Robin Tanner (minister)

Reverend Robin Noelle Tanner is an American Unitarian Universalist minister notable for her activism for the causes of religious freedom and civil rights.[1] Reverend Tanner is the Minister of Worship and Outreach at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit. From 2010 to 2016, she was lead minister at the Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church in Charlotte and Salisbury in North Carolina.[1] Tanner is a lesbian who married her partner in 2014 and has performed marriage services for same-sex couples.[2][3] In 2014, Tanner joined the United Church of Christ in an innovative lawsuit challenging prohibitions against marrying same-sex couples. This lawsuit took the novel position that the laws restricted the ministers' freedom of religion.[4] The suit was successful: On October 10, 2014, the federal district court for western North Carolina struck down the ban on same-sex marriage. Reverend Tanner also worked to overturn HB2 (more formally the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act), the North Carolina law that was passed in March 2016 to ban individuals from using a public bathroom that does not match the person's biological sex. The law also prevented cities from passing rules to protect gay and transgender people from discrimination.[2][5] In spite of challenges and an apparent agreement between the city of Charlotte and the state to repeal both the Charlotte anti-discrimination ordinances and HB2, HB2 remains in effect. She is an advocate for equal opportunity,[6] voting rights for Latino and African-Americans,[7] raising the minimum wage,[8] marriage equality,[9] as well as other issues.[10] In July 2017, she was arrested while protesting outside the office of senator Mitch McConnell, as part of an effort of "moral obedience" or civil disobedience, to espouse the cause of health care being a fundamental human right.[11] In January 2017, she began serving as the Minister of Worship and Outreach at the Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit, New Jersey. In July 2017, Tanner protested the GOP healthcare plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act by bringing a coffin to the offices of congressional leaders, and was arrested for her civil disobedience.[12]

We are a moral movement, rising up in resistance to the cruelness of this Congress. We are commanded by a moral imperative to care for the sick. Forget partisan politics, forget left and right, forget Republican and Democrat, we are commanded to take care of the people ― our people.

— Reverend Robin Tanner July 2017[12]
This article is about the American Unitarian Universalist minister. For the British artist, see Robin Tanner.
Robin Tanner
Robin Tanner
Personal details
NationalityAmerican
DenominationUnitarian Universalism
OccupationMinister
EducationRochester BA 2006
Harvard Divinity MA 2009
Pacific School of Religion PhD (2017 pending)

References
  1. TIM FUNK AND JIM MORRILL of the Charlotte Observer (April 1, 2015). "North Carolina considers Indiana-like religious objection law". Miami Herald. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ... Robin Tanner ... said that when the country's founders exalted religious freedom, "they understood it as religious freedom from persecution, not religious freedom to persecute."...
  2. Tim Funk (April 5, 2016). "Interfaith group of Charlotte clergy will work to overturn HB2". News & Observer. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ... Rev. Robin Tanner of Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church spoke Tuesday for the Charlotte Clergy Coalition for Justice ... The group ... pledged to do what they can to overturn North Carolina's controversial new law limiting legal protection for LGBT persons. ... Tanner, a lesbian who married her partner in 2013.
  3. "Supreme Court ruling draws varied reactions". Charlotte Observer. June 26, 2015. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ..."To know our civil rights can be guaranteed across these 50 states is no small measure." – The Rev. Robin Tanner ... a lesbian who married her partner last year and has married same-sex couples who attend her church. ...
  4. Michael Gordon (April 28, 2014). "United Church of Christ sues over NC ban on same-sex marriage: A group of Charlotte-area ministers has helped launch the country's first faith-based challenge to same-sex marriage, claiming in a lawsuit filed Monday that North Carolina's laws block them from practicing their religion". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ... Other Charlotte-area clergy members who have joined them include Robin Tanner, pastor of Piedmont Unitarian Universalist Church; ...
  5. Staff writer (April 5, 2016). "Interfaith Group Will Work to Overturn HB2". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ..."We are morally outraged about this rarely used political maneuver ...
  6. Amanda Raymond (January 17, 2016). "Truth, Healing, Hope and Equity project calls for commissioner nominations". Salisbury Post. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ... Tanner said if Salisbury wants to become a city leader, it has to start taking steps to ensure equality. ...
  7. Jane Porter (April 29, 2015). "Today, Moral Monday is back in Raleigh". IndyWeek. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ... On voting rights ..."The people must have a voice in the government ... A moratorium we demand must be placed on House Bill 589 that clearly discriminates against African American and Latino voters, against the poor and against women voters"... -The Rev. Robin Tanner ...
  8. Gary D. Robertson, Associated Press (May 13, 2015). "10 people seeking action on minimum wage arrested in Raleigh". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ..."If you honor the values of this democracy, ask the people if they believe we should raise the minimum wage," said the Rev. Robin Tanner, a Unitarian Universalist ...
  9. Gary D. Robertson of the Associated Press (February 14, 2015). "'Moral March' participants again demand changes to NC laws". Washington Times. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ... Rev. Robin Tanner, a Unitarian Universalist church pastor in Charlotte, plans a state-sanctioned wedding March 15 with her partner, the Rev. Ann Marie Alderman ...
  10. Josh Bergeron (July 22, 2015). "Fame monument may be exempt from state law". Salisbury Post. Retrieved April 13, 2016. ... Rev. Robin Tanner ... requested documents from the city pertaining to the Salisbury monument's history. ...
  11. Robin Tanner, July 14, 2017, Unitarian Universalist Association, Arrested As An Act of Moral Obedience, Retrieved July 14, 2017, "...My faith is clear—health care is a fundamental right. To care for the body of a human to ensure that they can live is a fundamental moral obligation in a just society and a moral obligation commanded by our constitution ..."
  12. Carol Kuruvilla, July 27, 2017, Huffington Post, Clergy Carry Coffin To Capitol In Dramatic Protest Of GOP’s Health Care Efforts, Retrieved July 28, 2017
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