The real Left Behind story

And regrettably, the U.S. President's State of the Union Address once again failed to acknowledge the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons in the United States.

Despite the promise of the U.S. Constitution to "establish Justice...and to secure the blessing of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity," the reality is that millions of LGBT people live our day-to-day lives without the full legal rights and protections accorded to most citizens.

• In most of the United States, LGBT people are denied the right to marriage equality, and to the benefits provided by civil marriage law.
  

• In most of the United States, LGBT people are still not accorded full legal protection from discrimination in their employment.

• In most of the United States, our transgender brothers and sisters are denied legal protections based upon gender variance, and horrific hate crimes against transgender people, including murder at alarming rates, too often fly beneath the radar of civil authorities and media coverage.
  

• In most of the United States, LGBT couples are not afforded standardized and equal rights under a patchwork of adoption laws, and in many places, LGBT couples face overt hostility from adoption laws.
  

• In most of the United States, government at every level too often ignores the plight of LGBT teens, who experience high rates of discrimination in our nation's schools, and experience higher rates of depression, attempted suicide, and homelessness than their counterparts.
  

• In the United States, the nation's immigration laws devalue our LGBT relationships, and place undue and unnecessary hardships on LGBT couples, and unjustly treat  persons with HIV and AIDS.
  

• Despite the alarming new rise of HIV and AIDS among people of color, women, and youth, the U.S. government continues to under-fund HIV prevention, research, and treatment. And for far too many, HIV medications are often difficult and too expensive to obtain; for them, words and promises are too little too late.
  

It is appropriate on this day that marks the passing of Coretta Scott King to also remember her words, "We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny...I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be. I've always felt that homophobic attitudes and policies were unjust and unworthy of a free society and must be opposed by all Americans who believe in democracy."

Until all people -- including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people -- are afforded full equality under all the laws of the United States, the "state of our union" is not strong. The reality for millions of Americans is that this nation, which is a work in progress, has not yet lived up to the promise of its founding creeds.

Until equality and justice are realities for all people, we must not be silent. I urge all people of goodwill to renew our commitment to speak truth to power, to address injustice, and to act on behalf of all who are yet denied the promise of this nation's founding vision.

This much I know:

Our union will be stronger when we speak out for those who are still left behind, and when we work to bring justice and equality to all people.

/signed/
The Reverend Nancy L. Wilson
Office of the Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches