Standing on the Side of Love: A Tribute to Rev. William Sinkford
When asked in a recent interview for UU World about the public initiatives he was most proud of in his eight year presidency Rev. William Sinkford responded: “Marriage equality would be right on the top of the list. Our witness there is both deeply grounded and our congregations have been doing the work of welcoming BGLT folks for decades.”
We could not allow Bill Sinkford’s successful term to come to a close without offering our heartfelt thank you for this witness and for his leadership on all issues affecting the LGBT community. Whether finding congregations to do transgender education, bringing clergy to the District of Columbia for our Clergy Call for Justice and Equality, speaking out against hate crimes, or building support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, it is often our UU friends we turn to knowing that their work is fully embraced by their denominational President.
Under Bill’s guidance, the denomination has found its most powerful voice in the state-by-state work for marriage equality. Without the presence of UUs in collaboration with other faith voices, marriage equality would not be a possibility for lesbian and gay couples in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, Iowa and New Hampshire and still counting. But this sustained advocacy is not easy. Many UU ministers and lay leaders live in areas where their support of LGBT justice places them at odds with their neighbors and even at times their congregations. It can be a very lonely and sometimes frightening place to stand. Yet this ministry is enormously powerful. It is literally a lifeline for LGBT people who have been harmed by religion, whose relationships have often been shunned, diminished, or even denounced and who are in deep need of a spiritual community. Bill’s unwavering support of ministers willing to speak out for LGBT equality has helped them find the courage to do the right thing even in the face of intimidation and isolation.
In 2003 Bill took the controversial stance of encouraging UUs to dig deeper in their spiritual lives and to speak more openly using the language of reverence. In his words, “my wish has always been that Unitarian Universalists will find more pathways that can get them below the neck.” By encouraging UUs to go deeper spiritually, Bill has helped create a generation of leaders who claim a religious authority not just when they are preaching about spirituality but also as they do their work for justice. We see this manifest in the “standing on the side of love” campaign. It is the love at the heart of this campaign—love for our families, our congregations, our communities and the spark of the divine that breathes through all of us—that inspires faith leaders around the country, as it does us, to bring our best and most sacred selves to this work.
We have come to know Bill in his role as a founding member of our Religion Council, a group of national religion opinion leaders who speak on behalf of the LGBT community. In this capacity we have seen Bill’s pastoral touch, his gentle humility, and his spiritual hunger for justice. He personifies for us the campaign he has helped spearhead: he is a man who courageously stands on the side of love. And we are all the better for it.
Joe Solmonese, President, Human Rights Campaign
Harry Knox, Director, HRC’s Religion and Faith Program
Sharon Groves, Deputy Director, HRC’s Religion and Faith Program