People, and People of Faith, Support the ERA Amendment
Good Morning. My name is Geri Katz. I use she/her pronouns and I am the Director of Organizing and Coalitions for Jewish Community Action.
JCA has been organizing the Minnesota Jewish Community for justice for 30 years. We bring a unique faith voice to our intersectional campaigns for housing justice, protecting our immigrant communities, and combating hate.
Our faith teaches us that every human being has the spark of the divine, and is worthy of kavod habriyot, human dignity. Our community wholeheartedly supports a Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment that protects the dignity and rights of every Minnesota, not only today and tomorrow, but for generations to come.
As people of faith, we have been horrified to hear lawmakers wield religion as a cudgel of hate with a goal of denying their fellow Minnesotans freedom and equality under the law. It is unamerican, un-Minnesotan, and absolutely contrary to the values of dignity and inclusion that my faith teaches me, and to the values of so many people of many faiths across our state.
Last week, my community observed Tu B'shevat, the day on the Jewish calendar when we celebrate the new year for trees. In the middle of a Minnesota cold snap it seems strange to celebrate spring. But even today, trees are indeed producing sweet sap on the inside, unwaveringly optimistic about the arrival of spring and rebirth.
Tu B'Shevat teaches us to recognize the potential for change and renewal. Today, we might look at the weather, or the chilling threats to our democracy and our most vulnerable communities, and see only endless gloom. Tu B'shevat reminds us that change and renewal is already developing even though it remains concealed below the surface.
We are here today to say that a multi-faith voice for gender freedom is growing here in Minnesota.
We have been having hundreds of conversations with clergy, community members and people of faith who believe that all Minnesotans deserve safety, equality, and protection under Minnesota law, and this constitutional amendment is the best way to make it happen. We are building a large and powerful movement of people of faith that is going to transform our wintry landscape into something verdant and beautiful for all Minnesotans for generations.
