A group from Dignity/Washington met at the Dignity Center and joined the historic Women’s march on January 21.
Thank you to everyone who joined Dignity/Washington for the Women’s March on Washington. Dignity/Washington was also happy to host a lovely group of people from Chattanooga, TN, at the Dignity Center for the weekend. Those of you who were in attendance understand the energy and electricity that everyone felt.
The Defender’s Philosophy
We believe that Christian LGBT persons, who are into
Leather/Levi, can express their sexuality in a manner
consistent with Christ’s teachings hence the name
“Defenders.” We represent another
face of Catholicism and defend our right
to express ourselves in a variety of ways.
Leather is an integral part of our being as well as our spirituality.
We believe it would be hypocritical to deny our affinity for leather and the
images connoted by it.
It would be just as hypocritical to ignore
our spiritual side when we wear
our leather. Just as Jesus challenged the traditional limits
of religion in His day, we believe
our role challenges the traditional
concept of religion today.
For more information on the
Defenders, please contact Tom
Yates at Tom.Yates.53@Comcast.net.
Dignity/Washington will organize a group to march in the Women’s March on Washington on Saturday, January 21, at 10:00 am. The group will meet at 9:00 am at the Dignity Center and will join other attendees at the starting point of the march (at Independence Ave and 3rd St SW).
If you would like to participate, please email Vin Testa at vtesta914@gmail.com.
Thanks to EVERYONE who volunteered to write a reflection for our Lenten Reflection
Booklet! All 46 daily readings have been spoken for! Remember that the deadline is February 5, but early submissions are appreciated. Send all reflections and questions or concerns to
jeffvomund@gmail.com.
This year’s Lenten Reflection Series will be held on Tuesdays in Lent beginning March 7
and run through April 11. Sessions will be from 7:00 – 8:30, at the Dignity Center,
with a simple soup supper served beginning at 6:30. The series will explore our own coming out stories and
parallel how they, like the Exodus event, shape all of the subsequent ways we understand God,
our community, and ourselves.
If you have any questions, please see Denis Pringle or Jeff Vomund.
Dignity/Washington will be pleased to welcome Warren R. Hall as our guest speaker. His presentation, titled “Sensus Fidelium: What God’s People Believe,” will take place at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1820 Connecticut Avenue, NW DC 20009), January 29 at 7:15 pm, immediately following the 6:00 pm Mass.
Warren R. Hall, a native of Jersey City, NJ was ordained as a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark in 1989. He attended Seton Hall University earning BA, Master of Divinity, and Master of Theology Degrees.
In May 2015 Warren Hall was removed from Seton Hall University by Newark Archbishop John Myers for his support of LGBT Equality. Hall subsequently came out as gay. On August 31, 2016, following a year of ministry as Parochial Vicar of St. Peter and Paul Church in Hoboken, Archbishop Myers suspended Warren Hall from priestly ministry, for his continued involvement with the LGBT community, and for “confusing the faithful”.
Join us on Sunday, February 19th after the 6:00 Mass to hear Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr.
This session will focus on the similarities and differences between African Americans struggle for equal and the LGBTQ fight for equal rights. Also, to be explored are reasons why there is discomfort and sometimes resistance to LGBTQ Rights within the African American community, and a look at the difficulties in discussing race issues in the broader LGBTQ community.
Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr.
President/CEO, Center for Black Equity, Inc.
Chair, LGBT Caucus, Democratic National Committee
Chair, DC Commission on Human Rights
Earl Fowlkes serves as the President/CEO of the Center For Black Equity, Inc. (formerly the International Federation of Black Pride -IFBP). He founded the IFBP in 1999 ago as a coalition of organizers the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa formed to promote a multinational network of Black LGBT Pride and community-based organizations. There are over forty plus Black Pride events around the globe with over 250,000 attendees each year.
Prior to working at the Center For Black Equity, Earl previously served fifteen years as the Executive Director of the DC Comprehensive AIDS Resources and Education Consortium (DC CARE Consortium) and Damien Ministries, organizations that provided services to Person Living With HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC. Earl has worked on health, political and LGBTQ issues in many communities for nearly thirty years. Earl currently serves as Chair of the DC Commission on Human Rights, and was former chair of the DC Mayor’s GLBT Advisory Committee.
Earl has always been politically active focusing on voter registration and getting out the vote activities particularly among communities of color and LGBT Democrats. In 2009, he was appointed by then Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as an At-Large member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). In August 2013, Earl was reappointed, and elected Chair of the DNC LGBT Caucus. In December 2014, he was elected President of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club which is the second oldest LGBT Democratic Club in the United States
Earl has received numerous honors and awards for his community service, and was named one of three 2013 Grand Marshalls of the Heritage of Pride (NYC Gay Pride) along with Harry Belafonte and Edith Windsor. In September 2014, Earl was given the 2014 Wanda Alston Democratic Service Award by the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club in Washington, DC. Earl is considered an expert on LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues. He has written numerous articles and op-eds, and has appeared on the Roland Martin and Michael Baisden shows. Earl currently resides in Washington, DC.
Resistance is what love looks like in the face of U.S. policies of global military supremacy, “preemptive war” and “defensive strikes” by lethal drones.
The Rev. Chris J. Antal is the called and settled minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Rock Tavern, New York. Prior to that he was a chaplain in the U.S. Army and served one tour in Afghanistan. While there he witnessed armed drones and since then he has joined the growing number of religious voices resisting U.S. drone policy. His ministry has been featured in Disarmament Times and Sojourners and his public resignation in protest was reported on Democracy Now!, in Army Times, and on ABC news.
He is active in the D.C. based Interfaith Working Group on Drone Warfare and joined their delegation as the Unitarian Universalist Representative for Disarmament, Peace and Security Advocacy at a recent meeting on drone killing with staff members of the National Security Council.
Join us as we open up to the season of Advent with reflections on “Calm” by Michael A. Smith. This book focuses on developing a sense of calm and mindfulness to improve one’s own life and the world. These evenings programs will run from 7:00 – 8:30 pm at the Dignity Center and will include soft drinks and light snacks. We will meet on the four Tuesdays of Advent: November 29 – December 20. All are welcome, and sign-ups will be available in the back of church in the next few weeks. Denis and Jeff will lead the discussion.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the
evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” —Mark 13:33-37
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