From: RevMel@aol.com Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 22:20:52 -0500 (EST) Subject: Two Items for Inaugural Eve..(1) Invitation (2) Letter to the President Item #1. =20 You are invited to=20 A People of Faith Inaugural Celebration Inauguration Eve (Sun. Jan. 19, at 6:00 P.M.)=20 &/or Inauguration Night (Mon. Jan.20, at 6:00 P.M.) Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.=20 LIGHT YOUR JUSTICE CANDLE=20 "That the President might see the light=85" Help Us Launch A Four Year, Nationwide Justice Candle Vigil! Bring a candle (and a flashlight just in case).=20 Come just for our opening and/or closing candlelighting events. (Sunday, January 19, 6:00 p.m. and/or Sunday, January 20, 6:00 p.m.) Or bundle up and join us any time during our 24 hour candle-light vigil.=20 If our site changes someone will be at Dupont Circle to guide you. Or check for details at Lambda Rising, 202-462-6969. If you=92re going to a ball, drop by in tux or gown, and light your Justi= ce Candle with us.=20 Why the Justice Candle campaign? From the moment we received an invitation to attend one of the 1997 Inaug= ural Balls, Gary and I knew that we couldn't dance at this Inauguration. But = we also knew that we should be in Washington, D.C. to signal our respect for= the President=92s high office and to remind Mr. Clinton that he is called by = his Creator to use his powerful office to do justice for all. The next four years could bring great good or great harm to millions of u= s singled out by political and religious extremists for =91second-class-citizenship. We must unite with other concerned Americans= to urge the President to stand against poverty, racism, sexism, injustice an= d intolerance in every form. But we must also be relentless at keeping bef= ore him the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered Americans. Pat Robertson and the other anti-homosexual extremists have already launc= hed campaigns to silence us and to see us stripped of all our =91inalienable rights.=92 They don't want our light to shine for justice, for ourselves = or for anyone else. In fact, they are working day and night to snuff it out. Lighting our Justice Candles is just one small way to help keep it burni= ng. Mel White, Justice Minister, UFMCC *If you can=92t be in Washington, D.C. during the Inauguration,=20 light your candle as the President takes his oath.=20 Leave it burning for the next four years. "It is better to light one little candle than to curse the darkness." We Light Our Justice Candles To Remind The President: =B7 that we are sincerely grateful that he has done more to support and i= nclude lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Americans than any President in history; but =20 =B7 that by signing The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), he has denied our community the very rights he will swear to provide and protect on Inauguration Day; and, in some cases, because of what he has done or left undone, we continue to be second-class-citizens in our own country; =20 =B7 that he will see the light and use his power with Congress, the court= s, and the people to do justice, not just for lesbians and gays*, but for all wh= o endure racism, sexism, poverty, or discrimination and intolerance in any form. More Specifically: *=85to provide courageous leadership in the war against HIV/AIDS and othe= r life-threatening diseases,=20 =85to continue his support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act,=20 =85to initiate legislation to gain lesbian and gay partners the 175-250 = rights that go with marriage, =85to defend our rights to child custody, adoption, and foster care, =85to review the shameful results of his military policy and to end the military ban,=20 =85to include us in hate crime protections and to help end the =91sodomy=92= laws, =85to help win for us the same rights (not =91special rights=92) that th= e U.S. Constitution promises all Americans; As We light our Justice Candles, We Promise: =B7 to pray for the president that he might have the wisdom and the coura= ge to work for justice during his second term, not just for lesbians and gays, = but for all people who suffer second-class-citizenship; =20 =B7 that we will back our prayers with actions (letters, faxes, phone cal= ls, e-mail, petitions, press conferences, public actions) that support the President when he does justice and confront him when he remains silent an= d does nothing. =20 =B7 that we, too, will invest more of our time, money, and ideas this yea= r in the cause of justice, not just for our own community, for all who face injustice, bigotry, and discrimination. Light Your Justice Candle And Keep It Burning That We All Might See The Light! To prevent our cat, Sara, from setting the house on fire, my partner, Ga= ry Nixon, found an old electric candle that we will =91keep burning=92 24 ho= urs a day for the next four years. Join us, for a day, a year, or for the term= ! On January 20 we also celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We remember his commitment to justice by renewing our own. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!" Dr.King * Sunday morning, January 19, 9:00 & 11:00, Mel will be speaking at MC= C Washington, D.C. He and Pastor Candace Shultis will be lighting a Justic= e Candle together. You are welcome! 202-638-7373=20 ** Sunday evening at 8:00 p.m. Mel and Gary will light the Justice Candl= e at D.C.=92s Lambda Rising with Deacon Maccubbin, Jim Bennett, and =91the DOM= A 9.=92 Come say =91hello=92 and get acquainted. 202-462-6969. =20 For information about the =91soul force=92 principles of Jesus, Gandhi, a= nd King=20 which motivate and guide our Justice Candle action, or to contact Mel and Gary, see their JusticeNet page http://www.electriciti.com/~trey/melwhite/=20 Fax: 714-494-4079 E-mail: RevMel@aol.com. Item #2.=20 A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT RE THE JUSTICE CANDLE VIGIL MEL WHITE Minister of Justice and Reconciliation The Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton, President The United States of America White House Washington, D.C. Inauguration Day, January 20, 1997 Dear President Clinton, Four years ago, lesbian and gay Americans cheered your acceptanc= e speech and danced for joy at your Inaugural celebration. This year most= of us have ceased cheering and few will come to dance. Instead, in Dupont Circle and across America people of faith are lighting Justice Candles th= at will burn throughut your second term. We hope our flickering lights will remind you: First, that we are deeply grateful for what you and the Vice President have done to bring lesbians and gays to the table and to suppor= t our struggle for equal rights. Second, that there is much more to be done to win equal rights, n= ot just for lesbians and gays, but for all who suffer from sexism, racism, poverty, and discrimination in any form. Third, that we will work and pray to help you do it. If we were having this conversation in person at the White House,= it would be easier to convince you that our Justice Candles are not a protes= t or a confrontation. We will light the candles to honor your high office and t= o assure you that we understand the difficulty you have in serving all Americans fairly. At the same time, if you stop by Dupont Circle to light a Justice Candle with us (at 6 p.m. on Inaugural Eve or 6 p.m. on Inaugural Night) = you will see the grief in our eyes and feel our pain and disappointment. You= r first election brought lesbian and gay Americans hope that you would take= a courageous and consistent stand to help us win our equal rights. At the beginning of your second term, we are struggling to keep that hope alive. In 1992, during your first campaign, you promised to help end our second-class-citizenship and in the first months of your presidency it lo= oked like you would deliver on your promise. You invited our leaders to the Wh= ite House. You heard the stories of discrimination and violence against us a= nd you were genuinely moved. You included us in your speeches. You appoin= ted several lesbians and gays to high office. You promised us a powerful campaign to find a cure for HIV/AIDS and to mobilize federal resources to help end the suffering. You read the Pentagon and Rand Corporation studi= es that prove irrefutably that lesbians and gays serve with honor and courag= e in every branch and at every rank of the military, and you promised to end t= he ban. However, when you tried to keep your promise, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and other religious extremists launched another furious misinformation campaign against us. It=92s nothing new. They us= ed the same kind of false and inflammatory rhetoric to oppose granting equal rig= hts to women and people of color. Misquoting a handful of biblical texts to support their intolerance, hundreds of thousands of callers jammed switchboards and threatened orderly governance at the White House, the St= ate Department, and the Pentagon. They flexed. You flinched. We understand. We=92ve been victims= of their media blitzkriegs before. In order =91to govern the nation,=92 you= thought it best to pull back from your commitment to end the ban. You felt it necessary to sacrifice our equal rights for some =91greater political goo= d.=92 From that day, things got worse instead of better. You didn=92t end the military ban as you had promised. You didn=92t take a stand against Colo= rado=92s anti-gay Amendment 2. You didn=92t propose legislation to preserve, pro= tect, or defend our rights. In fact, when you signed the Defense of Marriage = Act you joined with our adversaries to deny us the 175-250 rights and protect= ions that go with marriage. In the meantime, while your Inaugural committee calls us to celebrate "An American Journey," we are still being discarded by our families, evicted from our homes, fired from our jobs, excommunicated by = our churches, hunted down and hounded out of the military, harassed, beaten a= nd murdered by bullies simply because we=92re lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered. Our teenagers still commit one-third of all teenage suici= des; and our sisters and brothers continue to be ranked among the top three victims of hate crimes in cities and states across the nation. Mr. President, the =91greater political good=92 you gained by m= oving away from us towards =91the middle=92 continues to cost individual lesbia= ns and gays a terrible price. We are hoping and praying that your re-election w= ill free you from such political expediency to do what is morally right. We thank you for your promise to support again this term the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. But passing ENDA would be just the beginning. At this moment religious extremists are launching new campaig= ns to end our right to child custody, foster care, and adoption. They are working on dozens of homophobic initiatives, determined to restore and enforce the =91sodomy=92 laws. The extremists want to burn our books, c= ensor our art and media, prohibit our public gatherings, close our community centers and churches, and ban our AIDS education programs. In the name o= [f] God, they are calling for Americans to end our rights and eliminate our influence altogether. The most fanatic are calling for our quarantine a= nd even for our death. For the next four years our Justice Candles will burn. We hope yo= u will see the light and use your second term to help win equal rights, not just for lesbians and gays, but for all who suffer sexism, racism and injustice in all its tragic forms. More specifically, we ask you: =B7 to provide courageous, determined leadership in the war against HIV/A= IDS; =B7 to continue your support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act; =B7 to help lesbian & gay partners win the 175-250 rights that go with marriage; =B7 to defend our rights to child custody, foster care, and adoption; =B7 to stop the military inquisition and end the military ban; =B7 to use your influence to include us in hate crime protections; =B7 to use your powerful voice against the extremist campaign to eliminat= e us; =B7 to help defeat the move to re-establish and/or enforce the =91sodomy=92= laws; =B7 to help us gain the equal rights (not =91special rights=92) promised= all Americans. We also light our Justice Candles to remind ourselves to pray for= you and to back our prayers with actions that support you in this just cause. We, too, promise to give more time and money during the next four years = to help win justice for all who suffer second-class-citizenship for any reas= on. Mr. President, we are afraid that the extremists may win their w= ar to superimpose their will upon the nation. But we are even more afraid t= hat those who could expose and defeat them will remain silent. Dr. King once said, "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will." Please, sir, try to understand why we are not dancing at your Inaugural Ball. We stand outside the White House in the cold, holding up= our Justice Candles, feeling a little foolish, consoled by the words that Adl= ai Stevenson spoke at Eleanor Roosevelt=92s funeral: "She would rather light= one small candle than curse the darkness." We light our Justice Candles in t= hat same spirit of love and support. Sincerely, Mel White PS: Our Founder, the Rev. Elder Troy Perry, sends his congratulations and sincere regards on the occasion of your second inauguration. Last year h= e celebrated with you. This year he is lighting a Justice Candle hoping an= d praying that "you will complete the work that you have begun for God=92s lesbian and gay children." As you will remember, the Universal Fellowship= of Metropolitan Community Churches is the largest Christian denomination in = the world with a primary ministry to lesbians and gays.=20 The Rev. Dr. Mel White, Justice Minister, Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches 8704 Santa Monica Blvd., Second Floor, West Hollywood, CA. 90069 P:310-360-8640 Personal Fax: 714-494-4079 E-mail: RevMel@aol.com