First Unitarian Society
Welcoming Congregation

On October 15, at a congregational meeting following the second service, our society voted on the following: Resolved that the First Unitarian Society of Westchester should apply to the UUA to be designated an official Welcoming Congregation (WC) to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) communities. The vote was 34 in favor, 1 against, with 1 abstention and 1 person standing aside. Unofficial ballots (cast by individuals who could not attend the congregational meeting and by youth group members who were not eligible to take part in an official congregational vote) brought the total of those favoring the adoption of the resolution to 44 with 2 against; abstention and standing aside votes were unchanged.

 Before the vote, there was discussion. Among the concerns expressed by those who were not in favor of the resolution were the following: that it would make no difference; that it could divide our congregation and damage our feeling of community; that it was inappropriate for us to choose to label ourselves; and that the welcome was already contained in our statement of inclusion in our bylaws. Those in favor expressed their desire: to send a clear message to members of sexual minorities who are traditionally excluded from many other religious organizations; to make official what they felt was largely in our hearts already; and to state explicitly to members of our own community or of the larger UU community that we stand with those congregations that feel it is a priority to take a stand on GLBT rights. 

Background

 The WC program was founded in 1989 in response to a denomination-wide assessment of the feelings of gay , lesbian and bisexual UUs. At that time, many individuals reported that they felt profoundly unwelcome, unaffirmed and unsupported by their local congregations. This was despite the fact that the UUA had been on record since 1970 as supporting the rights of GLB persons. The WC program includes workshop materials that congregations can use to open discussions of homophobia and heterosexism. It also provides guidelines to help individual societies take practical steps toward making their congregations more genuinely welcoming. (The rights and concerns of transgender people were mostly overlooked in the first version of the Welcoming Congregation program; they were included in the revised version.)

 Our society began its path to the vote more than six years ago when it first offered a Welcoming Congregation workshop. That workshop led to the establishment of the Straight and Gay Affirmation (SAGA) committee. In the years since that first workshop, there have been various educational programs: films, panel discussions, themed services and more workshops. The topic of becoming a WC was revisited often during the 1999/2000 society year, with a view toward taking the vote this fall.

 Where do we go from here?

 We will publicize our new status and explain, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with UU terms, what it means. We will continue our efforts to educate ourselves and to bring issues of the rights of members of sexual minorities to the congregation through films and speakers. We will organize letter-writing or e-mailing actions for our friends and members to take part in if they so choose.  And we will work with the Social Action Committee (as we have in the past) and keep ourselves current on efforts by GLBT people to secure all their human rights.