"Out of the Box" is OUT!

After years of planning, months of filming and weeks of editing, "Voices of Witness: Out of the Box" is now "ready for prime time" ... playing on IntegriTV's YouTube Channel. Here are some "early reviews:"

"Fiercely, beautifully, compelling. Enlightening and comforting to ALL of us, even us heteros, who need to courageously live into our true selves, whoever that is and wherever that takes us."

"This is absolutely beautiful. I am so glad to see these people live the lives they were meant to, and I am overjoyed to see the Episcopal Church open up its doors and be so accepting. I pray one day the Roman Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and all other churches can follow this example."

"Demos gracias a Dios! I recognize the stories of so many beloved members of our own parish and my own family in this beautiful production. Please oh please, por favor, tell me that it will at least be overdubbed en español, so that the other half of our congregación can watch the video."

"This video is moving, thoughtful, and the humanity of transgender people shines through every frame. This is a wonderful tool to educate all about a subject that is so misunderstood and feared. Great work!!!

Watch it for yourself. Commend it to your bishops and deputies. Help us spread the word: "Out of the Box" is OUT!

Integrity Focuses on the “T” in LGBT With Release of Groundbreaking Documentary Film

Integrity marks the beginning of Pride Month with the June 1^st release of "Voices of Witness: Out of the Box" – the groundbreaking documentary giving voice to the witness of transgender people of faith. Courageously inviting the viewer into their journeys, the film is ultimately a celebration of hope and the power of God's love to transcend even seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Produced by Integrity’s Communication Director Louise Brooks, the film is being offered as a gift to the Episcopal Church as a resource for both teaching and transformation.

"Gender identity and gender expression are issues that can easily be misunderstood and cannot be wrapped up in a neat little box,” said Brooks. “So the goal of “Out of the Box” was to answer some of the most frequently asked questions. We have been blessed by a truly amazing cloud of witnesses who shared their stories and their lives with us. It has been a privilege to work with them to take this project from a dream to a reality as we offer their voices of witness to the church and to the world.”

"I believe God is calling us into this conversation now,” said New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson, one of the voices featured in the project. “It is an opportunity to get to understand another part of God's never-ending diversity and another way to live into our baptismal calling to love all God's children."

The third in the Voices of Witness series, “Out of the Box” was released on the IntegriTV YouTube Channel on Friday, June 1^st. It will also be distributed to every bishop and deputation prior to the 77^th General Convention of the Episcopal Church meeting in Indianapolis in July, along with a study guide written by the Rev. Gary Hall.

“Making ‘all’ mean ‘all’ is the foundation of Integrity’s platform for General Convention 2012,” said Jon Richardson, Integrity’s VP for National Affairs. “And partnering with our TransEpiscopal allies to complete the work of adding gender identity and expression to our non-discriminations canons is part of the work “Out of the Box” will help us do.”

For more information contact:

Louise Brooks

Director of Communications

Integrity USA

communication@integrityusa.org

626-993-4605

Call to Action: Support call for Boy Scout Equality!

Dear Integrity Members and Friends:

The Boy Scouts of America recently used their discriminatory policy against gay scouts and scout leaders to remove a successful scout leader and mother, Jennifer Tyrrell, from her post when she raised concerns about improprieties in the finances of her local troop. Jennifer stood up for equality and so will we.



Change.org launched a petition drive which resulted in over 275,000 signatures so far -- add yours today!

Change.org says it is time for the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider its policy of exclusivity against gay youth and leaders – and The General Convention of the Episcopal Church agreed in way back in the year 2000 when it passed Resolution C031 which included the resolve: "encourage the Boy Scouts of America to allow membership to youth and adult leaders irrespective of their sexual orientation;"

Please take action for justice for our families today! Let the Boy Scouts know that as an Episcopalian you stand for equality!

Blessings,
Harry+
Rev. Harry Knox
Interim Executive Director

Believing AND Blessing Out Loud: Deep in the Heart of Texas

St. David's in Austin gets some great local television coverage about their plans to move forward with blessings once authorized by General Convention. Watch this segment and think about the "take-aways" viewers got  of [1] the Episcopal Church Welcomes Everybody and [2] (from the rector) "Jesus friended everybody ... before Facebook!"

Kudos to St. David's, Austin ... and Onward to Indianapolis!

Integrity Can Stand Up For Tyler Clementi At GC

“O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show yourself.” Psalm 94:1

Middlesex County, NJ Superior Court Judge Glenn Berman just sentenced Dharum Ravi to 30 days in jail, with probation and community service.  It was Ravi who videoed Tyler Clementi kissing another man and broadcast the kiss through social media.  Clementi ended his life on earth by jumping off the George Washington Bridge.  Tyler saw no way out of his unmitigated shame, but Dharum is being offered another chance after spending what I consider to be a very short time in jail.

The unrepentant Ravi won’t be deported to his native India, largely because the un-named man whom Tyler kissed wrote the judge and asked him to allow his tormenter the chance to be rehabilitated in the US.  That act of compassion on the part of Ravi’s other victim moved the judge to mercy of which I fear I would be incapable.

So in my anger at an apparent lack of justice for Tyler Clementi, I am thrown back on the words of the Psalmist.  Psalm 94 is among the places in the Bible we hear the plaintive cry, “Oh Lord, how long…” (v. 3). The Psalmist also asks, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?” (v. 16) Well, friends, that’s our cue.  I am not a judge, thanks be to God.  But because Integrity will be working night and day at General Convention 2012 to pass a resolution authorizing and empowering a strong response to bullying from the Episcopal Church. We have a chance to stand up for Tyler Clementi, and his un-named date, by doing all we can to make Integrity’s efforts successful.  True justice for those young men will not be found in a longer jail sentence for Dharum Ravi, but may be found in changed hearts and minds all over this country moved by what they will hear in church about how we can live together in peace.

Frankly, in these challenging economic times, we are having a difficult time raising the money we need to be effective at General Convention.  But Tyler’s death and Dharum’s sentencing point out that the stakes in Integrity’s work have never been higher.  So I hope you will join me in digging deep to contribute the money Integrity needs to help make the Episcopal Church a beacon of hope to the bullied, and the bullies.  Both are children of God crying out for us to stand with them for justice’s sake.

Rev. Harry Knox

Interim Executive Director

Integrity USA

Dio of New Hampshire Elects Hirschfeld as New Bishop

INTEGRITY STATEMENT ON THE ELECTION OF THE TENTH BISHOP OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

"Integrity USA celebrates today with the people of the Diocese of New Hampshire on their election of the Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld to serve as their tenth bishop," said Integrity's Vice President of National Affairs, The Rev. Jon M. Richardson.

Integrity President  The Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall added: "We are confident that the people of New Hampshire have listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit and have elected the person best able to lead them in fulfilling God's mission in the coming years.

The Rev. Jon M. Richardson continued, " "The Diocese of New Hampshire - as well as the wider church - have been richly blessed by the ministry of Bishop Gene Robinson.  Bishop-elect Hirschfeld will have big shoes to fill as he moves into his new call.  The bishop-elect was chosen from an outstanding field of three candidates, and it is a credit to the people  of New Hampshire, as well as a testament to the progress of the Episcopal Church as a whole, that the three candidates' sexual orientations served as little more than an historical footnote through this process.

"Bishop-elect Hirschfeld was chosen on the basis of his strong credentials as a pastor, priest, and teacher and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the context of prayerful discernment on the part of the Diocese of New Hampshire.  The bishop-elect has a strong record of support for marriage equality and is a trusted friend of the  LGBT movement, and we are eager to work with him in the years ahead as we continue to move the church from "Resolution to reality: making all mean ALL!"

For more information contact:
Louise Brooks
Director of Communications
Integrity USA
communication@integrityusa.org
626-993-4605

NOTE: Integrity regrets the misspelling of Bishop-elect Hirschfeld's name in the initial release.

Integrity's Transgender Documentary Nears Completion! (w/Video Clip)

"Voices of Witness: Out of the Box" explores issues of gender identity and expression through voices of witness from the transgender community and their allies in the Episcopal Church. One of those allies, Bishop Gene Robinson, is convinced that "the transgender community is being brought to us by the Holy Spirit to become the more fully inclusive church we are called to be." View the preview/promo video here:



The third in the "Voices of Witness" series, this short documentary film will be accompanied by a study guide designed to equip individuals and congregations to explore and embrace the full inclusion of transgender people in the work and witness of the Episcopal Church.

June 1, 2012 is the scheduled release date for the project -- which will be posted to YouTube and made available via DVD to the bishops and deputies of the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

For more information contact Louise Brooks -- Integrity's Communication Director -- at communication@integrityusa.org.