Rainbow Sash Movement

The Movement was established in 1998 in Melbourne, Australia in response to the refusal of London's Cardinal Basil Hume, and Melbourne's Archbishop George Pell and New York's Cardinal John O'Connor, to provide communion to two openly gay Catholic men, one a priest, in 1997.[http://www.rainbowsashallianceusa.org/history_htm.html Rainbow Sash Movement History in the United States, Australia, and England] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328060309/http://www.rainbowsashallianceusa.org/history_htm.html|date=2012-03-28}}

On Pentecost Sunday 31 May 1998 a group of 70 people attended Mass in St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne, wearing a Rainbow Sash.{{Cite web |title=Vale Michael Bernard Kelly (1954-2020) |url=https://queerarchives.org.au/posts/latest-news/vale-michael-bernard-kelly/ |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=AQuA |language=en-AU}}

The movement acted again on Pentecost Sunday in 2002.{{Cite web |date=2002-05-20 |title=Pell lashes out after gays refused communion |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/pell-lashes-out-after-gays-refused-communion-20020520-gdfakf.html |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2002-05-21 |title=Communion and Denial |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/religionreport/communion-and-denial/3511122 |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=ABC Radio National |language=en-AU}}

The Rainbow Sash Movement was taken up in US in 2000, with Melbourne-based Michael B. Kelly as the group's international spokesperson. The movement is largely based out of Chicago, Illinois.

The movement acted on Pentecost Sunday in 2001- 2007,{{Cite web |date=18 June 2004 |title=Nation: Protesting gays denied Communion |url=http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2004b/061804/061804m.htm |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=natcath.org}}{{Cite web |last=Bill |date=2005-06-13 |title=GAYS PROTEST AT MASS |url=https://www.catholicleague.org/gays-protest-at-mass/ |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=Catholic League |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Cooperman |first=Alan |date=5 June 2006 |title=Communion Denied to Activists Gay Rights Supporters Wear Rainbow Sashes to Minn. Mass |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2006/06/05/communion-denied-to-activists-span-classbankheadgay-rights-supporters-wear-rainbow-sashes-to-minn-massspan/8cf6518e-1e68-4639-a02d-b086da3fe0bb/ |access-date=6 January 2023}}{{Cite web |date=2007-05-26 |title=Rainbow Sash Members to Disrupt Masses across US, Again |url=https://catholicexchange.com/rainbow-sash-members-to-disrupt-masses-across-us-again/ |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=Catholic Exchange |language=en-US}} and 2010.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=14 May 2010 |title=Rainbow Sash Movement (Gay Catholics) Call for 'Zero Tolerance' of Homophobia in the Catholic Church |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rainbow-sash-movement-gay-catholics-call-for-zero-tolerance-of-homophobia-in-the-catholic-church-93761009.html |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}} In 2012 the movement criticized the Knights of Columbus for supporting and funding homophobic messaging and campaigns.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=18 October 2012 |title=Rainbow Sash Movement (LGBT Catholics) Takes on the Knights of Columbus |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rainbow-sash-movement-lgbt-catholics-takes-on-the-knights-of-columbus-174866401.html |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en}} The organization also acted in October 2010 in Collegeville, Minnesota,{{Cite web |title=Archdiocese: Communion too sacred to be used as protest |url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/10/06/denied-communion |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=MPR News |language=en}} and in October 2013 in Springfield, Illinois.{{Cite web |last=Leone-Cross |first=Lauren |date=23 October 2013 |title=Bishop bans show of gay marriage support |url=https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2013/10/23/bishop-bans-show-gay-marriage/42139678007/ |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=The State Journal-Register |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Baim |first=Tracy |date=2013-06-16 |title=Cardinal attends AGLO, refuses communion to Rainbow Sash leader - Windy City Times News |url=https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Cardinal-attends-AGLO-refuses-communion-to-Rainbow-Sash-leader-/43263.html |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=Windy City Times}}

As of 2023, the movement is still ongoing.{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Joe |date=2023-01-02 |title=Letter to the Editor: Pope Benedict XVI passes away |url=https://www.windycitytimes.com/lgbt/Letter-to-the-Editor-Pope-Benedict-XVI-passes-away/74519.html |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=Windy City Times}}

English Catholics have also taken part in the movement since the late 1997. The movement was ongoing as of 2010.

The Rainbow Sash itself is a strip of a rainbow-colored fabric which is worn over the left shoulder and is put on at the beginning of the Liturgy. The members go up to receive Eucharist.[http://www.rainbowsashmovement.com/England/Westminister_2010.html "Rainbow Sash Movement at London's Westminister Cathedral"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521065301/http://www.rainbowsashmovement.com/England/Westminister_2010.html |date=May 21, 2010 }} If denied, they go back to pews and remain standing, but if the Eucharist is received then they go back to the pew and kneel in the traditional way.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080820015843/http://www.cpcsm.org/news_RainbowSashStrib_5-31-04.htm "Group tries to block gays at communion in St. Paul Cathedral", by Chao Xiong, Star Tribune, May 31, 2004]}}

Pentecost Sunday was chosen because the day is "a celebration of God's gifts", including the gift of sexuality. The sash is meant to serve as an act of celebration rather than an act of protest.

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• Homosexuality and Roman Catholicism
• LGBT-affirming Christian denominations

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.rainbowsash.com/ Rainbow Sash Movement - Australia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050508233406/http://www.rainbowsashmovement.com/ Rainbow Sash Movement]
• [https://chicagorainbowsashmovement.wordpress.com Chicago Rainbow Sash Movement]

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Category:LGBTQ and Catholicism

Category:LGBTQ Christian organizations

Category:International LGBTQ organizations

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