An Invitation to Family Members, Friends, and Supporters of the Rainbow Sash Movement   

The Rainbow Sash Movement warmly encourages our lovers, family members, friends and supporters, of all sexual orientations, to join with us in solidarity and stand up with us in the church.

We are inspired by a story that comes out of the Second World War:

In occupied Denmark the Nazis insisted that all Jewish people wear the Star of David, so that they could be singled out for humiliation and oppression. The King of Denmark publicly responded by wearing the Star of David himself, as did thousands of non-Jewish Danes. In that moment a sign of persecution was transformed into a symbol of solidarity and freedom.

Over the past three years, some of the most faithful and committed members of the Rainbow Sash Movement have been our family members and straight friends.  They choose to stand with us, proclaiming  the goodness of our lives, our loving and our faith, facing rejection with us, and calling the church to be as open hearted and loving as they are to their own gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender children, brothers and sisters, and friends. Such loving and courageous witness has moved the hearts of many people around the world, as they have seen, for example, elderly mothers of gay children ready to challenge the Catholic Church openly and publicly.

Some of those who have become members of the Rainbow Sash Movement are people who have witnessed our public action in the church, and have decided that they cannot in conscience share in the Eucharistic meal when their gay brothers and sisters are refused.  There have also been people who have spontaneously stood up in solidarity with us after Communion, when they have realised what is happening, and others who have declined the Eucharist in front of the altar itself, because of their admiration for our courage and our public witness, and their shock at the church's injustice and intransigence.

And so, we very warmly welcome people of all sexual orientations who wish to become one of us for the sake of solidarity and justice. We also welcome other members of the Catholic family who see in the Rainbow Sash a public symbol for all those whose voices, questions, faith, commitment, struggles and hopes within the church are our dismissed, marginalised, or condemned.

 Join us!  Let us make the journey to justice together.