Denton Unitarians want their city to be safe and welcoming for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered men and women. But first, they want the community to join them in their cause. MEETING FOR OUTREACH CENTER
• Who: Presented by Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship lay leaders• When: 7 p.m. today • Where: Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1111 Cordell St.• Details: Local agencies and groups with an outreach to the gay community will have tables at the meeting. For more information, call the fellowship at 940-566-1286. THE ALPHABET SOUP
What does it mean to be a resource and center for GLBTQA?G - gaysL - lesbiansB -bisexuals T - transgendered men and women, people who have either completed sexual reassignment surgery or those who choose to live and present themselves as the opposite sex without reassignment surgeryQ - Queer or Questioning. What used to be an anti-gay epithet is now accepted as an umbrella term for sexual minorities who aren't heterosexual, heteronormative (lifestyle norms that insist there are only two normal presentations of human sexuality - male and female), or distinctly male or female.A - allies, those who support equal rights and privileges for sexual minorities.
The Unitarians have named the cause Outreach Denton, and it's a group that will offer support, information and a safe zone to people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered or who are questioning their sexual orientation or identity. The group also will be for those who support men, women and youths who identify themselves as a sexual minority.
The Rev. Pam Wat said the small church decided to pick up the work left off by late member Bruce Jarstfer, an openly gay man who was a longtime activist for gay rights.
"Last fall, which was my first season at Denton Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, I had a lot of conversations with Bruce Jarstfer, who really was our gay activist," Wat said. "He would stand up and deliver a lot of thoughts and intentions about GLBT issues. He also directed the church's performance of The Laramie Project, which was meant to observe the 10th anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard. For me and, I think, for the congregation, it was very painful to think about Matthew Shepard against the rash of suicides that were happening at the time."
Last year, five young American men committed suicide because they were bullied either for being gay or for being perceived as gay.
"Since I've been here, I've been looking around at the needs of this community, and issues like hunger and homelessness are being addressed in really wonderful ways by the religious community," Wat said. "What I haven't seen is a community place or a resource for GLBT people. Many people in the congregation have said we need to keep going with these seeds that have been planted by Bruce."
Denton resident Sandy Swan, a librarian for Resource Center Dallas, said she looks at the lack of such a center in Denton as "a real town and gown issue."
"People think about a gay and lesbian center and they think, 'Oh, that's something the universities do. That's them.' And it makes sense," said Swan, a member of the Unitarian congregation. "There has been at least one prior attempt to start something like this. It didn't take off. This congregation has been spurred by Bruce's passing."
Unitarian Universalists identify themselves as religious pluralists who unite around a common spiritual search for wholeness and social justice. The local congregation includes Christians, Buddhists, religious humanists, atheists and seekers who come together around liberal religious values.
Wat said a push for a safe place for sexual minorities in Denton is a suitable religious mission. The local fellowship has been visible in its support of equality for sexual minorities, and it is an official "Welcoming Congregation," a designation given by the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations to member churches that extend full benefits of membership to gay members. The local congregation recently voted to reaffirm its status as a Welcoming Congregation in preparation to launch Outreach Denton, Wat said.
"This is a religious issue for the same reasons that civil rights were a religious issue," Wat said. "Politics is slow to take this on. It takes forever for institutions to change. And anyway, at the heart of this is love. And love is always a religious issue."
Swan said that the suicides have made the congregation feel that gay youths need a center most urgently, as do their families and friends. Outreach Denton would serve all ages, however.
"At Resource Center of Dallas, we've been talking more and more about senior [citizen] issues," she said. "More and more, gay people who are seniors are facing having to go back in the closet because they are having to deal with going into assisted living situations. They face going back into the closet because there are safety issues with staff and with other residents. It's a very real issue."
Dallas has established resources for sexual minorities, as has Collin County. The University of North Texas Ally program is a resource for students and faculty, and Pride is the Texas Woman's University organization for students who are sexual minorities.
"If Collin County can sustain a GLBTA resource, why can't we?" Wat said. "I don't want to be polarizing, but maybe there is an anti-gay sentiment in Denton County, and we have to be concerned with the county and not just the city, because we're part of the county," Wat said. "I don't much care what Harold Camping believes, but I do care that his beliefs hurt so many people."
Camping, the preacher who started a media blitz regarding his failed prediction that the Rapture would happen May 21, often cited homosexuality and growing support for gay marriage as signs of the apocalypse.
The fellowship will serve as the initial center, Wat said, and the congregation hopes the group will attract members of other local churches - and anyone who is interested in such a center.
Swan said equality for sexual minorities has been a concern of hers for years. She and her husband, Jim, have passed on their beliefs to their son, Michael.
"I did grow up in a different cultural environment," Swan said. "I'm from California, in one of the most multicultural parts of the state - in the Bay Area. Moving here was like culture shock in that way."
Wat said the cause is close to her heart, too.
"I'm interested in this for selfish reasons, too," Wat said. "When you think of these young people who killed themselves, it makes you think about what comes after. I don't want to be the minister who has to bury that kid, you know? I don't want to have to do that."
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com .
