March 14 is National Affirming/PIE Day.
Credit: Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble
March 14 is PIE Day, and in church circles it has nothing to do with math. PIE is short for public, intentional, and explicit―the standards we hold ourselves to when we seek to live into being affirming, welcoming, and inclusive people and communities.
PIE Day was co-founded by Affirm United/S’affirmer Ensemble and Affirming Connections. Every year, Affirm United invites the church to celebrate the full inclusion of LGBTQ2SIA+ people in faith communities and beyond. The day also reminds and challenges us to continue widening our welcome to embody love and celebrate gender and sexual diversity in all its forms. It’s critical that we do.
Gender identity and sexual orientation continue to be used to justify serious human rights violations around the world. Same-sex sexual activity is a crime in 71 countries; in 11 of these the death penalty is at least a possibility or imposed. While Canada is now home to 1 million people who identify as Two-Spirit and LGBTQQIA+ in 2019, police reported 263 hate crimes targeting people for their sexual orientation, a 41 percent increase over the previous year and the highest total since 2009.
Your gifts through Mission & Service sustain life-transforming advocacy and education work, including supporting refugees fleeing for their lives because they identify as Two-Spirit and LGBTQQIA+, safe shelters, community awareness education, human rights programs, and safe spaces.
This work is vitally important. For some, it means the difference between life and death.
Thank you for giving through Mission & Service. God’s compassionate love knows no boundaries. Your generosity shows ours doesn’t either.