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Highlights of DignityUSA's History: 1993

The following history is based on the commemorative booklet entitled DignityUSA at 25: A Chronology, 1969-1994 compiled by former DignityUSA President Pat Roche. Copies are available from the Dignity national office and were also printed in the Dignity Journal 27:2-3 (Autumn 1995). Highlights from 1995-Present compiled by former Dignity Vice President Pat McArron.

  • On April 15, a majority of delegates approve, by mail ballot:

    • Changing the number of Regions (from 10 to 7) as proposed by the Restructuring Task Force.
    • Dividing national and regional responsibilities between Regional Directors (National) and Regional Coordinators (Regional)
    • Developing a Leadership Conference
    • Changing the way our National Secretary and Treasurer are selected (from election by delegates to appointment by President and confirmation by Board)
    • And other efforts to improve our national By-Laws.

  • On April 25, DignityUSA (one of the early supporters of the 1993 March on Washington) has one of the largest organizational contingents in the march. Almost a thousand members from around the country meet for a prayer vigil outside St. Matthew’s Cathedral before being led to the March site by the national officers.

  • On June 25, Kevin Calegari and other members of Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) meet at the White House with members of the Clinton administration to discuss issues of domestic and foreign policy.

  • From August 8-15, Dignity’s presence is felt at the Pope’s World Youth Day in Denver.

  • In a statement coinciding with the release of Pope John Paul II's encyclical Veritas Splendor (October 5), President Marianne Duddy says that the papal document "indicates that the Vatican is totally out of touch with the possibilities for the church in the modern world.…"

  • In December, Father John McNeill’s new book: Freedom Glorious Freedom — The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of Life for Gays and Lesbians and Everybody Else is published.

  • DignityUSA’s Eleventh Biennial Convention is held in New Orleans