In addition to our open letters, the Religious Institute frequently writes statements to mobilize religious leaders and people of faith around pressing matters at the intersection of sexual, gender, and reproductive justice. Here is a collection of some of our past social statements.
Nearly 1,300 leaders from diverse faith traditions tell the Supreme Court that religious beliefs don’t grant a license to discriminate. In the brief, faith leaders oppose the misuse of religious freedom and the undermining of LGBTQ non-discrimination projections because of—not in spite of their—faith.
The Religious Institute issued the following statement on the Trump Administration’s decision to allow employers broad exemptions to the requirement to cover birth control without co-pay in their insurance plans. Today, the Trump Administration issued a rule that would allow employers to refuse to cover contraception in their health insurance plan based on a “sincere […]
As a person of faith, I believe that access to comprehensive and affordable health care is both a right and a moral imperative. My faith teaches me to care for those in need, consider the welfare of all people, and side with those who are poor, marginalized, and vulnerable. Denying health care to millions of […]
As religious leaders and people of faith, we are committed to creating a society that embraces the diversity of God’s creation and affirms the inherent dignity, agency, and worth of people of all gender identities and sexual orientations. We believe all people must be free to express their gender and sexuality, unburdened by discrimination, unequal […]
To endorse the statement below, please fill out this form. As religious leaders and people of faith, we give thanks for the compassionate health care Planned Parenthood provides. Planned Parenthood is an integral part of our health care system, providing access to reproductive and preventative health care to people of all ages, races, gender identities, […]
More than 1,800 clergy and religious leaders signed this friend-of-the-court brief in Gloucester County School Board v. GG, the first-ever case on transgender rights to go before the Supreme Court. The brief acknowledges the diversity of faith traditions that honor the inherent dignity and worth of transgender people and the long-standing presence of transgender people in faith […]
As people of faith, we decry the tragic shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016, and we lament the harm done in this act of violence. Our faith traditions call us to love one another, to mourn those who have died, to comfort the despairing, to speak out against injustice, […]
On Monday, May 9, 2016, 111 United Methodist clergy and candidates released a letter in which they came out to their denomination as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and intersex people. Responding to their coming out, on May 16, 2016, a broad coalition of national faith leaders outside of the United Methodist Church released […]
Nearly 1,000 Clergy and 2,500 People of Faith Respond to New State Anti-LGBTQ Legislation Responding to the passage of the North Carolina and Mississippi laws and to anti-LGBTQ legislation being considered throughout the country, today a broad faith coalition released a statement urging public officials to “reject anti-LGBTQ and, specifically, anti-transgender legislation and to commit […]
The Religious Institute and Just Texas coordinated faith leaders to join this amicus brief in support of abortion access. Seventeen religious organizations and almost 1300 religious leaders submitted a faith-based amicus brief in the Supreme Court case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole. This case challenges parts of Texas’s clinic shutdown law, known as H.B. 2, which imposes medically […]