Episcopal Church Takes Dramatic Step for LGBT Rights

by Michael Jones · 2009-07-14 18:56:00 UTC
Topics:

Episcopal Church

In a move largely seen as a turnaround from past church policy, the Episcopal Church voted overwhelmingly today to end an unofficial moratorium on ordaining gay or lesbian bishops. And it wasn't a close vote, but a staggering one.

More than seventy percent of the church's senior clergy voted to end the moratorium, and allow dioceses move forward with consecrating gay and lesbian bishops.  The move, which threatens to create more tension between the mainstream Episcopal Church and several conservative dioceses, is a bold step for LGBT rights and a demonstration of how religion can embrace LGBT communities.

Openly gay Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the only gay bishop consecrated by the Episcopal Church, had this to say after today's vote:

This is a day to rejoice for the Church -- no, let me be more specific, this is a day to rejoice in the Episcopal Church, which once again has stood for the full inclusion of all.

The full inclusion of all.  It's great to see a Church body take a stand like that, and say that the gospels call them to advocate for civil rights for gays and lesbians -- especially when so many churches and religions (are you listening, Pope Bendict XVI?) use the scriptures as a tool to condemn LGBT folks.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Basically, Bill Clinton Thinks it's OK for Gays and Lesbians to Marry
NEXT STORY:
Bullied high schooler convinces MPAA to change ‘Bully’ rating to “PG-13”

COMMENTS (5)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.