Archive: Welcoming Congregation News

  • June is Pride Month June 3, 2021 - June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month. This is a time to remember the long struggle of LGBTQ+ people for basic rights, and to recognize the many contributions they have made to our society.
  • International Transgender Day of Invisibility March 22, 2021 - International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual event occurring on March 31. It is a time to celebrate transgender and non-binary people around the globe and acknowledge the courage it takes to live openly and authentically.
  • LGBTQ Welcome Renewal March 3, 2021 - 2020. The UUA now requires annual application for this designation. We first became a Welcoming Congregation in 1999.
  • Intersex Day of Remembrance on November 8 November 4, 2020 - rom Wikipedia: While Intersex Awareness Day on October 26 appears to be celebrated more in English-speaking countries, particularly in North America, Intersex Day of Remembrance has been marked mostly in Europe. Some countries, such as Australia and South Africa, mark both events and the days between as "14 days of intersex". It marks the birthday of Herculine Barbin, a French intersex person whose memoirs were later published by Michel Foucault in Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-century French Hermaphrodite.
  • Intersex Awareness Day is October 26 October 21, 2020 - From Wikipedia: “Intersex Awareness Day is an international day of grass-roots action to end shame, secrecy and unwanted genital cosmetic surgeries on intersex children. The day also provides an opportunity for reflection and political action… Intersex people are individuals born with any of several variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals that do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies.” As taught in the UUA Transforming Hearts Collective course, intersex people are an example of how the biological gender binary is not absolutely true.
  • National Coming Out Day October 11th October 7, 2020 - National Coming Out Day is observed on October 11 every year to support LGBTQ+ people. This day originated in 1988 in the United States. A primary emphasis is on coming out to family, friends, and colleagues and living more openly as an LGBTQ+ person. A key belief is that an atmosphere of silence promotes ignorance and homophobia. When people know that members of their family and friends are LGBTQ+, they are more likely to support and anti-oppressive views.
  • Celebrate Bisexuality Day September 16, 2020 - Celebrate Bisexuality Day is observed on September 23. This is a day to honor our friends and family members in the bisexual community and their supporters. This day is also an opportunity to recognize and celebrate bisexual history, bisexual community and culture, and all the bisexual people in our church and community.
  • UP Center To Use UUCUC for C-U 2020 Pride Fest On-line – September 25-27 September 9, 2020 - The Pride Parade was typically the biggest fundraiser for the year for Uniting Pride (UP) of Champaign-Urbana. But this year, part of the festival is planned for a virtual series of live-streamed moderated workshops. UP representative Zev Alexander (a friend of our church) asked to use our facility, in order to have a central location with good WiFi and internet support, but could still allow the in-person attendees to stay spread out enough to be safely socially distanced and obeying Health district regulations.
  • June is Pride Month June 3, 2020 - Pride Month is largely credited as being started by bisexual activist, Brenda Howard.
  • Harvey Milk Day – May 22 May 18, 2020 - Harvey Milk Day is celebrated each year on his birthday, May 22.