B2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SATURDAy, MARCH 7 , 2020
RELIGION
BY SARAH PULLIAM BAILEYPete Buttigieg made history as
the first openly gay presidential
candidate to win primary dele-
gates before ending his campaign
Sunday. But LGBT advocates
working for more inclusion in
churches say the former mayor of
South Bend, Ind., broke another,
equally important barrier: He
spoke openly of his Christian faith
in a country where religion and
gay rights are often seen as being
at odds.
on the campaign trail, Butt-
igieg talked about how his faith,
and his reading of the Bible, influ-
enced his liberal policy positions.
He easily quoted scripture, was
the first 2020 candidate to hire a
faith outreach director and regu-
larly met with religious leaders.
Notably, the Democrat tied his
faith to his sexuality within the
first months of his campaign. Tak-
ing a jab at his fellow Hoosier,
Vice President Pence, who has a
long history of opposing same-sex
marriage, Buttigieg said his mar-
riage to Chasten Buttigieg has
brought him closer to God and
made him “more compassionate,
more understanding, more self-
aware and more decent.”
“The church has been the
source of our greatest pain for so
many people,” said Gene robin-
son, the first openly gay bishop of
the Episcopal Church. “To have
someone who has put these two
things together in such a positive,
life-affirming way, is a game
changer.”
robinson said Buttigieg, who
joined the Episcopal Church after
he spent time studying in Eng-
land and worshiping in Anglican
churches, also showed how some-
one can find churches that are
open and affirming.
“There are plenty of churches
that haven’t evolved, but many
have taken a new look around
LGBTQ issues,” h e said. “Someone
who has left their religious tradi-
tion might be surprised where
their church or synagogue or
mosque is now.”
for the past several years, de-
bates over LGBT inclusion have
unfolded among activists, theolo-gians and pastors and have
caused divisions in several de-
nominations, including the Epis-
copal Church, the United meth-
odist Church and many evangeli-
cal megachurches.
Buttigieg often urged people to
“stop seeing religion used as a
kind of cudgel, as if God belonged
to a political party,” a s he told NBC
in may. He framed policies in
moral terms, calling contributing
to climate change “a kind of sin.”
And he called out what he saw as
religious hypocrisy.
other Democratic candidates
also have talked about their faith:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (mass.),who ended her run Thursday, re-
called teaching Sunday school;
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and
former New York mayor mike
Bloomberg — who left the race
Wednesday — have discussed
their Jewish identities and up-
bringings; and former vice presi-
dent Joe Biden describes his Cath-
olic faith in personal terms.
But no other candidate talked
about religion as openly or direct-
ly as Buttigieg, observers said.
“What Pete did is show some-
one who is confidently secure in
his marriage, active in his Episco-
palian church and speaks elo-
quently about being a person of
faith,” said Guthrie Graves-fitz-
simmons, a fellow at the Center
for American Progress.
Liberal candidates are often
afraid of appearing too religious
because it could be off-putting to
voters who favor gay rights, said
matthew Vines, an activist who
runs the reformation Project, a
group that works to promote the
inclusion of LGBTQ people in
churches. But because Buttigieg is
gay, Vines said, he could talk
about religion in a way that wasn’t
assumed to be coming from a
conservative position.
“In some ways, he could talk
more about his faith among the
Democrats because, just by him
being gay, that already helps to
address one of the big points of
anxiety for a lot of more left-lean-
ing voters,” Vines said. “faith is
often wielded to harm LGBT peo-
ple.”
Buttigieg’s s exuality drew somenegative attention from conserva-
tives during the campaign, in-
cluding a call to repentance from
the evangelist franklin Graham.
Buttigieg’s brother-in-law rhyan
Glezman, who is an evangelical
pastor in michigan, spoke public-
ly about opposing the marriage
and described Buttigieg’s p olitical
campaign as “unbiblical.”
robert George, who teaches
philosophy and law at Princeton
University, said that Pete Butt-
igieg’s identifying as gay was less
troubling to social conservatives
than his policy proposals. for in-
stance, George said, conserva-
tives were especially bothered by
a January interview with Wash-
ington Post columnist mike Ger-
son in which Buttigieg suggested
that religious institutions such as
colleges should not be able to
admit or hire according to their
traditional religious standards.
“He was a threat because he
gave the appearance of being a
moderate,” George said, also
pointing to how Buttigieg did not
support restrictions on abortion
rights. “That was a bigger threat
than where he was on sexual iden-
tification.”
Brandan robertson, t he pastor
of a liberal church called mission-
gathering in San Diego, said some
conservatives were less inclined
to be critical, in part because they
knew that criticisms could back-
fire and become directed toward
the personal life of President
Trump.
“The reaction of moderate con-
servatives has been that the reli-gious right has lost its moral au-
thority, s o who are they to critique
a gay man and his husband when
we have a president allegedly pay-
ing off porn stars?” robertson
said. “I think if he would’ve gotten
further, it would’ve been more of a
conversation.”
The rev. C.B. “Cricket” Park,
the rector of the Episcopal Church
of the redeemer of Bethesda, said
she has been a gay rights activist
with the Episcopal Church for
nearly three decades and never
thought she would see a gay presi-
dential candidate in her lifetime.
“Some of us church geeks are
excited about the fact that he’s an
Episcopalian and made it known,”
said Park, who is from South
Bend, Ind., where Buttigieg was
mayor. Now, she isn’t sure which
Democratic candidate she likes
best, because none of them com-
pare to Buttigieg for her.
Buttigieg was able to appeal to
voters in ways similar to former
president Barack obama’s, said
Andrew Walker, a professor of
Christian ethics and apologetics
at Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Louisville.
“He could appeal to a very pro-
gressive secular base, on the
grounds that he’s a man in a
same-sex marriage and he
climbed the ladder through elite
institutions,” Walker said. “main-
line Protestants do not typically
wear their faith on their sleeves.
Pete Buttigieg did. It was a pecu-
liar moment in religion and poli-
tics.”
[email protected]Buttigieg made being openly gay and Christian normal, LGBT activists say
MATT MCCLAIN/THE WASHINGTON POST
Then-Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is seen in
Pella, Iowa, in J anuary. He won the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3.Amaya, 41, and Vinyard, 39,
both remain on paid administra-
tive duty. No internal investiga-
tion has been conducted yet,
pending a decision by fairfax
County on criminal charges, the
Park Police said.
“It was just a little glimmer of
justice,” Ghaisar’s mother, Kelly
Ghaisar, said after the hearing.
“A ll we want is truth. I think this
was a step towards that.”
James Ghaisar, Ghaisar’s fa-
ther, said it had been 840 days
since his son was shot. “Every day
we get up in denial that this
happened,” he said. “maybe this
is justice. maybe there are people
who are interested in helping
justice be served.”
[email protected]There was also no indication
friday whether the Justice De-
partment would represent the
officers, who are currently repre-
sented by private attorneys. The
department last month informed
fairfax County prosecutors, who
are considering whether to bring
criminal charges against Amaya
and Vinyard, that it would not
allow fBI agents to come before a
fairfax County grand jury be-
cause it could create a conflict of
interest if the Justice Department
decides to defend the officers in
the civil case. Connolly said the
Justice Department must decide
if the officers’ actions in firing 10
shots at Ghaisar met the legal
standard of “objectively reason-
able” before joining the case.right to information that’s neces-
sary to prove their claims.” If the
government wanted to withhold
some information from the
Ghaisars, it could have filed a
motion seeking to have certain
items withheld. Kimball asked
for an opportunity to file for such
protection.
“A t this juncture, your oppor-
tunities are over,” Davis said.
“You will produce the informa-
tion by close of business next
friday.”
A similar motion is pending
before Hilton in the case against
the officers. In addition to seek-
ing a similar ruling, the Ghaisars
are hoping Hilton consolidates
the two suits into one case. There
is no trial date set for either case.manuals of the Park Police.”
Kimere J. Kimball, a Justice
Department attorney represent-
ing the Park Police, told the judge
she read the federal rules to say
that the department could turn
over documents in a reasonable
time. “You’ve read them wrong,”
Davis said.
“It’s an extremely voluminous
file,” Kimball said.
“You put it on a thumb drive,
and you turn it over,” Davis re-
plied.
“It’s a sensitive case,” Kimball
said.
“There are plenty of cases in
this court that are sensitive,” the
judge said. “You do not not pro-
duce information because it’s
sensitive. The other side has theJanuary required both sides to
exchange pretrial discovery by
feb. 17. When the Ghaisars’ attor-
neys did not receive the investi-
gative file, they said they asked
government attorneys for a meet-
ing, and the government object-
ed. So they turned to Davis.
“I’m a little concerned, right off
the bat,” the judge said friday,
“that the United States has in-
formed the plaintiff that they
intend to produce documents in
stages. I don’t recall that being
the discovery process agreed to in
the joint discovery plan.” T homas
Connolly, one of the Ghaisars’
lawyers, said, “The only materials
I’ve received to date are the policy
gHAIsAr from B1
Judge rebukes federal attorney for delaying pretrial discovery in Ghaisar case
SIMA MARVASTIAN
Bijan ghaisar, shot to death by
U.s. Park Police in November
2017 , at a picnic in April 2015.BY SARAH PULLIAM BAILEYnew y ork — Slipping on a black
tricorn hat, 7-year-old Daphne
Greene grinned at her mom
while they eyed costumes Thurs-
day at the West Side Judaica &
Bookstore on manhattan’s Upper
West Side. Daphne told her mom
she should buy the penguin out-
fit hanging from the ceiling.
Described by some as the
“Jewish Halloween,” Purim is a
festive holiday where people
dress up in elaborate costumes
and don masks to celebrate the
biblical story of Queen Esther
rescuing the Jewish people from
mass slaughter.
But fear over the spread of
coronavirus has several syna-
gogues in New York, the District
and elsewhere canceling Purim
carnivals and gatherings to m ini-
mize exposure. The holiday be-
gins monday night.
Daphne’s mom, Susan Greene,
she said she and her family still
plan to go to the Purim events at
their synagogue, romemu. She
shrugged and said she expects to
get the virus eventually, because
she and her two daughters pick
up so many illnesses in school.
“What are you going to do?”
she said. “You’re supposed to be
happy for Purim.”
The District’s Adas Israel Con-
gregation decided friday to can-
cel its Purim carnival and the
party s cheduled for after services
monday night. Elsewhere in the
United States, Temple De Hirsch
Sinai in Seattle shelved its plans
for a Star Wars-themed Purim
program. The historical Spanish
and Portuguese Synagogue on
New York’s Upper West Side
neighborhood will hold Purim
services, but the planned dinner
and celebration won’t take place,
according to rabbi Emeritus
marc D. Angel. Park East Syna-
gogue did the same.
“Usually Purim is the most
joyous time,” said rabbi Benja-
min Goldschmidt, assistant rab-
bi at Park East, which has almost
1,000 members.
“Purim is considered a cele-
bration of hidden miracles,” he
said. “Hidden or unhidden, we
definitely need some divine in-
tervention over here.”
rabbi matthew Green, assis-
tant rabbi of Congregation Beth
Elohim in Brooklyn, said that the
synagogue, in an effort to reduce
contact with surfaces touched by
other people, will not supply
party masks or groggers — noise-makers that are traditionally
shaken to drown out the name of
the villain Haman during the
chanting of the Purim story.
The synagogue is also placing
hamantaschen, the traditional
triangular cookie with jelly fill-
ing, in individual bags instead of
large trays. The bags are “not
great for the environment, but
our best bet, all things consid-
ered this week,” Green said in an
email.
Some traditional denomina-
tions of Judaism teach that the
megillah, or the book of Esther,
must be heard aloud in person
on Purim. This year, the rabbini-
cal Council of America, a body oforthodox rabbis, sent guidance
allowing people to hear the me-
gillah through live stream or
phone, as long as it isn’t a
recording.
The rCA also published coro-
navirus guidelines asking people
not to kiss their fingertips and
then touch their hands to To rah
scrolls, which is customary dur-
ing weekday and Sabbath prayer
services, or to make that gesture
with mezuzot, the scrolls con-
taining verses of Scripture that
Jews place on the doorjambs of
their homes, business and com-
munal institutions.
In montgomery County, md.,
where the first three coronaviruscases were reported Thursday,
rabbi A dam r askin o f Congrega-
tion Har Shalom said the To rah
will not be paraded around the
sanctuary on Saturday. After ser-
vices, the challah will be cut with
a knife, instead of having chil-
dren tear it into pieces. raskin
said the congregation will live-
stream the Purim service, but
has not canceled its carnival or
celebrations.
other religious groups have
also altered their traditions be-
cause of the virus: Christians are
issuing guidance around taking
Communion, and the spread has
altered muslims’ pilgrimage
plans.on Thursday, a 13-year-old in
manhattan celebrated a “virtual
bar mitzvah” through the online
platform Zoom, with hundreds
of friends and relatives watching
on their phones or computers,
according to the Wall Street
Journal.
The scheduled ceremony at a
synagogue was canceled because
the teenager and many of his
classmates were under quaran-
tine after they h ad attended a bat
mitzvah in New rochelle, N.Y. A
man who was later diagnosed
with coronavirus was also at that
event.
A kosher grocery on the Upper
West Side was bustling Thursday
night, as customers placed or-
ders for the hamantaschen at the
bakery counter.
Shira Telushkin, a 29-year-old
Jewish writer in Brooklyn, said
she and some of her friends — all
daughters of rabbis — are plan-
ning to dress up as “rabbinical
Cats,” with a nod to the “Cats”
musical that came out as a movie
last year. They plan to wear all
black and don cat ears and a
tallit, the traditional Jewish
prayer shawl.
“If stuff gets canceled, we’ll
meet in my apartment because
we all have our cats costumes
and don’t want them to go to
waste,” Telushkin said. “It’s the
most fun holiday.”
In the West Side Judaica &
Bookstore, Elizabeth Schultz-
Zimmer stopped to buy some
books and gifts of nuts and candy
for Purim. She called her rabbi at
Chabad of the Upper East Side to
check on Purim services. The
synagogue is open, he said.
Schultz-Zimmer, whose He-
brew name is Esther, said she
loves the story of Purim because
of the holiday’s hidden symbol-
ism and the ultimate triumph of
the Jewish people.
“Nothing will dampen the
spirits of the Jewish people,” she
said as she turned to the store
manager. “Did I say it right? I’m
not a rabbi.”
He nodded.
[email protected]As Purim nears, synagogues scale back, cancel festivities
M ICHAEL NOBLE JR. FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Customers buy hamantaschen, the traditional cookies eaten on the Jewish holiday of Purim, a t the Kosher Marketplace in Manhattan.With coronavirus fears
intensifying, some plan
to live-stream services