As my term as President comes to an end, I would like to share one of the reasons why I think it is so important that Dignity continue to exist and continue to be a beacon of hope and comfort to those individuals rejected by their church, by family and/or "friends". It seems so incredibly amazing to me that here in 1998 as a new century approaches we still have to work so hard to just be allowed to be who we are; that we still have to demand the rights that every human being should have.

Recently after we ran our Easter ads in the San Diego Union Tribune we once again received calls to our Dignity information line condemning us as a group! Many wild accusations, condemnation, judgments and ignorant misrepresentation of the bible. I guess they missed the one about casting the first stone! And of course the one thing these people never leave on the message is their name or phone number.

A recent conversation I had with an individual in a nearby community also served to remind me how important Dignity is and how far we still have to go. This individual is the sole care giver and provider for his father whose health is declining rapidly from the effects of Alzheimer's disease. This man is gay and Catholic. He is going it alone right now. He has been rejected by his family. When he went to church and tried to talk to the priest about his situation, he did not get the help and guidance he was seeking, but rather judgment and condemnation about being gay!

I remember many years ago thinking that by the time January 1, 2000 rolled around our society would have become more enlightened. That by the time we entered the new millennium all discrimination, prejudice and other forms of hatred and judgment would have been eliminated from this world! Boy was I naive! Our world still has a very long way to go. And most of the time Dignity has done a very good job of combating this ignorance and providing comfort, support and a new church community for those rejected by family and church. And we must continue to provide loving care and dedicated service to our community for as long as it takes to change this world.

To me this is the most important role Dignity has and one I will continue to support in any way I can after my "retirement".

May God continue to bless us and guide us, always!

Mike

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