In early summer 2023, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, responding to pressure from several groups, including “For Liberty and Justice,” removed the Pride badge from the city’s children’s summer reading program. In response, our LGBTQ+ Action Team mobilized, showing up in force at the next City Council meeting and addressing the mayor with a letter that stated, in part:
We take serious issue with the initial social media claim from this group that the reading challenge posed an “anti-biblical agenda toward children.” We feel that nothing could be further from the truth. Although we come from different faith traditions, we are in complete agreement when it comes to interpreting what Biblical texts teach us: that all children are made imago Dei, or B’Tzelem Eloheem, in the image of God. And if there is any “biblical agenda” at work here, it is one that demands that we not only affirm but celebrate each precious soul for living lives of authenticity.
Since then, several of our clergy members have met with Mayor Parker to discuss ways to support and uplift the LGBTQ+ community in the future. These conversations remain ongoing, and we are committed to fostering progress and understanding.
