March 14, National Affirming Day/PIE Day is a time for Public, Intentional and Explicit inclusion of 2SLGBTQIA+ people. But what does this mean? It means showing up in solidarity, challenging hate, and reaching out beyond your community of faith.

Transcript of video message:

This year, on March 14, National Affirming PIE Day is celebrating its sixth birthday. This is a day when we can honour all of the incredible affirming work happening across the country. From showing up in solidarity and marching in Pride parades to challenging hate and creating places of safety, many United Church communities of faith are doing affirming work bravely and faithfully.

PIE stands for Public, Intentional, and Explicit. Those are the standards we hold ourselves and our welcome to when we seek to live into being affirming, welcoming, and inclusive people and communities. On National Affirming PIE Day, we are reminded of this commitment to being public, intentional, and explicit in our affirming work. This work matters!

This year, we are focusing on the Public part of PIE. Our theme is “PIE in the Public Square.” As you prepare for your own Affirming celebrations, we encourage you to think about what it truly means to be public. Are you part of the Affirming work in your wider community? Who are your neighbours and partners? Look for ways to build relationships outside your community of faith, and truly show up in a public way in the broader community! Sometimes reaching out can be hard or intimidating, but public allyship requires us to step out of our comfort zone and truly show up in the public square.

In each community this public allyship will look different. I have seen this in how Affirming communities of faith are reaching out to other faith traditions to form Affirming interfaith alliances, especially in regions where the homophobic and transphobic lobby is strong and vocal. I also see it where communities of faith that have long supported new Canadians entering as refugees are shifting to pay particular attention to the plight of rainbow refugees—those who are seeking asylum because of the risk of persecution and harm because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

Last year, I set an intention to learn more about the historical roots of the justice struggles and of fiction written by the Two Spirit and LGBTQIA+ community, and I enjoyed reading books like The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World, Out North: An Archive of Queer Activism and Kinship in Canada, and the young adult novel, Friday I’m in Love, by Camryn Garrett.

This year, my commitment is to be public in my advocacy. I recently joined the national interfaith Queer Faith Collective, and I’m working with the regions to discern where my presence as Moderator will have a significant public impact.

Thank you to each and every person doing this important work in The United Church of Canada. I look forward to seeing how you will bring PIE into the public square this year!