"Uninhibited" Marching Under Sunny Rainbow Pride Skies

Some 30 to 40 Unitarians from Westwood and UCE (and 100 per cent of our ministers!) turned out to cheer, wave and march in Edmonton's 30th annual Pride Parade. This year we followed the Roller Derby women, and just ahead of an NDP contingent, so you can bet the crowd was pretty noisy.

We saw lots of familiar faces in the crowd as well including prominent Gay activist Murray Billett who called out thanks for our continued support and participation.

As always, the crowd was as interesting as the paraders. The outrageous outfits and make-up was not confined to the marchers! Two standouts this year: One was a couple on the way to celebrate their marriage who came with groomsmen and bridesmaids in full wedding regalia to cheer on the parade. The other was a tiny Muslim woman with three children. She was wearing her hiqab (headscarf) but was out on the road waving and snapping photos of the parade with a smile on her face.

Later my daughters Lily and Elora enjoyed the post parade activities. Elora dunked herself in the pool at City Hall while Lily took part in painting a mural closer to Churchill Square.

But as much fun as it all was, the part that always moves me is something else. "Uninhibited" is sometimes a dirty word in our culture. Canadians are reluctant to be uninhibited about anything (except maybe hockey). We certainly don't spend a lot of time celebrating sexuality.

But for me, that is exactly what the Pride Parade is, a celebration of human sexuality in all of its splendour. Certainly it is also still a reminder of a minority in society that needs protection in the forum of human rights. But the way that reminder is given has changed over the years. Now parade marchers and watchers alike turn out dressed in various provocative ways not to shock, but to celebrate who they are. It's not the magazine model types dressed in fishnets, bustiers and low cut ball gowns (and that would be every gender I am describing). It's the everyday human beings of all orientations coming out and saying "Hey, I'm a sexual being too, and I want to celebrate everyone's orientation, and isn't that fun?" And it is.

Yup, if you never have been it might be hard to get one's head around the idea of skimpy, sexy outfits being the harbingers of good, clean prideful fun, but that's what it is.

Join Unitarians at the Edmonton Pride Parade, June 12

Once again Unitarians from the Westwood Unitarian Congregation and the Unitarian Church of Edmonton will be unfurling our banners and parading down Jasper Avenue in support of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Trans Gender rights. This is the 30th year of the Pride Parade. The theme is "2010- A Queer Odyssey".

If you have never attended, you don't know what you are missing. The parade is joyous and entertaining, truly a celebration of human worth and dignity, with a little delightful sauciness thrown in for fun. I have been parading for years along with my daughters since they were babies. Now 6 and 5, they love the rainbows!

And frankly it's hard to decide where to be. The parade is fun to watch, but it's just as much fun to walk in the event and watch the crowds. They are warm and appreciative of church participation.

So, the parade starts 'promptly (yeah right)at 1 p.m. and runs from Jasper and 108 Street east on Jasper and then up to Churchill Square.

If you want to join in, look for the Unitarian banners south of Jasper on 108 before the parade starts.

See you there!
Brian

Ben Hogenson and Trans Equality

Members and Friends of the Unitarian Church of Edmonton were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Ben Hogenson in Chicago. Ben was nearing the end of the transition from female to male and had gone to the Windy City for gender reassignment surgery. Thanks to a tremendous effort from a few church members to reach out to contacts, a support system was created for Ben in Chicago for the lengthy recovery. Tragically a blood clot killed him a few days after surgery. It was a tearful moment when Docia Lysne, Audrey Brooks and Marilyn Gaa lit candles in his memory a week ago.

This past Sunday we distributed letters asking MPs to announce their support for Bill C-389, a bill proposed by NDP Member Bill Siksay that would add gender identity and expression to the Canadian Human Rights Act. View the proposed legislation and it's status at C-389

KIVA sign-ups

Hey folks,
This Sunday, June 13, UCE will be hosting a KIVA sign-up workshop. KIVA is an organizaqtion that lets those of us who have lend money in micro-loans to those who really need it. The Canadian Unitarian-Flames Team (now the largest religious team in Canada, has already made over $25,000 in micro-loans, mostly of $25 each.

Five people in the congregation have already signed up and taken advantage of some of the gift certificates I brought home from Victoria.

AND Team founders Lisa and Mike Greenly of Victoria have accepted an invitation to present a Sunday service at the Westwood Congregation on November 21st. They will also do an event at UCE, but that's not scheduled yet.

Brian

Kiva Loans at CUC

CUC ANNUAL MEETING VICTORIA BC

Have you ever wanted to do something about poverty in faraway parts of the world? Have you ever wanted to help someone directly? Have you ever noticed how, even if you found a way to do it, that most of your donation disappears in money transfer costs? And have you ever wanted toi do it with a Unitarian connection?

Unitarians Lisa and Mike Greenly introduced a wonderful new program at the Victoria CUC meetings this weekend that can get our dollars directly and responsibly into the hands of the people who most need it. I signed up. It was fun and felt really, really good.

Lisa and Mike have made a connection with the Kiva organization (www.kiva.org), a group that arranges and monitors micro-loans all around the world. Their slogan is "loans that change lives". They have local professionals who vet and approve proposed projects. They monitor the projects once the loan is made and collect the repayments.

So what happens if you want to get involved? First you join Kiva (it's free) and become a Lender, then you can explore the available loan projects. It changes all the time. This Sunday morning there are 1,282 projects raising funds. There is a handy search engine that allows you to shrink the field by gender, by region or nation, by project type (for example agriculture, green work, personal use etc.) You can read profiles about the people and the projects, find out how much they have already raised and then choose which project you want to support. The total size of loans run from a few hundred up to about $2500.

Now here's a fun part: Kiva only wants you to donate $25 to any one project. They believe this should be a shared experience. When was looking I found Stephen Mugambi,a 62 year old Kenyan farmer trying to raise $600 to purchase a dairy cow. Yesterday afternoon he had one donor. I thought it worthwhile and clicked the "Lend $25". Sunday morning I checked. Stephen's loan is fully raised. Yahoo!

Once you set up your account, you can follow the project, check on how your recipients are doing on their repayments and so on. When the loans are fully paid, your money comes back to you! You see you aren't a donor, you are a lender. You can take the money out or you can relend it elsewhere.

One of my daughters has her seventh birthday coming soon. I plan to give her $25 to lend and hope we can have some fund finding a person and a project she wants to support. Why do I think she will pick something to do with animals? :)

So back at the start of this article I mentioned Lisa and Mike Greenly and the Unitarian connection. When I joined up, I became part of the "Unitarian Flames" team. Thanks to a great organizational effort by the Greenlys and friends, a generous gift from a benefactor, and the willing generosity of Canadian Unitarians at that meeting, Unitarian Flames is now the largest Canadian religious lender group. Woo Hoo!

You can reach Lisa and Mike directly at unitarianflames@shaw.ca.

Now for those who are members and friends of UCE, when we get back to Edmonton, I will come bearing gifts. We will arrange a Kiva-Unitarian Flames workshop after the Flower Communion service on June 13 for anyone who wants help signing up. To kick-start the program, Lisa has given us 20 gift certificates from the anonymous benefactor. These gift certificates are good for one $25 loan. In other words, you can make your first loan using . How cool is that!

It's easy, it's fun, and most importantly it's a way to directly change a life of some specific individual who really needs your help.

Rev. Brian Kiely

Human Trafficking Event- personal coment

by Rev. Brian Kiely

Like many in tonight's 80 strong audience, my first reaction to the human trafficking issue and the film Sex Slave$ and another I saw on child labourers harvesting the bulk of the world's chocolate ingredients was: How can people do this to other people? What could possibly destroy our common sense of humanity so completely?

Well, history shows us that exploiting others for gain is as old as human existence. Trafficking in human life is really no different from trafficking in drugs or arms. Drug addiction causes people to do things no less degrading than slavery, indeed, it imposes a kind of slavery of its own. Arms dealing brings violence and destruction to so many parts of the world all in the service of human greed for money and power. And the victims of such violence are often forced into degrading acts just to survive.

So if you can make buckets of money tricking and selling and brutalizing other human beings, why should we be surprised? Why should we be surprised?

There is no height that human nobility cannot reach. But there is no depth that human depravity can reach either.

At tonight's event I certainly had my awareness raised - which is good. I also had my heat moved - which is even better.

I had read about the sex slaves released from the Edmonton massage parlour a few months back. I had read about some offshore workers being exploited here and there, I had even read about the abused nannies now and then. It always seemed isolated. But tonight I was forced to think about the 72,000 foreign temporary workers brought into Alberta in the past few years. I expect that the majority of their situations are on the up and up. I have concerns, though, for it seems a little weird to bring people in for a couple of years, introduce them to our Canadian society and send them packing, but I suppose I will need to look into that one more.

But 72,000 souls. Wow. It's not hard to figure that some of them are forced into really unfair conditions - into slavery of one sort or another... right here...in the country that I love, in the province where I live, in the city where I am raising my children. Yes, I know I should care about enslaved people everywhere in the world, but I am not Atlas, I cannot carry the concerns of the whole world on my shoulders.

But this isn't far away, is it?. There are probably half a dozen massage parlours within a couple of klicks of my nice safe home. There are nannies all over my neighbourhood, there are probably temporary workers in the ubiquitous fast food joints. Who is free? Who is mistreated? Which (if any) are slaves?

The list of 13 actions in the next post are helpful, but the biggest thing I know is that tomorrow, when I wake up, Edmonton will look a little different.

Poem for Trafficking Victims

Anna Rodyo wrote this poem for the victims portrayed in the film Sex Slave$ and recited it at the Women In Black/Unitarian Church of Edmonton Social Action event on May 16.

Dear Katia, Anya, Tania, Oksana, Natasha, Olesia, Eva

Your long brutal nightmare, your sorrow moves through my mind and through my heart now.

The assault on YOUR soul is unbearable, unthinkable.

Your beautiful and sacred body and womanhood ravaged and raped!

It is too much pain, too much pain, my dear sisters, it is too much pain.

So I pledge to you to not close my eyes and turn my heart from you.

To take at least one piece of this overwhelming pain and pledge my commitment to you and NOT to turn away.

I will not turn away.

13 Things You Can Do About Human Trafficking

From Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT)
http://www.actalberta.org/

ACT now!

Don’t wait – these are things you can do today to fight human trafficking:

1. Keep shining the light - tell your family about this issue. Awareness is a critical tool in responding to this crime.

2. Add your voice - to those who will not tolerate slavery in our society. Write a letter to the editor or online and tell the world that this is not acceptable in Alberta, or anywhere. Get in touch with your elected officials and let them know this is something you care about.

3. Participate - join your local ACT Chapter and be a part of the local response to this crime.

4. Think - think about how the products you buy might be connected to human trafficking. Make careful choices about where your tea, coffee and chocolate come from.

5. Reduce - reduce your consumption overall. It might be difficult to find fairly traded electronics or clothing, but a better question is whether you actually need it or not. Many of our consumer goods support industries with strong connections to human trafficking.

6. Talk - think of six men in your life and talk to them about human trafficking. Statistics say one out of these six is buying sex. It is near impossible to determine which massage parlours might be supporting human trafficking and which are not.

7. Encourage - encourage young women - and men - in your life to respect community, themselves and each other. Human rights education starts at home.

8. Share - donate to organizations that assist victims of human trafficking, or support the organizations that are working to prevent it. Help young women and girls meet their potential in Canada, and abroad.

9. Party - Bring this issue into your home with the ACT Alberta's Home Party Kit, which includes a film and resource material on the issue.

10. Examine your talents - what can you contribute to the movement? There are diverse volunteer opportunities with ACT Alberta. Email info@actalberta.org to get involved.

11. Report suspected human trafficking to Crime Stoppers anonymously 1-888-222-8477

12. Join our Facebook campaign or sing up for our newsletter at www.actalberta.org

13. Celebrate - congratulate yourself for learning about this issue, for being part of the solution and for living in a community that is taking great strides to address this problem.

Human Trafficking Event Report

“Most of us used to think that slavery was a thing that happened in Africa and the Carribean, a thing of the past.” said Barbara Sykes of Women in Black ,”but today human trafficking is the third largest trans national crime in the world after arms and drugs, and the fastest growing.”
These words opened an evening devoted to ending human trafficking co-sponsored by Women in Black and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Edmonton. The May 16th event took place at the church and was attended by a crowd of over 80.
Today human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar industry that spans the globe. 80% of trafficking victims are women, 50% Are children. Modern day slaves are used in farms and factories, as domestics, as child soldiers and of course in the sex trade and pornography industries. For example the vast majority of cacao, the key ingredient in chocolate are produced by child in Africa.
Part of the evening was devoted to the screening a portion of the film Sex Slave$ which detailed the slave trade running out of Odessa in the Ukraine. The film showed the stories of poor women who had been offered jobs as domestics or shop keepers outside the country and who wound up being sold into the sex trade for a few hundred dollars. Most are initially enticed and sold by people they know.
Said Tania, one of the freed victims, “Don’t these pimps have any children? Don’t they have a heart and a soul? I have never seen real evil until this.” She had been enticed as she tried to find work to pay for her brother’s medical treatment, for they lived in the Chernobyl area. Other victims spoke of having to service up to 25 men a day.
The filmmakers followed a trafficker named Pasha, a middle aged woman who ran a legitimate business bringing domestics to Turkey, but who used that as a front to sell some of the girls into Turkish brothels. Bought for a few hundred dollars in the Ukraine, she would sell them for thousands. The women were then sequestered, abused psychologically and sexually until they became compliant or were killed.
Tania is now pulling her life together thanks to funds raised by viewers of the film. It is one of the few happy stories.
Said Barbara Sykes, “These victims are invisible. They have no voice. There is a senseless disregard for human dignity.”
Andrea Burkhart leader of Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT) a local coalition of government, NGOs, victims and concerned citizens was the guest speaker for the evening.
“The women that you saw in the film (as the filmmakers followed Pasha) were sold, drugged, caged and raped. There is little hope for them.”
“We have to say that this exists, because it is kept in the shadows and we are all in denial. It is modern day slavery. Human traffickers take advantage of human vulnerabilities and the desire for a better life.” Andrea quoted a friend as saying, “If you have the ability to dream, you have the potential to be trafficked.”
Andrea noted that it happens right here in Canada, for this land is often a transit point and a destination. We are also a source country as young women are enticed into modelling careers that are fronts from sexual slavery.
She also noted the case last fall when Edmonton Police Service laid charges of human trafficking and rescued three sexual slaves from a west end massage parlour. But there is lots still to do...there have only been five successful prosecutions for trafficking, although 30 more are before the courts. But said Burkhart, there are so many traffickers never get prosecuted.
Burkhart also noted that 72,000 foreign workers have come to work in Alberta in the last few years. Many go through a legitimate hiring and working process, but there are some who are forced (illegally) to pay a multi-thousand dollar recruitment fee, are forced to work in jobs different from what they were promised and are exploited in various ways.
We can shine a light on these terrors.

She noted 12 things we can do, these will be posted seperately along with the ACT contact information.

Check out ACT's website at http://www.actalberta.org/

All comments are welcome, but especially from event attendees.

Second Genocide Memorial Service July 4th

 On July 4, from I to 2:30 p.m., at 9916 – 154^th Street Edmonton, the second annual Genocide Memorial Service will be held.  Last year, a service of dedication of a riverbed garden was held as a memorial to victims of genocide.  Participants placed an inscribed stone in the riverbed, and spoke to the reason why it was important to honor the victim’s names that were listed on the stones.  Facilitators were Reverend Brian Kiely minister of the Unitarian Church of Edmonton, and Reverend Audrey Brooks, Unitarian Chaplain, U of Alberta. Musicians were Gordon Ritchie on harp and Erin Van Der Molen-Pater as vocalist.

This year, you are invited, with many people from different religious and cultural groups, to name and honor millions of people whose lives were lost through violence.   There will be music, song, and drumming.  Lewis Cardinal will call the blessing of the four directions and speak to the importance of our remembrance.

The Raging Grannies and the Women in Black, the Grandmothers who support the Grandmothers in Africa who are raising children orphaned by parents who died of HIV/Aids will be present.

Bring a large stone with the name(s) of the peoples you wish to honor. Weatherproof it so the inscription will not wear off.   If you placed a stone in the riverbed last year, you may speak to that, or place a different stone this time.

Genocide Memorial Garden
“ Humanity stands in a river of its own blood.
This garden honors the memory of victims who died violent deaths because of wars, racism, religious persecution, sexual orientation, greed, slavery, ethic cleansing and appropriation of aboriginal lands.

Audrey Brooks, Unitarian Chaplain, 

U of A Interfaith Chaplains Association

Ph- 780 – 489 - 8842

Homelessness Initiatives

On April 28 Kathy Stanley and Rev. Brian Kiely attended a Lunch and Learn event at the Milner Library. Sponsored by the Edmonton Social Planning Councul it featured a first year progress report on Housing and Homelessness in Edmonton with Susan McGee, Executive Director and Murray Soroka, Director, Housing First, Homeward Trust Edmonton.


At the Council of Committee Chairs meeting held on May 8th there was a request for the Edmonton Unitarian Church to host an evening and a Sunday service with the speakers from the Lunch and Learn.

The Edmonton Journal reported on April 30, 2010:
Homelessness elimination project ahead of schedule


By Gordon Kent, Edmonton Journal April 30, 2010


Edmonton is on track to repeat the successful first year of its program to eliminate homelessness, a member of the drive's commission says.
The plan was slated to produce 150 supported-housing units in its initial year, but actually secured 424 units that provide homes for 546 people, according to an update released Thursday.
It should be possible to duplicate that, said Susan McGee, executive director of Homeward Trust, which is managing the co-ordination of the plan.
"We can do the same over the next year. I'm sure we can ... we have learned we can't house people so fast that the supports aren't there," she said.
"What we have done this year is emphasize getting the (support) teams up and running, and getting them running really well ... we still have huge challenges with prevention."
The commission was set up in 2009 following the release of Edmonton's 10-year plan to end homelessness, which called for the creation of 3,500 permanent, affordable homes within a decade.
The province adopted a similar plan based on the Housing First program, aimed at getting homeless people into safe, stable housing so they can focus on recovering and rebuilding their lives.
Previously, people often had to meet conditions such as overcoming addictions or finding a job before they were felt to be ready for a permanent home.
A 2008 count found 3,079 homeless people in Edmonton, up 18 per cent from a similar count in 2006.
The program includes rental assistance, free furniture and the workers needed to provide newly housed people with crucial support.
Funding for housing was boosted last year to almost $25 million from roughly $10 million to $11 million in previous years, due to a big increase from the province, which has hiked its spending in this area again this year, McGee said.
Charles Guick is a former homeless cocaine addict who works delivering the furniture chosen by participants in the program.
He now has contact with his family, a fiancee and rents a condo in the river valley where he was able to put up his first Christmas tree.
"It's my home. I love it. People need that.
"They need to put something into their life to make their life more important."
gkent@thejournal.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal


Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Homelessness+elimination+project+ahead+schedule/2969456/story.html#ixzz0nYL5N9PJ

Human Traffiking Event at UCE May 16th

'Human Trafficking' Information Fundraising Evening on Sunday, May 16, 6:30
- 8:30 at the Unitarian Church, 10806 - 119 street, Edmonton. View an
award winning documentary, hear expert speakers, enjoy desserts and coffee,
and contribute to the charitable organizations that are offering solutions
by bidding on art works at a silent auction. Tickets are $10.00 at the
door. Sponsored by Women in Black and the Unitarian Church Social Justice
Committee.


Human Trafficking is modern day slavery, a crime of mammoth proportions
around the world. There are more slaves today than in 1861, at the height
of the slave era under colonialism. The money made from trafficking human
beings for sex and forced labour is more than the international drug trade.
It is happening here in Canada, too.

Continuing a rich tradition

Since its second opening in 1954 the Unitarian Church of Edmonton has had a rich and varied history of taking action and supporting a variety of excellent causes. Some of those activities are detailed on the history pages of our church website http://www.ucehistory.org/

In the 1980's the church became known as a place where members of the LGBT community could meet safely at monthly pot-luck dances sponsored by church members. That was a time when finding safe places was a difficult thing. Our ties to the LGBT community have remained strong over the years as UCE has long been officially a Welcoming Congregation - meaning our members have done work at confronting our prejudices and have moved beyond tolerating diversity to accepting and welcoming it. We began doing services of Union for LGBT couples in 1974 and proudly began doing legal wedding ceremonies as soon as those oppressive laws changed.

What else do we do? For the last few years we have been working to alleviate homelessness and presently serve as a distribution point for the Edmonton Food Bank. That work is about to pick up again as our minister has become involved in an interfaith initiative supporting the Mayor's homelessness council. Look for more details of that in subsequent posts. Our church is also pursuing status as a Unitarian Universalist Green Sanctuary, a designation earned by assessing our footprint and taking on a variety of educational, worship-related and action oriented projects. On May 1 members of our Walker's Group and the Green Sanctuary team launched the very first Edmonton Jane's Walk in our Queen Mary neighbourhood. There should be a blog report on that soon. Two weeks ago we hosted a forum on Simplicity Circles focused on the environment. We hosted an excellent panel of well known Edmonton environmentalists and hope to have an on-line audio file available soon. Several ongoing Simplicity Circles are growing out of that. For more information contact Kat Hutter, dre@uce.ca

Our church boasts a vibrant Social Action Committee with a broad range of interests and concerns...we even have a whole bunch of glorious Raging Grannies in our midst!

This is important work that we do, important because it is an expression of a liberal faith lived daily through meaningful action. It is important because it helps the wider community outside our walls. But mostly it is important because a religious community needs to be more than just a group of people who gather one day a week. Our Unitarian principles call for us to affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person and to acknowledge that we are part of an interdependent web of creation. These alone are reason enough to do justice work.

Rev. Brian Kiely