Enough, Is Enough!

We actually had a letter from religious leaders in Florida supporting us saying to the governor, enough is enough!

Latter-day Saint leaders join interfaith coalition letter supporting LGBTQ rights in Florida
‘Now is the time to set aside political motives, malice and misrepresentations and commit to respectful dialogue and good-faith engagement,’ letter says
Deseret News
By Tad Walch
September 13, 2022


Multiple rabbis, reverends and Latter-day Saint leaders are part of a group of over 45 religious, LGBTQ and educational leaders who signed a joint letter calling for legislation in Florida to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people from discrimination.

The letter, published Sunday in the Miami Herald and on Sept. 1 by the Tampa Bay Times under the headline “A call for peace,” specifically asks Floridians to support non-discrimination legislation to protect “all people from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, while also protecting important religious rights.”

“No one should be denied these protections based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and likewise religious persons and institutions should be protected in practicing their faith,” the letter writers said.

[…]

Thursday’s letter comes four months after a similar letter was published by Georgia leaders in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution by 54 leaders, including a Latter-day Saint area seventy, and six months after Latter-day Saint leaders announced support for an Arizona bill that also would provide religious freedom and LGBT anti-discrimination protections.

And that leads me to look up the article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Opinion: Religious, LGBTQ rights don’t have to conflict
Authors write that Georgia’s in a unique position to bridge divides and protect all from discrimination, even on a divisive issue.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
April 19, 2022


As citizens and leaders in the state of Georgia, we write in support of non-discrimination legislation that protects all people, including LGBTQ people, from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations, while also protecting important religious rights.

No one should be denied these protections based on their sexual orientation or gender identity; and likewise religious persons and institutions should be protected in practicing their faith. We believe that we are all children of a loving God who has commanded us to love each other. We are also Americans with a long tradition of figuring out how to get along despite deep differences.

We are extremely concerned that the ongoing conflicts between religious liberty and LGBTQ rights are poisoning our civil discourse, eroding the free exercise of religion and preventing diverse people of goodwill from living together in peace and mutual respect.

LGBTQ rights and religious rights do not have to be in conflict. We believe that the state of Georgia is uniquely positioned to come together to protect all people, unify our state and help bring healing to our nation on what for too long has been a divisive issue. That may not be easy, and it will certainly require goodwill and mutual accommodation, but it can and must be done.

We hope that every level of government will apply these common values and core principles in a balanced approach where in a spirit of trust all stakeholders engage in respectful dialogue and good-faith negotiations.

An almost identical letters appeared in the Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times. That is what we need is for all good religious leaders to speak up. When we speak out we have an ax to grind but when religious leaders speak out more people listen and carries more weight.