Standing on the Side of Love
About Standing on the Side of Love
Standing on the Side of Love is a public advocacy campaign that seeks to harness love’s power to stop oppression. It is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association and all are welcomed to join.
Why
This is a time of great hope and possibility, yet our communities are threatened by the increased prevalence of acts motivated by fear and hate.
No one should be dehumanized through acts of exclusion, oppression, or violence because of their identities.
In public debates over immigration, LGBT rights, and more, religious people stand on the side of love and call for respect, inclusion, and compassion.
How
The Standing on the Side of Love campaign elevates compassionate religious voices to influence public attitudes and public policy.
Through community activism, social networking, and media outreach, people across the nation are equipped to counter fear and make love real in the world.
For more information, read the official Frequently Asked Questions.
History
The message, “standing on the side of love,” emerged as a rallying point for people of faith in Massachusetts during their early efforts for fully inclusive marriage, and later during the fight against Proposition 8 in California.
The Standing on the Side of Love Campaign was inspired by the 2008 shooting at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, which was targeted because they are welcoming to LGBT people and have a liberal stance on many issues.
The Knoxville Community responded with an outpouring of love that inspired the leadership at the Unitarian Universalist Association to launch a campaign that would harness love’s power to challenging exclusion, oppression and violence based on sexual orientation, gender identity, immigration status, race, religion, or any other identity.
SSL and Our Church
DuPage UU Church achieved Welcoming Congregation status in 1999. This designation indicates that this congregation did significant work to examine issues around welcome to our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered members, friends and visitors.
Recognizing that being a Welcoming Congregation is an ongoing journey, especially because congregations are always undergoing change, the first session of Living the Welcoming Congregation: Resources for Continuing the Welcoming Congregation Journey will be offered multiple times in January and February.
In this single session offering, participants will be exploring anti-oppression work as it relates to heterosexism and bi-, trans- and homophobia. If your chalice circle or other affinity group would like to schedule a session for your regular meeting time, this can also be arranged. For example, the January meeting of the Conscious Aging group will be devoted to this work of assessing where we are with respect to our Welcoming Congregation mission.
If you are new to DUUC since 2005, you are especially encouraged to attend! Childcare will be provided based on needs of participants.
Please commit yourself to our mission as a Welcoming Congregation, sign up to attend one of the following sessions:
January 7, 2012 (Saturday) 3-5 pm
January 9, 2012 (Monday) 7-9 pm
January 14, 2012 (Saturday) 10 am-12 noon
February 1, 2012 (Wednesday) 7-9 pm
February 23, 2012 (Thursday) 7-9 pm