Trangender Faith Action Week - MEDIA ADVISORY

MTPC and ICTE released this media advisory today:

Contact: Mycroft Holmes

617.778.0519

InterfaithCoalition@gmail.com

MEDIA ADVISORY

FAITH LEADERS TO SPEAK OUT FOR TRANSGENDER EQUALITY

Boston, MA

March 30, 2011

The Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality (ICTE) is holding a press conference on Monday, April 4th, 2011. The press conference will take place at the Massachusetts Statehouse at 11:00 a.m. in Hearing Room B2.

The press conference will be led by the Reverend Dr. Cameron Partridge, an openly transgender man and Episcopal priest who received his doctorate from Harvard Divinity School and is currently serving at Harvard as Interim Episcopal Chaplain, Denominational Counselor for Episcopal students at the Divinity School, and a Lecturer at the Divinity School and in the Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality. Rev. Partridge has served in urban parish, young adult internship, divinity school and college chaplaincy settings; focusing on poverty, sexuality and gender.

Featured speakers include:

The Rt. Reverend M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, Bishop Diocesan. Bishop Shaw was consecrated the 15th bishop of Massachusetts in 1995 and is well known for his advocacy for equality, peace and justice, as well as his leadership and involvement with Evangelism programs for young adults.

Rabbi Joseph Berman, the spiritual leader of Temple B’nai Israel in Revere. Originally from Kansas, Rabbi Berman received his BA from Wesleyan University and rabbinical ordination from Hebrew College (Newton, MA). He has worked in Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist synagogues, on college campuses, and with Interfaith Community Boston; and has been an educator, community organizer, and farmer.

Sean Delmore, an openly transgender man, is the Assistant Minister at College Avenue United Methodist Church (Somerville) and a member of Cambridge Welcoming Ministries (United Methodist), and is pursuing ordination as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church. A graduate of Bates College and Boston University’s School of Theology (MTS, Sociology of Religion), Sean is a member of BU’s School of Theology Alumni Board, as well as a member of the New England chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action and Program Coordinator MIT’s Rainbow Lounge (offering support for GLBT students).

Faith leaders are standing up and speaking out in support of the passage of An Act Relative to Transgender Equal Rights, which amends Massachusetts’ non-discrimination laws and hate crime statues to protect transgender youth, adults, and families from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, education and credit.

Thirteen states and more than 132 cities and counties nationwide have already passed similar non-discrimination laws and have implemented them successfully.

The Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality is also organizing Transgender Faith Action Week during April 3rd – 10th to demonstrate that the Massachusetts faith community largely supports transgender equal rights, and wants to see this vital legislation passed this session.

For more information please visit http://interfaithcoalition.blogspot.com or contact Mycroft Holmes at 617.778.0519 or InterfaithCoalition@gmail.com.

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Founded in 2007, the Interfaith Coalition for Transgender Equality is a gathering of clergy and lay leaders that organizes the Massachusetts faith community in support of transgender social justice. As the interfaith partner of the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition (MTPC), ICTE focuses on faith-based work in support of the Transgender Equal Rights Bill.