Church Group Backs Rights For Gay Workers Initiative Barring Discrimination Is Summarized As Morally Right

The Washington Association of Churches on Tuesday endorsed an initiative to bar job discrimination against homosexuals, saying it is needed to remedy injustice.

Members of the association, the state’s largest organization of Protestant and Catholic churches, said support for the initiative is morally right, and criticized those who oppose the measure on religious grounds.

“The forces of evil and the forces of darkness need to quit making it a religious issue,” the Rev. Dr. Ellis H. Casson, senior pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Seattle, told a news conference.

The initiative, on the Nov. 4 ballot, would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“Today, the people of the state of Washington live in a community where it is legal to deny or remove someone from their job simply because of sexual orientation,” Casson said. “We find this principle to be morally wrong.”

“The issue is a simple one,” said the Rev. Lynne Simcox Fitch, conference minister for the Washington-North Idaho Conference of the United Church of Christ. “No one should have to worry about losing their jobs because of sexual orientation.”

In addition to Casson and Fitch, others at the news conference included representatives of the United Methodist Church’s Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, New Hope Baptist Church in Seattle, American Jewish Committee, Church Council of Greater Seattle, The Interfaith Alliance of Washington State, Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, and Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center.

The initiative, they said, was not about being pro- or anti-gay, but simply to ensure equal treatment.

“Under current state law it is perfectly legal to discriminate,” said the Rev. John C. Boonstra, the association’s executive minister. “We believe that is not fair. We believe that is morally wrong.”

Boonstra said the member churches in the association reached consensus to support the initiative after leaders of the three Roman Catholic dioceses in the state agreed to back the measure last month.

Representatives of the Roman Catholic Church were not present Tuesday.

Two weeks ago, the Washington State Catholic Conference asked Catholics in the state to support Initiative 677 and Initiative 676, which would require trigger-locking devices and safety licenses for handguns.

In a letter to pastors and parish leaders, the Catholic conference said that while the church disapproves of “homosexual genital activity,” Initiative 677 is narrowly drafted to focus on employment.