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Making history, at great cost
Hillary and Julie Goodridge, lead plaintiffs in the case that resulted in Massachusetts becoming the first state to legalize marriage equality, wed in a historic ceremony at the UUA’s former headquarters on Beacon Hill on May 17, 2004, the first day the state issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. NPR recently interviewed the Goodridgesabout the fall-out from so much publicity. Hillary said, "We had to look like the girls who could be next door. . . . Not too threatening." Their divorce five years later led to still more attention and criticism. Their daughter, Annie, now 23, said, “It was a lot of stress for all of us, all the time. . . . When you have to be on all the time, it's hard to turn yourself off." (NPR, 5.16.19)
Medical aid in dying matters
The Rev. Julia Corbett-Hemeyer, a community minister in Muncie, Indiana, explains why medical aid in dying matters: “Would I myself choose medical aid in dying if that option were available? And under what circumstances? I cannot say for sure, because I’m not in that situation. Do I want that choice to be available when I am in that condition? Yes. Do I want the same choice available for every person who needs it? Yes, by all means.” (The Star Press, 5.17.19)
Vigil remembers victims of religious violence
An interfaith community gathered in Kenosha, Wisconsin, for a vigil remembering those who have died from religious violence. The Rev. Eric David Carlson, minister of the Bradford Community Church Unitarian Universalist in Kenosha, said that “We are deeply troubled by an increase of violence perpetuated in the name of faith, despite the greatest teachings of our world religions to compel us to lives of compassion, forgiveness, peace and justice. . . . As religious leaders committed not only to our spiritual traditions, but to the sacred ideals of freedom of religious expression, we condemn all acts of violence, but especially those that prevent people everywhere from worshiping peaceably.” (Kenosha News, 5.15.19)