The Unitarian Church of Calgary is a “Welcoming Congregation.” In 2000, we completed a Unitarian Universalist Association program and passed a congregational vote to affirm that we welcome the membership and active participation of the LGBTQ community. This means we affirm and include people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer at every level of congregational life—in worship, in program, and in social occasions—welcoming them as whole people.
As a Welcoming Congregation we have pledged to:
- honor the lives of all people and equally affirm displays of caring and affection without regard for sexual orientation.
- celebrate diversity by using inclusive language and content in worship.
- incorporate an understanding of the experience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer persons throughout all of our programs, including religious education.
- affirm and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer issues and history.
- affirm marriage equality and conduct same-sex weddings.
- advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, promoting justice, freedom, and equality in the larger society. We speak out when the rights and dignity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people are at stake.
We recognize that there’s always something more to learn, and remain open to deepening our understanding about the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.
Pride Rainbow Project
In 2003, five members of the Unitarian Church of Calgary’s youth group conceived an idea: to make a giant pride rainbow banner in support of same sex marriage in Canada. Their “Pride Rainbow Project” resulted in the creation of a 500-foot banner that was unfurled in its entirety first at the Annual Conference and Meeting of the Canadian Unitarian Council in May 2005 and later at at a rally on Parliament Hill in June 2005. By July 20 2005, Equal Marriage became law in Canada.
Their achievement has been recently recognized in a special exhibit in the Canadian Museum of History!