Sacred Worth, Shared Freedom
We are summoned to this pivotal moment — a season that calls us to reckon honestly with the present and renew our commitment to a more just and liberated future.
We acknowledge the trauma many LGBTIQ+ people carry in a climate marked by escalating rhetoric that falsely portrays LGBTIQ+ people as threats, fueling harassment and violence. LGBTIQ+ migrants and asylum seekers — especially transgender women fleeing violence — face heightened risks in detention and during asylum processing. Anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation has surged across many states, with hundreds of bills introduced in recent years.
Policies restricting bathroom access or school sports participation have singled out transgender and gender-expansive youth for public scrutiny and humiliation. Several states have enacted or attempted to enact bans on gender-affirming health care for transgender and gender-expansive youth and, in some cases, adults. Court decisions have allowed some of these bans to take effect, creating fear and uncertainty for families seeking medically recommended care and forcing many to travel across state lines or relocate entirely.
The Lemkin Institute has issued a red flag warning for the potential genocide of transgender and gender-expansive people, highlighting escalating threats, dehumanizing rhetoric, and systemic discrimination.
Court decisions have also overturned bans on conversion therapy, which target LGBTIQ+ youth and seek to change their sexual or gender identities. It is a dangerous practice discredited by every major medical and mental health organization as ineffective and shown to inflict deep psychological, spiritual, and emotional harm.
Attempts to limit LGBTIQ+ education and visibility in schools and libraries undermine freedom of expression and access to information. Efforts to roll back nondiscrimination protections in health care, education, and housing deepen stigma and discrimination.
Communities already marginalized by racism, ableism, poverty, and xenophobia face compounded harms when anti-LGBTIQ+ policies intersect with broader systems of oppression, widening inequities in health care, education, employment, housing, and public safety.
Across faiths, identities, and nations, we proclaim a truth older than any constitution and deeper than any border:
Every person is sacred.
Every life is woven with inherent worth and dignity.
As liberation stories rise across traditions, we come united in the conviction that democracy itself depends on the flourishing of LGBTIQ+ people. As attacks escalate and human dignity is undermined, we refuse to meet this moment with silence.
We embrace a strategic moral arc:
- Queering Spring — reclaiming stories of liberation;
- IDAHOBIT — defending dignity at the heart of democracy;
- Pride Month — embodying joy, resistance, and community; and
- July 4, 2026 — renewing the promise of freedom for all.
Across traditions, spring has long symbolized liberation, rebirth, and the restoration of hope. Queering Spring invites us to reclaim these sacred stories through the lived experiences of LGBTIQ+ people, affirming that liberation must include every body, every identity, and every voice.
The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), observed each year on May 17, calls us to remember that LGBTIQ+ people are not at the margins of democracy — they are at its heart.
Pride summons us into joy as resistance — remembrance, resilience, and communal flourishing.
And the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence invites us to both celebrate and confront our national story, reimagining liberty through a queer, intersectional lens grounded in truth.
Our shared work is rooted in universal values: dignity, compassion, justice, truth, interdependence, courage, and hope. We affirm the sacred worth of every person and commit to practices that heal rather than harm, protect rather than exclude, and uplift rather than silence.
Truth demands that we name injustice.
Justice requires that we act.
Courage calls us to refuse silence.
CALL TO ACTION
We call upon all who offer care, accompaniment, or leadership to ground their work in trauma-informed practices that honor the sacred worth of every person. This means engaging with consent, establishing clear safety practices, using affirming language and embodiment, avoiding re-traumatization in all forms of ministry and advocacy, and centering those most impacted so that leadership reflects lived experience. Trauma-informed care is not an optional skill — it is a moral and spiritual commitment.
We call upon all people to embrace joy as resistance. In a world that weaponizes despair, joy becomes a revolutionary act. Pride is not frivolous; it is a declaration of life. Let us dance, celebrate, and live loudly — not as escape, but as testimony to our resilience and our refusal to be diminished.
We call upon people of faith everywhere to rise in courageous, boundary-crossing solidarity. Faith must never be a weapon used to wound. Let our traditions be sources of healing, not harm; of courage, not fear; of liberation, not control.
We call upon the LGBTIQ+ community — sacred and secular — to remember that our shared struggle is our shared strength. Let us center solidarity and collaboration, knowing that our joy, our resistance, and our ability to thrive are intertwined.
We call upon communities of faith, conscience, and solidarity to courageous, sustained action. To:
- Create visibly safe, brave, and affirming spaces.
- Deepen relationships across communities.
- Build solidarity with those facing heightened harm.
- Become sanctuaries of compassion, activism, and truth-telling — not passive spaces of welcome, but bold places of accompaniment.
- Engage in public witness that reflects shared values.
- Educate about threats to LGBTIQ+ safety and democratic participation.
- Name the violence and uplift stories of resilience.
- Advocate for protective policies.
- Hold vigils and other events, such as interfaith Pride services.
- Partner with organizers and LGBTIQ+ and other community organizations.
We call upon faith leaders to amplify transgender and gender-expansive voices, theologians, and truth-tellers. Let pulpits, classrooms, and sacred spaces ring with the wisdom of those most impacted. Let faith be a force that protects, uplifts, and liberates.
We call upon educators and communities to deepen understanding of gender diversity, human sexuality, and nonviolent social change. Knowledge is liberation. Education is protection. Truth-telling is a sacred act.
We call upon all people of conscience to hold leaders accountable. LGBTIQ+ rights are being contested in legislatures and courts, and public rhetoric has emboldened harassment and violence. Democracy cannot survive selective freedom. We must demand policies that protect LGBTIQ+ lives, expand access to health care, and safeguard civic participation.
We call upon advocates and organizers to reimagine freedom through a queer, intersectional lens. Freedom is not complete until it is shared by all. The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is a milestone – not a celebration of perfection but an invitation to truth. To:
- Call the nation to a renewed covenant of liberty, justice, and equality for all.
- Lift up LGBTIQ+ contributions to justice movements.
- Tell the truth about our national story.
- Advocate for the Equality Act.
- Confront the full landscape of harm — legislative attacks, censorship, discrimination in health care, anti-LGBTIQ+ budget proposals, and the targeting of migrants.
- Resist racism, ableism, xenophobia, white supremacy, and Christian nationalism.
- Engage in sustained action on Medicaid and SNAP cuts;
- Demand truth and accountability for ICE and the treatment of migrants
- Support and share information about reproductive health services.
We call upon political and community leaders to protect LGBTIQ+ rights, reject dehumanizing rhetoric, ensure safety in public spaces, expand access to health care, and uphold democratic participation.
We call upon the public — people of any or no faith — to show up with solidarity, challenge misinformation, participate in public events, support LGBTIQ+ organizations, and advocate for inclusive democracy.
And we call for rest, nourishment, and healing. Movements cannot survive on urgency alone. Our bodies, our spirits, and our communities deserve care. Rest is resistance. Healing is holy.
This is our charge.
This is our sacred work.
This is the future we are called to build, together.
PDF Downloads:
- Sacred Worth, Shared Freedom: A 2026 Multi-Faith Call to Action
- A Litany based on Sacred Worth, Shared Freedom: A 2026 Multi-Faith Call to Action
- Media Release for Sacred Worth, Shared Freedom: A 2026 Multi-Faith Call to Action