Oll

established 1986 Vol. XX, No. 3

April 2005

 

editorial

Blessings of the

Times

ast month was a busy one in the cultur-
al wars— and as I write, the month is
only two-thirds done.

I A New York judge ruled that the
City of New York could not deny .marriage
licenses to same-sex couples. Supposedly
gay-friendly Mayor Michael Blumberg
‘immediately directed the city’s attorneys to
appeal the decision:

V The Tennessee legislature
approved the wording of a 2006 ballot ques-
tion that would amend the state’s constitution
to ban gays from marriage. Fortunately, a
separate bill barring gays from adoption died
in a State House committee.

V Same-sex partners of Michigan
public employees lost access to health, death
and pension benefits througl_1_their_spouses if
an opinion from the state Attorney General’s
Office about the voter-passed Proposal 2
holds sway. The proposal defines marriage as
between one man and one woman.

V A California court ruled that just
because it is a tradition of long-standing to
do so, there is “no rational basis” for banning
same-sex marriage.

V And another bill to write anti-gay
discrimination into the U.S. Constitution by
banning same-sex marriage and civil unions
was introduced in the U.S. House of
Representatives.

V But despite holy invective from
the Vatican, Canada and Spain are preparing
to recognize same-sex marriages.

V Burlington became the first
school district in Vermont to add “gender
identity and expression” to its student anti-
harassment policy. _

V And after being brave and com-
passionate two years ago in ordaining its first
openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, the
House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church
USA did a fancy two-step with the Anglican
Communion around their outrage and demo-
nization of queers. ‘V

At first glance, it looked like one of
our mainstream Christian allies had sold us
out. And maybe it will turn out that they will.
Right now the discussion seems to be a lot
about semantics, when it should be about lgbt
lives — and for these Christians, about lgbt
souls.

The Worldwide Anglican Com-
munion demanded an apology from the
American church earlier this year for causing
such a mckus, and ordered that it no longer

/

ordain gay or lesbian bishops or bless same-
sex unions.

Last month, the Episcopal House of
Bishops met in Texas and agreed to apolo-
gize to the rest of the Anglican world for the
“breach of affections” that the American .
Episcopals had caused by ordaining an open-
ly gay bishop. The group also agreed not to
authorize liturgies for same-sex unions or
bless any such unions — until June of 2006.
More on that later.

Sounds like they caved to the pres-
sure of the most conservative and reactionary
elements of their church.

But wait, there’s one other thing
the bishops did: rather than single out poten-
tial gay and lesbian candidates for bishop to
refuse 0rslinati99_t0.,th_9 bis_h9ps_<1<:¢.ided.tha_t
no candidates for bishop of any gender or
sexual identity will be ordained for the next

voted against. In the end, he said,-when the
entire statement came up for a vote, the pre-
siding bishop asked whether “we could live
with the document,” and after prayer and
reflection,.Ely voted yes.

The Worldwide Anglican
Communion may read the bishops’ statement
saying “we” as representing the whole of the
American church. But the House of Bishops
represents only part of the church.

That’s where the importance of
June 2906 comes in. It’s the date of the next
Episcdpal General Convention, made up of
the bishops — and lay people and clergy (the
House of Deputies) deciding together where
the church is going and how it is going to get
there.

Maybe a cooling off period is use-
ful for both sides here. Maybe during that
period those in the U.S. and elsewhere who
believe that their god made some people —
lesbians and gay men — inferior, automatical-
ly damned, without salvation, maybe they
will find a new revelation about faith and g
what it means to be human and made in the
image of the godthey worship, the image of
love, not hate.

And maybe the Episcopal General

The House of Bishops of the
Episcopal Church USA.did a fancy
two-step last month with the
Anglican Communion around their
outrage and demonization of queers.

year. That’s an action akin to straight allies
donning the pink triangle.

So, the fine print, as elucidated by
Vermont Episcopal Bishop Thomas Ely, is
that the statement agreed to by the bishops is
binding only on the bishops, and only so far ’
as the bishops individually and collectively
have authority over the issues in question.

“This is an agreement as to how we
bishops will behave,” Ely said. Then he
explained that he doesn’t normally officiate
at weddings or civil unions, unless a member
of the clergy is one of the partners. Current
practice in the Episcopal Church is that any
priest wishing to bless a same-sex union must
first get permission from his or her bishop.
That hasn’t changed.

When the section of the Texas doc-
ument banning the bishops from blessing
same-sex unions came up for a vote Ely

Convention will stand up — again — for lgbt
Christians, holding out a light to their
benighted co-religionists enduring a dark
night of the soul.

I have not believed in a patriarchal
god in decades. But I recognize the power of
churches to shape belief and reality in ways
that continue to affect the world, we _live in as
gay men and lesbians of whatever faith or
none. I send out my energy to the universe
that the Episcopalians will have the strength
of their convictions, and that their ‘convic-
tions will bless all of us eventually. V

Euan Bear, Editor