Australia: Women bishops OK; gay acceptance still a battle

Australia has cleared the way for women to become bishops (story here), but even as some still cite that as a divisive decision, they now must press on to handle questions about sexuality, according to an article last week in the Sydney Morning Herald:

Justice Peter Young, deputy chairman of the Australian church’s General Synod, believes homosexuality will be the next controversy to confront the Australian church now that the debate over women bishops has been all but thrashed out.

“We can see from England and New Zealand what the problems are. We can see that the next problem is between the hierarchy and gay and lesbian Christians,” he says.

The spectrum of stories was presented at a compulsory “listening process” meeting, as set out by Lambeth, between the church and GLBT Christians.

The article covers several stories of gay people in the church, all of whom spoke anonymously, an indication of how difficult it is to be openly gay (or to have been gay) for Australian Anglicans:

As Australia’s Anglican leader, the Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr Phillip Aspinall, lamented this week it has been hard to get cool, rational debate on the vexed issue of homosexuality.

“David,” for instance, is a clergyman who came out to his archbishop shortly after his ordination:

The archbishop’s initial reaction was to “gently ease” him out of the ministry but following the intervention of an assistant bishop, David was sent for psychiatric counselling.

The psychiatrist concluded David was well and simply needed patience to wait until social community mores caught up with his sexual orientation. David went on with his parish work, took on a tough inner-city parish, and remains an ordained member of the clergy in a rural parish. He is honest about who he is, but subtle as well.

But his patience has been rewarded with more derision and a global church hastily trying to paper over fissures over faith and sexuality. If anything, the church has become more fearful and very often mean-spirited against gays, he says.

Other stories shared included one of a person who had left the church because he felt like he was not being treated like a whole person, one of a gay man who had chosen celibacy, and one of a woman who had been a lesbian and even identified as transgendered before renouncing homosexuality and marrying at age 29. She is now the proud mother of three children.

You can read their stories here.

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