LGBTQIA+ Icon Billie Jean King (American tennis player) “Equity is not a woman’s issue, a LGBTQ+ issue or a minority issue, it’s everyone’s responsibility. None of us is as strong as all of us are together.” “Ever since that day when I was 11 years old, and I wasn’t allowed in a photo because I […]

Today, on Juneteenth, we remember, honor, and celebrate the emancipation of enslaved Black people in the United States—and we also recognize that the work of liberation, justice, and equity continues. At ReconcilingWorks, we know that LGBTQIA+ justice cannot be separated from racial justice. The call to build communities of welcome, inclusion, celebration, and advocacy must […]

Help ReconcilingWorks welcome a new Reconciling in Christ (RIC) community:   Messiah Lutheran Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Their welcome statement reads: “At Messiah Lutheran Church we share God’s love and grace. We welcome people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, ethnicities, races, economic status, abilities and all life circumstances. We recognize that we are […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1825-1895 (Lawyer and journalist) “I may have a beard, and manly limbs and body, yet confined by these, I am and remain a woman.” “Sexual orientation is a right established by nature. Legislators have no right to veto nature; no right to persecute nature in the course of its work; […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Edith Windsor, 1929-2017 (LGBTQ+ activist) ” Marriage is a magic word. And it is magic throughout the world. It has to do with our dignity as human beings to be who we are openly.” “I never expected I’d be looking at a piece of paper that said Windsor versus the United States of […]

Today, we pause to rememberand honor the Emanuel 9—The Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons Sr., Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson—whose lives were taken in a horrific act of racist violence at Mother Emanuel AME Church. They were gathered in prayer, study, […]

Help ReconcilingWorks welcome a new Reconciling in Christ (RIC) community:   Hope Lutheran Church in Long Grove, Illinois. Their welcome statement reads: “Hope Lutheran Church is a place where everyone belongs. We believe all people are created in God’s image, and our differences make us stronger. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, and whatever your story […]

  LGBTQIA+ Icon Phyll Opoku-Gyimah (Human rights and LGBTQ+ activist) “We are not living in some ideal world where we all have the rights that we deserve. So pride is much more than just a celebration” “I would go back to my younger self at the age of nine or ten and I would say: […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Beverley Palesa Ditsie (Musician, writer, filmmaker, and human rights activist) “What kind of intersectionality do you practice that does not see the oppression of others? I am not interested in a system of hierarchy. I am interested in a system where we are equal.” “No one has the authority, moral or otherwise to […]

ReconcilingWorks extends deep gratitude and joy for our partnerships through the Reconciling in Christ (RIC) program. Beginning in 1983, the holy work of this ministry now represents 13% of ELCA and 7% of ELCIC congregations, synods, and ministries. On Mondays through June we are celebrating all RIC Partners who became RIC in June. Below is […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Arsham Parsi (LGBTQ+ activist) “I am very, very optimistic because I believe in people power. We have an expression in Farsi that you can do whatever you want if you just decide to. I have decided to bring change to Iran and decriminalize homosexuality. It will happen because homosexual rights, queer writes, are […]

LGBTQIA+ Icon Sameer Jha (Stanford student, LGBTQ+ activist, and author) “You don’t start out changing the world. You start out making small changes. Even within yourself. Educating yourself is already helping people around you. Small changes are important.”   June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) month. This month is a […]