David Gura speaks wh Rev. Kimberly Stt about last week's meetg of the Uned Methodist Church's Council of Bishops and s impedg vote on whether to orda gay pastors.
Contents:
- LGBTQ UNED METHODIST LEARS GUTTED BY CHURCH'S ANTI-GAY CISN
- PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS SAY THOSE WHO INTIFY AS GAY ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR ORDATN
- BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
- 21 GAY POPES, CARDINALS AND ASSORTED CATHOLIC LEADERS.
LGBTQ UNED METHODIST LEARS GUTTED BY CHURCH'S ANTI-GAY CISN
Rachel Waltner Goossen People intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer have long faced stigmatizatn and discrimatn many North Amerin Mennone church and stutns. But durg the past , two parallel nomatns, Mennone Church USA and Mennone Church Canada, have been movg sporadilly but irrefutably toward polici of clivens.1 The rise of LGBTQ… * gay church leaders *
This victory reflects recent pollg that shows that majori of all relig groups are favor of “broad nondiscrimatn protectns for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people. His current scholarship teas out the terplay of relign, sexualy, and palism artifacts of popular and queer culture, and his earlier scholarly work examed the activist histori of gay and lbian Catholics durg the early years of the AIDS epimic. While 's unlikely that queer feelgs live si the heart of every homophobe, a signifint number of anti-LGBT relig and polil lears have ultimately e out or been outed for same-sex feelgs, enunters, or relatnships.
Isve, and both said that at some pot, they thought that the sexual activy was part of the therapy and an attempt to cure them of homosexualy by engagg the acts, rather than fantasizg about them, " a disciplary panel wrote s report. The pastor left the Evangelil Lutheran Church Ameri over a cisn by the nomatn 2009 to orda "practicg homosexuals, " and even said God sent a tornado to strike the Mneapolis Conventn Center durg an ELCA nference over the cisn. Then multiple childhood associat of Suarez Pasgaza revealed to media outlets cludg El Espectador and La Opn that he had been kicked out of a Ju school for beg gay.
PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS SAY THOSE WHO INTIFY AS GAY ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR ORDATN
The Uned Methodist Church recently strengthened s ban on openly gay clergy and same-sex marriag. * gay church leaders *
A former Hoton Cy Council member and rad talk show host, Berry 2012 was volved a h-and-n accint outsi a gay bar the Montrose district, which led to secury footage of Berry leavg the club beg ma public. The founr of Glory Hoe Internatnal Pentestal Church cried homosexualy as "at odds wh my relig beliefs, " even as he admted to he fondled a younger preacher and a teenage boy durg separate trips where he stayed the other men's hotel beds. Once the most senr Catholic clergyman Bra, O'Brien also had a reputatn for homophobia and opposed marriage equaly, adoptn by gays, and other civil rights protectns for LGBT people, earng him the tle "Bigot of the Year" om the Stonewall chary.
Self-scribed as a tradnal nservative, this mayor of Mississippi town Southaven got exposed as gay durg his fourth term office after state dors revealed he purchased $67 worth of toys om a gay sex shop Toronto and billed to the taxpayers. Audors found the spic purchase 2011, and the news prompted an terview wh the Memphis, Tenn., Commercial Appeal which Davis nfsed that he "me to the realizatn that I am gay" over the past few years. The mayor of Spokane, Wash., om 2003 to 2005, Wt prevly served the state legislature, where the Republin supported such legislatn as a ban on gay workers at schools and day re centers.
BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
(RNS) — Stt Barber, chair of the Overtur Commtee, told the elrs votg on the overture that s tent is not to exclu Christians who are gay but rema celibate. Still, that’s not the way many opponents of the overture received s approval. * gay church leaders *
But six years after securg that w, Mehlman me out as gay to The Atlantic, sayg he me to that ncln about his inty fairly recently (though Bill Maher seemed to know 2006). Until the early 2000s, when profil of LGBTQ Mennone dividuals began appearg a few publitns, Mennon were rarely visible histori criqug homophobia and heterosexism. Borr who intify as LGBTQ, a project culmatg newly-published scholarship the journal Nova Relig: “’Repent of the Ss of Homophobia’: The Rise of Queer Mennone Lears.
While many sectors wh the broar Anabaptist landspe—not only North Ameri, but worldwi—ntue to ny lls for equy and jtice, queer lears are phg Mennone bodi to make history, dismantlg discrimatn agast LGBTQ-intified members and nontg the ss of homophobia. Signifint scholarship clus Roberta Showalter Kreir, From Wound Hearts: Fah Stori of Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenred People and Those Who Love Them(Gahersburg, MD: Chi Rho Prs, 1998); Together Love: Fah Stori of Gay, Lbian, Bisexual and Transgenr Coupl (Kulpsville, PA: Strategic Prs, 2002); The Cost of Tth: Fah Stori of Mennone and Brethren Lears and Those Who Might Have Been (Kulpsville, PA: Strategic Prs, 2004); Alicia Dueck, Negotiatg Sexual Inti: Lbian, Gay, and Queer Perspectiv on Beg Mennone (Zurich: LVerlag, 2012); Stephanie Krehbiel, “Pacifist Battlegrounds: Vlence, Communy, and the Stggle for LGBTQ Jtice the Mennone Church USA, ” Ph. Richard Lichty, An Increase Time: Story L of Germantown Mennone Church and Its Historic Tst, 1683-2005 (Elkhart, IN: Instute of Mennone Studi, 2015), and an acunt of Hyattsville Mennone Church’s relatnship to Allegheny Mennone Conference Emma Green, “Gay and Mennone, ” The Atlantic, 18 March 2015,.
21 GAY POPES, CARDINALS AND ASSORTED CATHOLIC LEADERS.
While many black pastors nmn homosexualy om the pulp, the choir lofts behd them are often filled wh gay sgers and micians. The fact that gays and lbians often hold learship posn the church is the worst kept secret black Ameri. * gay church leaders *
On the historic first licensg of an openly queer lear Mennone Church USA, see “Theda Good, Lbian Mennone Mister, Licensed Denver, a First Step Towards Gay Ordatn, ” Huffgton Post, 4 Febary 2014,. He, and untls others, had prevly hoped that a vote durg a special ssn of the UMC’s general nference last month would change the urse of the church’s relatnship wh lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer vote, however, not only strengthened the church’s ban on openly gay clergy and same-sex marriag, but also creased penalti for future vlatns.
About 30 percent of the church’s members live Ain natns, many of which still nsir homosexualy a 864 legat attendance, the “Tradnal Plan” passed by a narrow marg of 54 vot. Oliveto is the Methodist church's first openly gay Sangosti / The Denver Post via Getty Imag fileBishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly gay bishop the history of the UMC, se the general nference vote as not ditive of the valu of the church.
* gay church leaders *
This is an important lson for church and nomatnal bodi to learn as they nsir one of the most challengg qutns of our time: how to addrs the cln of persons who are gay, lbian, transgenr or otherwise nonnformg to tradnal rol. An example on each si: One iend believ the church should allow gay ans bee a an body should reprent the life of the church, where there are undoubtedly gay members.