

Solidarity Sunday

There's so much going on in the Church. How can we make room for this, along with everything else we have to do?

Concern for oppressed people is part of the very fabric of our Church. Therefore, Solidarity Sunday can easily fit in with other things going on. One pastor in southern Maine wove the fact that Solidarity Sunday and Pro-Life Sunday occurred on the same day into his homily by remarking that the rainbow ribbons were a good reminder of the sanctity of all life. At a Catholic college in Colorado, Solidarity Sunday was celebrated during Parents' Weekend.

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Gay and lesbian people are gaining increasing visibility in society. Is violence really still a problem?

The answer is an emphatic yes. In Maine, after the repeal of civil rights protections for gays and lesbians, there was a highly publicized incident in which a gay man was brutally beaten. Throughout New England, incidences of anti-gay violence climbed 40% in 1997. Clearly, people of faith need to lead the way in saying, "No more!"

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How does Solidarity Sunday relate to official Church teaching?

As an anti-violence initiative, this program is entirely consistent with Church teaching. In fact, some parishes see it as a way to begin implementing the American bishops' recent pastoral letter Always our Children. Imagine how supported a mother who has been silent about her child's homosexuality would feel, sitting in Church the morning of Solidarity Sunday surrounded by fellow parishioners wearing rainbow ribbons.

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What are you asking my parish/faith community to do? How can my parish/faith community be involved?

It's very easy to participate. You have to make the cards and ribbons available at your church on the Sundays leading up to Solidarity Sunday. Some communities take additional steps, like focusing that Sunday's homily on a theme related to Solidarity Sunday, or holding an educational forum on anti-gay violence, or issues faced by Catholic gay people. If you would like to do something like that, we'd be happy to help you organize it. The important thing is to get involved! 

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Do people really do this?

Solidarity Sunday caught on big the first year, and has been growing e ver since. In 1997, approximately 100,000 people-most of them non-gay- participated in the program. We hear from lots of people who choose to be part of Solidarity Sunday because they know someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, and because they care about what happens to this person.

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What is Solidarity Sunday?

Solidarity Sunday, observed every year on the Sunday before October 11 (which is Coming Out Day), is a faith-based anti-violence initiative. Because we understood that, contrary to popular belief, most Catholics are appalled by anti-gay attacks, DignityUSA initiated Solidarity Sunday in 1995 as a way of making our opposition to anti-gay violence visible. It is a very simple program.

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