At the Summit for Religious Freedom, Americans United celebrated two luminaries representing the future and the foundation of the church-state separation movement.
From the main stage during her opening remarks at SRF, AU President and CEO Rachel Laser recognized a young advocate for religious freedom, reproductive rights and racial justice.
“Let me tell you one last story, about a woman who has already accomplished remarkable things in her short lifetime,” Laser said. “Her name is Tatiana Chance, and I am so pleased to recognize her as this year’s David Norr Youth Activist Award winner.”
A South Dakota resident and graduate of Augustana University, Chance began on her path as an activist when she was a teenager: She founded Help 4 Huhas, a nonprofit providing free menstrual products to underserved communities. She expanded her focus in college, where she challenged her university’s religiously motivated policies and lobbied for access to reproductive care.
She has worked on mobilizing interfaith communities to support abortion access and removing structural barriers to abortion, especially for Native American youth, immigrants and rural communities.
Chance was nominated for the Norr Award by a representative of Advocates for Youth, who wrote: “As a person of color in a predominantly conservative and racially homogeneous state, [Chance has] boldly spoken out against racism while advocating for reproductive justice.”
“I just wanted to share a bit about … why church-state separation is so important to me,” Chance said. “I grew up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I always had a strong belief system. … But I always grew up as a very curious individual as well. I would ask questions – a lot of questions. … I moved away from practicing religion and I stopped asking why God would allow people to suffer, and started asking why we are allowing people to suffer. What could I do [to] … be the change I wanted to see in the world.”
The award is named for the late David Norr, a longtime church-state separation advocate and AU supporter. David’s daughter, AU Board of Trustees Chair Amy Norr, presented the award to Chance.
The night before, at an exclusive reception for Americans United members, the legacy of AU and church-state separation was celebrated when Rob Boston was awarded the Rev. Barry W. Lynn Defender of the Wall Award.
Boston, who intends to retire at the end of 2025, has worked at AU for 38 years, with roles including director of communications and editor of Church & State magazine. He currently serves as AU senior adviser and continues to write for Church & State (Boston reflects on his time at AU here.)
Lynn, who served as AU’s executive director for 25 years until his retirement in 2017, was on hand to present his namesake award to Boston.
“Rob completely understands the history and philosophical underpinnings of the doctrine of separation of church and state, but for him it is also deeply personal,” Lynn said. “He has experienced the benefits of public education, the integrity of science and the enormous significance of keeping a decent distance between religious beliefs and secular government.”
“I must say, I’m not sure how this happened. It seems like only a few years ago that I was 24 and had been hired to write articles for Church & State,” Boston quipped before offering hope for the future.
“These are challenging times. Yet I remain optimistic that this country will return to a proper understanding of separation of church and state,” Boston said. “The reason I say that is because we have to. No other system of organizing church and state makes sense for a nation this diverse. … I am confident that it is the people in this room, especially the new generation of leaders we are raising up, who will lead the way.”