I testified about my life experience at the July 8^th hearing on resolution A049, the blessing of same gender couples. I followed the eloquent Duke University sophomore, Jonathan York, as the second person to rise in its favor. I was sandwiched between two people who opposed the legislation itself and who clearly opposed any kind of blessing of same-gender couples. The collect read by the chaplain of the committee prior to testimony called for that which is cast down to rise up and for that which is old to be made new. It was mindful of Ecclesiastes, “There is a time to be born and a time to die…”

First, let me say that I embrace a church that allows for respectful dissent to be shared freely before our assembly. Voicing opinion is vital to arriving at a place of right conduct. The person who spoke ahead of me said that we are moving too fast. I couldn’t agree more that we are moving. But it feels like a snail’s pace to me and my partner. Linda and I have been together since 1982. How long would the speaker have us and the millions of our fellow lesbian and gay sisters and brothers wait – people who have stories like ours? How long is enough? What right does she have, by virtue of merely her heterosexuality, to impinge so blithely on our personal experience? It is not like it is a secret that lesbian and gay couples exist and live in loving and committed relationships all over the country, and indeed the world. 

The speaker after me, a woman priest, shocked me with her words. She warned that if we passed A049 that there would be bloodshed in other countries against Christians; therefore we should not endanger their lives — it is too risky a business. I had been seated about 5 feet from her, in flesh and blood. I think she did not hear a single word I had just said about my shared life with Linda of nearly 30 years.

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that she is not involved in direct ministry with the endangered Christians she is so concerned about. Violence against LGBT Christians in Uganda is a reality. Homosexuality is a crime in 76 countries. The truth is that Christians are in danger all over the world for various reasons, and while I do not want to endanger anyone, I think this was an act of manipulation and emotional abuse. I thought about what Jesus’ response might be and realized that for the most part, Jesus healed and helped those in his midst, in his immediate presence. There were distance healings, but mostly he responded to immediate needs that were closest to him.

And so, someone feeling threatened resorted to fear-mongering and deflection. She ignored the compelling story unfolding right in front of her face by a woman breathing the same air as she. I wanted to say, “I’m standing right in front of you — I’m right here.” I was in her presence seeking a healing and a rising up, and again LGBT people were cast down by such maneuvering.

What is most halting about this experience is that these same old tactics were used to block the ordination of women in the early 70’s. They were used in the 60’s to derail the African-American civil rights movement, and against the women suffragists led by the intrepid Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. They were employed to quiet the oratory prowess of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

I stand on the shoulders of these courageous change agents. We all stand on the shoulders of someone who bravely opened a door that had been locked tightly. We are now charged to knock and open doors, so that those who come after us may also rise up and walk through them. And may we come through those doors with the blessings of God Almighty.

I’m Standing Right Here

by The Rev. Dr. Caroline J.A. Hall

President of Integrity USA

Yesterday afternoon the deputation from South Carolina went home. Not just because they were tired and the Exhibition Hall has been closed and the Convention Center cafes are hardly open, but:

They didn’t explain why, but most pundits assume that it is in response to the authorization of rites for same-gender blessings. That’s probably correct because their Canon Theologian, Kendal Harmon had this to say about the Same-Sex Blessing decision:

I am sorry that he sees it that way. It goes without saying that I don’t.

Harmon’s comment on holiness is surprising given the recent admission of Alan Chambers, president of Exodus international, that they cannot “cure” homosexuality after all. If I understand Harmon correctly he is saying that Jesus Christ transforms us to a holiness which is defined by the norms of the last two thousand years of Christianity.  The problem with that statement is that the Holy Spirit hasn’t done that for me. And I know an awful lot of other people who haven’t been transformed into the shape defined by two thousand years of history; twenty centuries that have been wrought with conflict, war and oppression (I’m thinking Crusades, Inquisition, Thirty Years war, slavery).  I have stopped trying to be heterosexual, I have stopped trying to be changed into that restrictive shape of holiness.  Instead I look for the fruits of the Spirit in my life and ministry. And I see them.

So does the Episcopal Church.  “To Set Our Hope on Christ”, an important theological statement written for the Nottingham meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in 2005, says, “we note that members of our Church have begun to discern genuine holiness in the lives of persons of same-sex affection”. How much more so now we have experienced the gifts of ministry in the life and person of two bishops, as well as in the lives of the LGBT people we know and love.

We cannot and will not go back into the cookie-cutter holiness that demands that we conform to the social norms of a bygone era. Wasn’t that why Jesus constantly challenged the Pharisees? Wasn’t that why Paul was so opposed to circumcision and a return to the Jewish law?

In Christ we are free. Free to live in a new way, and free to disagree. I am grateful for a Church that includes both Kendal Harmon and me. We have much to learn from one another. But I have to disagree that blessing same-gender relationships is “unbiblical, unchristian, unanglican and unseemly”.

Harmon knows my position even better than I know his, so I won’t rehearse once again the argument against unbiblical and unchristian. I suspect that “seemly” or “unseemly” is in the eye of the beholder, or at least in the gut of the onlooker.  Recent ethical theory suggests that we often have a gut response to something for which we then construct a rationale. “Seemliness” is surely a matter of the gut – was it seemly for David to dance naked before the ark? Was it seemly for Jesus to overturn the tables of the moneychangers?

But unanglican (sic) I will push back against. The Church of England was born in the middle of social upheaval and political controversy. “Anglicanism” has been contextualized wherever it has gone and has generated new understandings of God, humanity and the work of the Trinity. We are a thoughtful, passionate people. We have major disputes regularly. It is probably more normal for us to be disagreeing than to be peacefully in sync with one another.

There are many Anglicans who agree with our siblings in South Carolina. There are many other Anglicans who agree with me. (Some of them may live in South Carolina and may need the resources Integrity can offer.) There are even more Anglicans who don’t need to take a position. I’m sorry that you “need to differentiate to stay loyal to Christ” but I understand it. “We” also need to differentiate to stay loyal to Christ. We need to differentiate ourselves from those who preach religious oppression, from those who would put LGBTQ people out of the church, those who would put people like me in prison, or even to death. Their voices resonate loudly in the ears of LGBTQ people and their allies.

Our world needs to hear loud and clear that God loves everyone, no exceptions, and that God doesn’t expect or even want, cookie-cutter holiness.

Blessed Anglicans

Another “TransAction” of Inclusion:
Gender Neutral Restroom Facility Added at GC 2012

By Marcia Ledford

A “Neutral Gender Bathroom” is located on the way to the Integrity headquarters, aka the Nerve Center. Now my attorney-brain would prefer the sign said, “Gender Neutral Bathroom,” but aside from issues of syntax and semantics, I’m very pleased to see it. This designation for a restroom facility was requested at the 2009 GC and was denied, so progress has definitely occurred. This is especially important as Resolution D002 (inclusion of transpeople in the ordination discernment process) and D019 (inclusion of transpeople in lay leadership roles) have been passed as Acts of Convention (see IntegriTV Day 6 on YouTube.com for more info on the legislation process). That was a red letter day in the history of our beloved church.

I had some fun photographing this sign. I wanted it to be abstract and strange to look at, because for many, the idea of a range of gender identities and expressions is completely new. I have been interested to see people’s reactions to the sign. Some double-takes are occurring. This is all a bit mysterious to a lot of people. In the House of Bishops, someone asked, “What is gender expression?” It seems that many are grappling with questions and trying to understand. That’s a good thing. As Bishop Gene Robinson preached at the Integrity Eucharist on Monday, the learning curve is great, and much has yet to be done to ensure the full inclusion of transgender people.

It feels unsettling because we are all placed in a box when we are born. I was put in a pink box, and my brother was put in a blue box. He fits his box quite well. He is a male, is masculine and heterosexual, and identifies as a man. I’m female and identify as a woman, but as a lesbian, and I have a more androgynous gender expression. I never wear skirts. I don’t carry a purse. I wear a man’s watch.

The four axes of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender expression are all in play for each of us whether we can articulate them formally or not. You can learn more about these concepts by watching a wonderful documentary about the experiences of transpeople in “Out of the Box.” Copies are available from Integrity USA, and it’s on YouTube.

The Gender Neutral Bathroom provides safe space for transpeople because, culturally, our restroom facilities demand a dichotomy of male and female gender/expression. Consequently, such a definition fails to recognize the varying gender identity components of who we are as people. Sexual orientation may or may not be a factor. For example, I have used the women’s restroom all of my life without an issue because I am recognized as a woman and presumed (maybe) to be heterosexual. I do not express “maleness” when in the restroom. In other words, I can “pass” as “normal” or heterosexual. Public restrooms can quickly become hostile places for transpeople if the strict and unstated rules of appearance and conduct are perceived to have been breached.

I have been using this Gender Neutral restroom whenever possible as a show of solidarity with my sisters and brothers in the transgendered community. It hasn’t been easy for me to live in this society as a lesbian, to be sure. But I think that transgender people have a much more difficult experience because gender roles and expression are intrinsically embedded in us from birth.

As a woman, I am constantly assessing the safety of a given location because of the possibility of rape or physical attack such as a mugging. I like the idea of designated safe space for attending to personal matters and applaud the General Convention planners for this vital first step in true inclusion of our transgender people.

Marcia Ledford has worked as a civil rights attorney for 25 years and is an Integrity Volunteer on the Communications Team at GC12. She is a seminarian studying for the Episcopal priesthood.

 

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — The Episcopal Church at its 77th General Convention, meeting in Indianapolis, decided today, by a large majority, to authorize a service for same-sex couples. Starting on December 2, 2012, Episcopal clergy, with the agreement of their bishop, will be able to bless same-sex unions using the  provisional liturgy authorized today by the Convention, the Church’s governing body.

Integrity USA has been working for thirty five years towards the full inclusion of LGBT persons in the Church. Same-gender unions have been blessed in Episcopal churches all over the country for decades, but this is the first time a church-wide public service has been agreed. It is a milestone in the journey toward achieving full inclusion, and being able to truly declare that “all means all” in the worship life of the denomination. It will enable Integrity to reach out to LGBT persons who have been rejected by the churches they were raised in, as well as those who were raised without any connection to Christianity.

The new blessing liturgy is not a marriage service. It does not use the language of marriage, but emphasizes the lifelong, monogamous, committed nature of the relationship being blessed. Integrity will continue to work for full marriage equality in The Episcopal Church.  The president of Integrity, The Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall, said “This is a hugely important moment in the history of this church. The Episcopal Church does not have statement of belief other than the ancient creeds. We say that if you want to know what we believe, you can look at the words of our worship. So a liturgy for blessing same-sex relationships brings gay and lesbian couples fully into the life of the Church and proclaims that the Episcopal Church considers that their lives can be holy and blessed by God.”

This permission for same-sex blessings follows the addition of “gender identity and expression” to the non-discrimination laws of The Episcopal Church yesterday. This change makes it unlawful for transgender persons to be excluded from leadership positions, either lay or ordained, based solely on their status as transgender.

For further information, please contact Louise Emerson Brooks, at communication@integrityusa.org.

Episcopal Church Authorizes Same-Sex Blessings

It’s Official: Episcopal Church Welcomes Transgender People

July 9 was a historic day for the Episcopal Church as it declared that gender identity and gender expression are not reasons for excluding someone from the discernment process for ordination, nor from any other activity or lay position in the Church.

In 1994, the Episcopal Church expanded its non-discrimination rules to include “sexual orientation,” but it has taken a great deal of patient work from transgender people and their allies to bring the Church to this point. Integrity's President, Caroline Hall explained, “just as the Church began to accept gay and lesbian members and clergy as fellow members of the Church with just as real a relationship with God, so over the past five years, trans-men and -women have become visible. Their ministry among us has been exemplary and they have worked tirelessly to help the Church understand that to be transgender is as valid a human experience and as acceptable to God as to be happily heterosexual.”

A few months before General Convention, Integrity released a new video in the acclaimed “Voices of Witness” series. Called “Out of the Box,” this video tells the story of transgender Episcopalians, both ordained and lay, in their own words. It was sent to all deputies and bishops before the Convention began, but demand has been high. Matt Haines, Integrity Vice-President for Local Affairs, said, “They’ve been going like hotcakes. People really love Out of the Box and want to take it home to share with their friends and parishes.” It is also available on YouTube.

For more information contact:
Louise Brooks, Director of Communications
Integrity USA
communication@integrityusa.org
626-993-4605

It’s Official: Episcopal Church Welcomes Transgender People

You can also read the full text.