At a time when LGBTQIA+ persons find themselves particularly vulnerable, the Oak Park Friends Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, finds it important to make the following statement:
We believe there is that of the Light of God in every person. We affirm and celebrate our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual members and attenders. Any person who is led to faithfully love whom they love and express in integrity who they are, including through their gender expression, is ministering to the world and showing who God is. When members and attenders do this, their faithfulness blesses us all.
Oak Park Friends Meeting will continue to support all our members and attenders as they live lives of faith and integrity — including respecting, affirming, and celebrating their uniqueness, supporting them in the choice to come out, caring for them as they live and form relationships (including marriages under the care of our meeting), and caring for them in the face of any test or rebuke they are subjected to by the world and society.
As with other health care choices, we support the decisions our members and attenders make regarding gender-affirming care.
Oak Park Friends Meeting especially recognizes and supports those in the LGBTQIA+ community who also endure racism and ableism.
Joel Rittle
Oak Park Friends Meeting