Margaret Mary Lau and Cynthia Burch papers

Margaret Mary Lau was a young, lesbian Catholic woman living in Rochester, New York in the early 1970s. Recently divorced after a difficult three and a half year marriage, she sought a way to come out both spiritually and sexually. According to an interview recorded for the Shoulders to Stand On documentary, it was 1973 or 1974 when she first discovered the LGBTQ+ Catholic group Dignity Inc after writing to Boston priest Tom Oddo, who connected her with the leader of the Rochester chapter, Kevin Scahill. She became one of the group's earliest members in Rochester, and attended the very first Dignity Mass, at St. Patrick's Church, conducted by John Robbins, a Basilian father who was chaplain at Nazareth College. The group soon moved to St. Luke's Episcopal Church, due to its better location and facilities. (Prior circumstances allowed for Catholic Mass to be said in this non-Catholic church.) The Episcopal equivalent of Dignity, called Integrity, soon formed (late 1974), led by St. Luke's congrgant Bruce Hanson and Episcopal chaplain Walt Szymanski. In late 1975, the two groups merged to form Dignity-Integrity (DI). For the next decade, Lau continued to attend DI Masses, held on Sunday evenings at St. Louis Church in Pittsford, New York. An Episcopal service was offered on the final Sunday of the month. Lau served as the head of DI in 1977-1978, during which time she fought to keep the Bishop of Rochester from dissolving DI. Critically, Lau met with newly appointed Bishop Matthew Clark soon after his installation in 1979, a meeting that influenced Clark to support DI and both allow it to continue to meet in Catholic churches and to enjoy the ministry of Catholic priest. Lau left DI in 1986.

Cynthia Burch, despite being Baptist, began attending DI services at the urging of Jim Moran at the Gay Brotherhood. Moran initially wanted her to attend so that he could introduce her to Margaret Mary Lau (a succesful introduction that evolved into a lifelong relationship). Burch was impressed by the service, and continued to attend, both to spend time with Lau but also because she saw the services and social events following them as postive events with which to be involved. During this time, from 1977 to 1981, Lau and her fellow members of DI played a large role in engaging in dialogue with local Catholics, seeking approval for their Masses and greater acceptance by the Church. Burch supported Lau, and DI as a whole, by taking on support roles for the DI Masses. Despite the organization of LGBTQ+ groups at the Lake Avenue Baptist Church and Third Presbyterian Church, Burch continued to worship with DI due to Lau's involvement and the social circle around the group until Lau left DI in 1986.