North Pacific Yearly Meeting

The Religious Society of Friends cherishes a 300 year tradition of witnessing to the spiritual belief in the equality of all people. Through our experience this vision grows. As early as the 1970s, NPYM recognized the civil rights of lesbians and gays and the need to testify to these rights.

The right to choose one's lover and family is surely one of the most precious of human rights, reflecting our belief that sexuality and spirituality are intertwined in loving, committed relationships.

Since the early 1980s, many Friends meetings have been seeking for the language to express their support for relationships which are not heterosexual. Most meetings within NPYM have now minuted their willingness to care for and name same-sex relationships using the same language and process used for heterosexual relationships.

Friends gathered in meeting for worship for business at the annual session of NPYM held in Dillon, MT 1992 found unity that such equality reflects God's will for our community. We encourage Friends everywhere to continue seeking ways to fully include lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transsexuals in our community. We bear witness to the fullness of the love we have found in such an inclusive community.