout Your Sexuality: Religion and the Homosexual
Richard S. Gilbert – Rochester, NY – April 13, 1975 READING: CALL TO THE LIVING This is a call to[…]
Read moreUniversalist Ministers Face Charges for Marrying Gay Couples
From Pat Sullivan, about the advocacy work of her spouse the Rev. Kay Greenleaf. The Advocate, March 17 2004 Two[…]
Read moreMisinformation and Fear of Gay Ministers
What follows are some of my GLBTQ+ experiences between my birth in 1935 and today, when I am 83 years[…]
Read moreTestimony before the VT Legislature’s Senate Judiciary Committee Regarding the Civil Union Law, Spring 2000
Thank you for inviting me to speak before you today. I am the Rev. Jane Dwinell, and I serve the[…]
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