The Gay Turn-Away
With people in the gay community like Elton John vehemently expressing dissatisfaction with organized religion, one is often left to wonder, is there a place in religion for gays who still want to go to church and be a part of an organized community.
The answer is yes. Recently, the Episcopal Church again made a statement to open their arms to the gay community.
“We wish to reaffirm to our lesbian and gay members that they remain a welcome and integral part of the Episcopal Church,” the council said, then offered “prayerful concern” for those who consider gay relationships sinful. “We wish to reaffirm that they too remain a welcome and integral part of the Episcopal Church,” the council said.
You can read the rest of the articles here.
With recently press surrounding gay hatred, like the Grey’s Anatomy fiasco when a leading star Isaiah Washington made gay slurs toward another cast member, this kind of outpouring is important. The church made headlines in the past in 2003 when they consecrated the first openly gay bishop. It has been speculated that a number of ministers, priests, and other religious leaders are secretly homosexual, but for the first time the Episcopal Church took a step towards acceptance. Hopefully other organized religious groups can do the same.
Episcopal Church, gay, gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, Grey’s Anatomy, Isaiah Washington, gay slurs
March 12th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Gay accepting churches aren’t uncommon, at least not in urban areas. I was actually surprised at one pride parade, about 70% of the walkers were riding on some church float.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:25 am
On the local level, I think most churches accept the fact that some of their members are gay and embrace these members. However, most religions as a whole are still on the fence about supporting the gay community. I’m glad there’s an effort being made at least on the individual church level, and hopefully more religions on a whole will come out in support of tolerance and acceptance.