Time for T

It took over thirty years, but finally, in 2004, the British Parliament passed the Gender Recognition Act, and at long last, it was ‘time for T’.

After years of struggle by trans activists – notably Stephen Whittle, Christine Burns and Claire McNab, of Press for Change - transsexual people in the UK, who have undergone gender re-assignment, and swear to remain in their ‘acquired gender’, are allowed, under certain conditions, to change their birth certificate.

This was not so much the granting of new rights as the restoration of rights that were withdrawn in 1970 by the notorious ruling of Mr Justice Ormrod in Corbett versus Corbett, known as the April Ashley case.

http://www.pfc.org.uk/node/319

It is well-documented that prior to that ruling unofficial changes were made to the birth certificates of transsexual people who had transitioned (or ‘changed sex’ as people called it in those days), some of whom went on to marry.

The stunningly beautiful April Ashley (whose birth certificate had not, in fact, been amended) had the misfortune to marry an eccentric aristocratic, who, when they divorced, argued that the marriage was null and void because his former wife was still a man. The judge agreed, and transsexual people endured three decades of discrimination, only relieved in 1999 by an amendment to the Sex Discrimination Act which protects the employment rights of those about to undergo, who are undergoing, or who have undergone, gender re-assignment. Before that, many Trans people were dismissed by their employers once they began to transition.

The 2004 legislation isn’t perfect, and there are various anomalies, principally its implications for married couples, which I won’t go into now: maybe another time, because it would be relevant to raise it here, at some stage.

The point I want to make is that many Trans people in the UK can now complete their transition, and get on with their lives. Not so in the US, where the struggle for Trans rights continues in various States, and hence there are two Transgender resolutions at this year’s General Convention of The Episcopal Church, one from the Diocese of Michigan, the other from the Diocese of Massachusetts, calling on the Church to support secular civil rights legislation. In addition, there are three other resolutions which call on the Church to end discrimination in relation to gender identity and expression. More of all this, I hope, in another post, but the message is clear: at this year’s General Convention, Trans Christians and their allies are hoping and praying that it will soon be ‘time for T’.

Christina Beardsley

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali condemned by The Times

A leader in today’s Times newspaper takes Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali to task for comments made prior to the launch of FCAUK. (We have yet another acronym to add to FCA or FoCA).

Changing Attitude took to task the group of bishops supporting yesterday’s launch back in September 2008 when Blackburn, Chester, Chichester, Exeter, Rochester and Winchester wrote in support of Bishop Bob Duncan in the USA. Chris Green, Vice Principal of Oak Hill, wrote asking CA to support Bishop Duncan, copying his letter to the bishops.

I replied declining to write to Bob Duncan and said: “The support given to Bishop Duncan by seven of our bishops is very worrying. By the stance they are taking, and from the comments made by some of them, they are contemplating taking similar action to Bishop Duncan. Their stance is a threat to the leadership of Archbishop Rowan, to the integrity of the Church of England and is also a rejection of the Windsor process.”

Today’s Times leader says that Michael Nazir-Ali is willing to provoke splits and risk schism within the Anglican Communion and has now signalled insubordination to the authority of Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Bishops of Exeter and Winchester emailed me in anger last September, Exeter saying there was absolutely no reason to assume that any of them were contemplating or would desire the kind of action about which I speculated. Yet at the time, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said a new Province was needed in England and all six bishops either attended or send messages of support yesterday.

The Bishop of Rochester thinks homosexuals should “repent and be changed.” The Times says he has “inflamed an issue on which social attitudes have changed radically for the better within a generation.”

I have yet to hear any of the other five bishops publicly disown the stance taken by Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, either in his comment about needing a new Province or in his attitude to lesbian and gay people which is doing so much damage to ability of the Church of England to evangelise in England.

Conservatives will claim that theirs are the growing churches and I value their gift in being able to attract new people. At the same time they are doing immense damage to the majority of congregations and are one of the reasons people are turning away from the Church of England. They attract the like-minded. They are not attractive to people who value the reforms enacted by this government to enhance the status of LGBT people. The majority despair of a church which seems so obsessively prejudiced where conservatives repeatedly link homosexuality with pederasty and bestiality. The majority know this is an infantile, deliberately abusive prejudice.

The Church of England should be proclaiming a welcome to LGBT people, affirming our love and fidelity. Instead, FCAUK grabs all the media attention and is seen as the voice of the CofE. The Church of England needs to be proclaiming a gospel of radical love, justice and inclusion to this country.

Davis Mac-Iyalla reports on Archbishop Okoh’s visit to Christ Church Beckenham

Davis Mac-Iyalla reports on his visit with Chris Okudili Okenwa, representing Changing Attitude Nigeria to the FoCA service at Christ Church, Beckenham on Sunday 6th July to hear Archbishop Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria preach.

The service led by the Revd Nicholas Wynne-Jones was attended by not more than fifty people.

Bishop Nicholas began his sermon by greeting the congregation. He explained that he has been sent to represent Archbishop Peter Akinola, Primate of All Nigeria. The theme of his message was being "Contend for the faith" Jude 3.

Bishop Nicholas explained that the secularity of society is taking over the world and that Christians needs to stand up against it. Our problem is not Roman Catholics or Pentecostals but liberalism and Islam. He said he is proud to be among those in the Communion who can raise their hands to say that have different views. He said they are not planning to start a new church but to find a safe place for Bible-based orthodox believers.

He talked of the rising influence of Islam in Nigeria and other parts of the world and the dangers coming ahead if people don’t do anything. You must start speaking out or you will become a slave in your own country, he said. He talked of the need for a stronger worldwide evangelism to tackle the influence of Islam and secularity.
He said that the fabric of the Communion is torn apart by those who want to accept false teaching. Moslems are influencing Africans with money and converting them to Islam. The issue of polygamy is a problem for the Nigerian church and they are addressing it. He said the Nigerian church is challenging the government over corruption but he is also aware that corruption is a global issue - he was following the news in Britain.

The bishop carefully chose his words. He talked of the power of anointing in the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Holy Spirit and charged the congregation to be bold and start going out to preach. He is concerned that prayer and preaching are offensive to many in Britain. The mother church needs to realise that any action they take will be affecting others in the communion.

After the sermon, the bishop was asked to come out so he can be prayed for. Bishop Okoh said the church of Nigeria needs prayers because those in the Nigeria government don’t like to hear the truth or take advice. The church needs prayers to keep speaking out. Pentecostal churches are spreading and preaching materialism which is causing problems for Anglicans. (At the beginning of his sermon he said their problems have nothing to do with the Pentecostals)

An elderly man prayed for Dr Allen and his wife Elizabeth, both doctors working in Zambia. He extended his prayers to attack the Episcopal Church in America asking that God help them to repent and come back to the Biblical truth.

The majority of the people at the service were white and elderly. I wondered where the young evangelicals in the Church of England and the ethnic minority Anglicans were. Why didn’t they come to hear the representative of the Primate of All Nigeria? I had expected to see the church full of Nigerians who had come to hear their Archbishop speak. Part of the answer is that the ordinary people in the pews in Nigeria don’t have an interest in homosexuality. The issue is a problem to the leaders of the Church of Nigeria and their allies.

Why didn’t these elderly white people come with their family and friends? I don’t think using issue of homosexuality as a tactic to divide has given the conservatives much gain. The British younger generation as in Nigeria or elsewhere are not interested in homosexuality as divisive issue, thanks be to God.

After the service I was the first person to approach Archbishop Nicholas. I greeted him and introduced Chris to him. I asked him if he was aware that in his own province in Edo State men suspected of being homosexuals were arrested and paraded on TV as common criminals. He said he had been away from home for a long time so he wasn’t aware. I asked if I could take a photo of him and he said no because he doesn’t like his photo being taken.

Archbishop Okoh and all those involved with Anglican Mainstream and FoCA present us with a big challenge. The work we LGBT Christians are called to is to evangelise and bring new gay people to Christ and to reconnect with those who have left because of the hostile attitude of the church.

FoCA damages the faith of LGBT Christians

I participated in a discussion about the Bishop of Rochester’s Telegraph interview on the Chris Moyles show on Radio 5 Live last night. The conservative viewpoint was represented by George Hargreaves of the Christian Party. George proved a good examplar of strands which will be in evidence at the FoCA launch in Westminster Central Hall today.

1. George played the numbers game. He claimed that the only churches exhibiting growth in the UK are Bible-based conservative congregations. Later he contradicted himself and said numbers don’t matter. FoCA will claim that 80% of the Anglican Communion are with them. When they leave the Church of England to form a schismatic church, that claim will be put to the test.

What is demonstrably true is that 90% of Church of England bishops are faithful to the Archbishop of Canterbury, to the historic foundation of the CofE and to the generous, broad church ethos of Anglicanism.

2. George claimed that Bishop Michael Mazir-Ali wasn’t singling out lesbian and gay people as sinners. He said the bishop was clear in addressing all sinners. What the bishop said was: “. . . it is not just homosexuals who need to repent, but all who have strayed from the Bible’s teaching.”

Conservatives believe the church has strayed from Biblical teaching in blessing gay relationships, ordaining gay priests and bishops and ordaining women. Conservatives rarely target heterosexuals who engage in pre-marital or extra-marital sex or who divorce or engage in usury as straying from the Bible’s teaching.

3. George played the victim card, claiming that orthodox conservative Christians are being prevented from following their brand of faith in UK society by new legislation. The leaders of FoCA claim they are being oppressed and persecuted, enduring suffering and a scandalous great ejection (Richard Turbull’s letter of support to FoCA).

4. George misquoted the Bible and plucked texts out of context. He quoted a translation which used the word homosexual and then claimed it was an accurate translation. It isn’t.

What makes me angry is the way conservatives who claim to be Biblically faithful and orthodox quote proof texts but fail to notice the context. Romans 1.26-27 must be read in the context of Paul’s extended argument which runs through the whole letter and targets those who condemn themselves by sitting in judgment on others (Romans 2.1).

5. George claimed he is being excluded from church by gay people like me who allow no room for dissent in a pro-gay church. What George and the FoCA leadership mean, of course, is that a) they don’t like having to accept partnered lesbian and gay people in church and b) they want the freedom to preach homophobia because they have convinced themselves it is one of the things God hates most – God hates fags as Fred Phelps has it.

Let’s quote another Romans text, 14.13-14. “Let us therefore cease judging one another, but rather make up our minds to place no stumbling block in a fellow-Christian’s way. All that I know of the Lord Jesus convinces me that nothing is impure of itself; only, if anyone considers something impure, then for him it is impure.”

Those aligning themselves with FoCA believe that they represent a majority of the orthodox. They claim England will be saved as a Christian nation by following their gospel and depriving women and LGBT people of their birthright and full dignity in Jesus Christ.

At the same time they believe that because the majority of people in this country and members of the church reject them, they are proved to be faithful and righteous – and victims at the same time.

These people are bad, very, very bad, for LGBT Christians. They undermine our faith, our God-given identity and our self-worth. They damage the parents, friends and siblings of LGBT Christians.

And as with the Stonewall riots of 40 years ago, they strengthen the resolve of faithful LGBT Anglicans to work and pray and fight with heart and soul for our place in church and society, educating people as we go out of their prejudice and homophobia.

Changing Attitude marches with Pride

Davis Mac-Iyalla, David Scott, Chris Okudili Okenwa and Rev Stephen Coles carried the new Changing Attitude Banner at London Pride yesterday.


The banner adapts the theme of Stonewall’s ‘Some People Are Gay. Get Over It!’ campaign. It will be carried in other Pride marches this summer.

Changing Attitude carries a powerful message not only to the churches of the Anglican Communion but also to LGTB people who have abandoned their Christian faith because of the judgmental hostility shown by many Christians. Others who are deeply spiritual are unlikely to explore their spirituality in a church context.

Changing Attitude is taking a powerful evangelistic message to the LGBT community. Some Christians are gay and proud of our faith and follow Jesus Christ who is our way, our trutht and our life. Those carrying the banner received a lot of warm applause and support from the crowd.

Schismatic bishops obsessed with gays

The Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali and 15 other bishops are attending or supporting the launch of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans in Westminster Central Hall tomorrow. Thirty eight diocesan bishops are not attending nor are sixty three area or suffragan bishops. The 16 bishops are divided from the majority of English bishops in at least three ways.

The majority of bishops of the Church of England do not support this schismatic movement which is destined to become yet another sect.

The majority of bishops understand what it means for a person to be lesbian or gay even if some, such as Graham Kings, newly appointed bishop of Sherborne in my home diocese of Salisbury, hold a conservative teaching on homosexuality. Bishop Graham will be a good pastor to LGBT people.

The majority of bishops do not think there are two different sorts of religion in this country, one which is pro-gay and another which is traditional and orthodox. The fault lines do not fall so simply.

Bishop Michael claims that he welcomes homosexuals and then adds conditions which judge and condemn lesbian and gay people.

I suggest that Bishop Michael’s words show that he is not telling the truth, and is unaware that he is not telling the truth. LGBT people in his own diocese have not felt welcomed by him. In my one encounter with him, he distanced me and refused to reveal his own thinking.

LGBT people know they are not welcome at FoCA churches nor welcomed by FoCA-supporting bishops. Their claim to be welcoming to us is a lie. My encounters with some of their leading figures at Anglican Communion meetings reveal them to be hostile and judgmental. They demand repentance. They deny that people have a gay identity. They see sin where we experience love and holy intimacy. FoCA is obsessed with sex – gay sex.

Michael Nazir-Ali’s ignorance is shocking. Does he not see through his own duplicity and double-think? Where is his or FoCA’s parallel campaign against the millions of heterosexual people who stray from what he claims is the Bible’s teaching by enjoying not only pre-marital sex but sex with multiple partners prior to marriage. Where is the campaign against divorce which gives couples the freedom to enjoy sex with more than one partner?

Bishop Michael repeats the favorite conservative canard – that there are two different sorts of religions, one having a completely different view of the Church and Christianity from the other. This is why these 16 bishops feel justified in creating a new sect. They are so obsessed about the moral degradation which they think goes with homosexuality that they lose all sense of perspective. Bishop Michael and I continue to share the fundamentals of Christianity with the 101 bishops not attending tomorrow. We differ in our understanding of my sexuality and how I live as a partnered gay Christian. Is this really cause for schism? Not for the majority of bishops or people in this country, no it isn’t.

The majority are wise and mature enough to know that LGBT people are integral to the life of the church and are not to be distinguished from heterosexuals in terms of our morality or holiness of life.

Chris Bryant calls for same-sex marriage in church

Chris Bryant MP was questioned by the magazine Time Out this week on whether he believed civil partnerships should be scrapped in favour of same-sex marriage. He said he wanted clergy to be "much more open" to the idea of treating civil partnership ceremonies like traditional marriages.

Chris read theology at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, before ordination in the Church of England in December 1986. He spent two and a half years as curate at All Saints, High Wycombe, before becoming Youth Chaplain to the diocese of Peterborough. In 1991 he left the Church to work for the Labour Party as Frank Dobson's election agent.
Chris said:

"I would like to see churches be much more open to the idea of gay relationships or partnerships being celebrated in church. All my friends who have entered into a civil partnership refer to it as their 'marriage' or their 'wedding' so the most important issue is that nobody should be discriminated against because of their sexuality.”

Nick Herbert, the Conservative MP for Arundel and the South Downs, who is in a civil partnership, and Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat MP for Bristol West who was their first openly gay MP, both told the magazine that they would support the legal introduction of same-sex marriages.

I agree with all three, but there are two separate issues that would need to be dealt with. Civil Partnerships are the exact legal equivalent of a heterosexual wedding conducted by a registrar in a registry office or licensed venue. To enable civil partnerships to be contracted in church and to call them weddings, the law would need to be changed to enable priests to act as registrars for same-sex marriages and for them to be solemnized in church buildings.

Church rules would have to be revised – the House of Bishops’ Guidelines – to allow priests not just to pray with a same-sex couple in church (which is allowed at present) but also to bless the couple and register the marriage or civil partnership.

The Telegraph article continues with comments from Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, a Church of England spokesman and Mike Judge from The Christian Institute.

Bishop Michael said: "Of course all citizens must have equal rights without discrimination. But marriage is the basis of the family, and the stability of the family is grounded in the sameness in difference between men and women. Those who make public law have to realise that people of faith have consciences that need to be respected."

One day Bishop Michael might become better educated in the realities of family life and human sexuality. Truly equal rights for all citizens means equality in marriage law for same-sex couples. Same-sex couples create stable families. The consciences of lesbian and gay people of faith need to be respected. Bishop Michael repeatedly speaks as if we are not already full members of the Christian community, demonstrating why the church needs to learn what justice and equality mean for Christians.

The ‘spokesman for the Church of England’ said: "The Church of England's approach has always been clear: marriage is the lifelong union between a man and a woman, and that is what the liturgy of the C of E Marriage Service is exclusively intended for.”

"On civil partnerships the Church continues to uphold that standard, to affirm the value of committed, sexually abstinent friendships between people of the same sex and, at the same time, to minister sensitively and pastorally to those Christians who conscientiously decide to order their lives differently.

"Some who register civil partnerships seek recognition of their new situation and pastoral support by asking members of the clergy to provide a blessing for them in the context of an act of worship. The Church expresses what it believes through the liturgy of its worship. As there is no theological consensus about same sex unions, no such liturgy is authorized."

For those of us who are LGBT and Anglicans, this statement is just plain stupid. It is correct about the church and marriage but that’s as far as it goes. We LGBT people are the Church alongside bishops and priests, and the majority of us in the church, bishops included, affirm the value of faithful, loving, sexual relationships. What’s with all the nonsense about ‘sexually abstinent friendships’? And the ‘new situation’ in which some find themselves? Is he, though, leaving the door open at the end, indicating that although no liturgy is authorized, some clergy do bless relationships in church.

Finally, we have Mike Judge, spokesman for The Christian Institute, who said: "Churches are open and welcoming to all people, but that is not the same thing as forcing churches to celebrate behaviour which conflicts with their religious ethos. It would be like forcing the Labour Party to celebrate a Conservative election victory. Surely the world is big enough to allow people to be free to disagree."

The kind of church that follows the teaching of the Christian Institute is categorically NOT open and welcoming to all people. There are many testimonies from LGBT people showing how abusive and unwelcoming some clergy and congregations can be.

Conservatives fear they are going to be forced to do something against their will. At the moment, lesbian and gay people are being forced, against our will, to forego the blessing of our relationships in church. LGBT people habitually create very open, generous environments around us. It is the conservative Christian mentality which creates a small, intolerant world. Our world is big enough to embrace disagreements – sadly, the church in the guise of bishops like Michael Nazir-Ali, official spokesman and organisations like the Christian Institute, are unable to embrace lesbian and gay couples.