Dear People of St. James’,
This week, a week when many celebrate Juneteenth, that feast of liberation, the Supreme Court has lifted the burden from many hearts and raised many voices in joy with two decisions that defend the futures and rights of vulnerable people.
On Monday, in an historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian, and transgender employees from discrimination based on sex. Thanks be to God, yes? Y’all I am not a crier, but I have been weeping this week.
I wept after many years of worrying for the future of my sister Katelyn, and so many others in the LGBTQ community, after many years of admiring her tireless advocacy for the trans community in Virginia, as well as yours.
I wept as I was reminded by Riley Temple that this liberating outcome was built on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He writes to the white LGBTQ community: “Remember the sacrifice of the African-American ancestors — many of whom risked all — their very existence — and gave their lives — their health — their well-being — their livelihoods — black children, women, and men to craft that legislation and get it enacted so that we can enjoy new found freedom today. When you celebrate, be sure to give humble and hearty thanks to the black soldiers of freedom, and remember those from whom these blessings flow. And when you see them or read their postings on social media — say for example, from Dr. Joyce Ladner, Rep. John Lewis, Rep. Jim Clyburn, Rep.Eleanor Holmes Norton — pause please, bow, to thank them for making possible your freedom.”
I wept as I was reminded that even legal protections are not capable of truly protecting scapegoated communities from hate. We have seen that in the murder of George Floyd, and so many other black men, women, and children. We bear witness to the insufficiency of legal protections as gay-bashing and senseless violence against the trans community continues to plague our communities, including our supposedly progressive city of Austin. And so we must push beyond legal protections, as important as they are, in order to realize a world where the dignity of every human being is respected.
This morning, I wept with joy at the 5-4 Supreme Court decision upholding DACA for now. This is not an unqualified victory, however. It is a reprieve – a space to breathe for DACA participants, and a call to action for those of us who would defend their hope and their future. We must not rest in our advocacy for this vulnerable community. Their future can only be assured by political change. And so, taking up our Presiding Bishop’s call to Become Beloved Community, the Commission on Hispanic Ministries of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas asks you to be repairers of the breach: to advocate and work for the regularization of the status of persons brought into the country as children so that they can continue to work, study, and have hope for the future.
Let us rejoice today and okay, tomorrow, Juneteenth as well. But as we celebrate Juneteenth let us remember that liberation has been too long delayed. Then let us rise with hope and love in our hearts for each other, and let’s get back to it!
The Rev. Eileen O’Brien
