Special event hosted by Missiongathering San Diego,
Union Theological Seminary, and San Diego Pride

SAN DIEGO — On Monday, December 3, 2018, Dr. Aaron Bianco, the former Pastoral Associate at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Normal Heights, San Diego, CA who was forced to resign from his position after being targeted and harassed for his sexuality by far-right Catholic groups will be speaking up for the first time publicly since resigning from his post at St. John’s about the impact of bigotry and homophobia in his own life and the ways in which communities of faith must rise up to combat xenophobia in our country and around the world.

The event, sponsored by San Diego Pride and Union Theological Seminary, will also feature an interfaith panel hosted by well-known evangelical LGBT+ activist Rev. Brandan Robertson that will seek to bring together wisdom from various faith traditions that can inform, convict, and inspire people of faith everywhere to speak out against bigotry in their contexts. “In this era of our nations history, it is more important than ever that faith leaders and our communities begin having conversations about how we can protect minorities that are being targeted by xenophobia in all of its forms”, said Rev. Brandan Robertson. “Dr. Bianco’s life is an amazing witness to the power of loving resistance in the face of hatred, and I believe his bravery will inspire many other people of faith to stand strong and fight fear wherever it emerges.” The organizers of this event hope that it will shed light on just how much bigotry still exists in our faith communities and the need for people of faith to actively stand against xenophobia of all forms.

###

The event will be live-streamed around the world on Missiongathering San Diego’s Facebook Page at 6:00 PM PST on Monday, December 3, 2018. For questions or comments, please contact Jocelyn De La Torre at [email protected]