Fundraiser hosted by lesbian couple disrupted by arrests
(California) A fundraiser for Congressional candidate Francine Busby in Encinitas, California, was disrupted after several guests were sprayed with pepper spray and the host was arrested.
The fundraiser was being held at the home of lesbian couple Shari Barman and Jane Stratton when deputies showed up in response to a …
Tags: Barman, Busby, Congressional Candidate, Deputies, Encinitas California, Fundraiser, Lesbian Couple, Pepper Spray, Shari, StrattonPrivate meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at convention will address sexuality, ministry
By Mary Frances Schjonberg, July 01, 2009
[Episcopal News Service] Eight members of the Episcopal Church’s House of Deputies are scheduled meet privately with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams at General Convention in a session that is intended in part to address lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues in the church.
General Convention meets July 8-17 in Anaheim, California, and Williams will be present July 7-9.
The session is not an official convention meeting and thus there has been no announcement of the plans. However, when contacted by Episcopal News Service, the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe of the Diocese of California confirmed the details.
Barlowe said that he and the other deputies understood the meeting was to be brief and private, but that it was not a secret.
“It’s not a summit or constituted in an official way,” he said. “We don’t expect to issue a communiqué or anything like that.”
Instead, Barlowe said, he hopes the meeting will be a chance for dialogue and a chance for Williams to hear about the ministries of eight Episcopalians whose “significant fundamental characteristic” is “our deep love for the Episcopal Church within the Anglican Communion.” The eight deputies’ lives reflect the broad range of ministry of all Episcopalians, he said.
Barlowe set the meeting in the context of the communion-wide Listening Process, which is intended to hear all sides of the issues concerning human sexuality and the church.
Williams, Barlowe suggested, has not had a chance to hear about the broad range of ministry and leadership in which LGBT Episcopalians are involved.
There’s a larger hope attached to the meeting, according to Barlowe.
“Anytime committed Christians come together, something remarkable happens,” he said. “What comes to the fore is the commitment to be better bearers of the good news of Christ.”
The chance to have such a meeting, he said, is typical of the way leadership in the Episcopal Church seeks ways to move the mission and ministry of the church forward by trying to form partnerships with “other passionate ministers such as Archbishop Rowan.”
Barlowe, who has been a candidate in episcopal elections in the dioceses of California and Newark, said that he first raised the possibility of a meeting with the archbishop when the California deputation was discussing Anglican Communion issues. His colleagues encouraged him to pursue the idea and Barlowe says he sought the support of other LGBT deputies.
When he contacted Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori or House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson to ask for time with the archbishop, the request came with the backing of many of those deputies, he said.
Jefferts Schori and Anderson, along with their staffs, “graciously” agreed to ask Williams to meet with some deputies and Williams “graciously” agreed, Barlowe said.
Jefferts Schori’s and Anderson’s willingness to help bring about the meeting “is totally consistent with their leadership” of the church and their goal of fostering “serious and respectful conversation,” he added.
The presiding officers did not appoint the deputies, Barlowe said. Instead, he was asked to put the group together. He said he consulted with others and sought deputies who reflected the range of geographic, age, and ministerial diversity of those people who supported the request for the meeting.
In addition to Barlowe, the deputies are:
- Louie Crew, Diocese of Newark;
- the Rev. Canon Lisa Gray, Diocese of Michigan;
- the Rev. Tobias Haller BSG, Diocese of New York;
- Joanne O’Donnell, Diocese of Los Angeles;
- the Rev. Altagracia Perez, Diocese of Los Angeles;
- Rebecca Snow, Diocese of Alaska; and
- Michael Spencer, Diocese of Eastern Michigan.
The Rev. Eric H. F. Law, known for his work in multicultural leadership training, has been helping the deputies prepare for their meeting, according to Barlowe, and Law may attend the session with Williams.
Because they do not all know each other, Barlowe said, the group has been presenting to each other their “ministry biographies.” He called that experience “emotionally powerful.”
“Once again, I’ve been overwhelmed by just how committed the ministers of this church are,” he said, adding that hearing the deputies’ stories “made me incredibly thankful yet again for being part of the Episcopal Church.”
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/private-meeti…
Citing law, city reluctantly argues for release of gay employees’ names
Anti-gay-rights activist wants names of city-sponsored LGBT club
As attorneys for all sides prepare to square off in court, the City of Seattle and a self-described “civil rights leader” seeking the release of the names of gay and lesbian city workers involved in a city-sponsored club have lined up on the same side of the issue.
In separate court filings, the city and the Seattle City Light employee requesting the records argue that the state public-records act requires that the city release the records. City of Seattle employees associated with the department’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning and Friends Club have asked the court to order the city not to release their names.
Reiterating statements made by Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr shortly after the suit was filed, lawyers for the city now assert, reluctantly, that the records requested by City Light employee Philip Irvin.
“The city sympathizes with the concerns that plaintiffs have expressed,” Assistant City Attorney Gary T. Smith said in court documents. “Nonetheless, the city believes that the Public Records Act obligates it to disclose the records at issue.”
Irvin, who claims he’s been barred from attending LGBTQF club meetings because he is heterosexual and opposed to gay rights, has requested that the city release the names of employees belonging to or attending the Seattle Public Utilities-sponsored group.
According to the city’s filing, the department sponsors eight such “affinity” groups for employees “with similar concerns.” Included in the array are groups for employees of different ages or ancestry, including European. Each group is provided with up to $1,000 annually for events, and members are allowed to spend two work hours a month toward group activities.
In arguing that the records should be released, attorneys for the city assert that earlier appeals-court rulings have shown that employee information must be released even if it could result in harassment. The city cites a 2002 case in which King County was ordered by the state Court of Appeals to release a list of sheriff’s deputies’ names.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs assert that the employees’ identities are not releasable under the law, in part because they are of no legitimate public interest.
See Citing law, city reluctantly argues for release of gay employees …
Seattle Post Intelligencer
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Voices of Witness Africa New documentary tells stories of gay Anglicans
Voices of Witness Africa is a new 30-minute documentary intended to help Episcopalians listen to the views and experiences of Anglicans who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) and to emphasize that homosexuality is “not just a North American or European issue,” says the Rev. Cynthia Black.
Co-produced by Black, rector of Christ the King Church in Kalamazoo/Texas Corners, Michigan, and Katie Sherrod, a writer and commentator based in Fort Worth, Texas, the documentary features GLBT Africans who talk about their lives and their relationships with God and the church.
“The voices of LGBT folks from around the world need to be heard,” says Black.
Among those interviewed for the documentary is the Rt. Rev. Christopher Senyonjo, retired bishop of the Diocese of West Buganda in the Anglican Church of Uganda, who leads a study and prayer group for gay Anglicans. “I’m sorry about what the church is saying. God loves you, God loves you,” Senyonjo says in support of GLBT Christians. While he acknowledges that speaking out has been “very risky,” Senyonjo adds, “When you know the truth, it should make you free.”
Although homosexuality is illegal in most African countries, “several people in the film cite cause for hope,” said a news release from the Chicago Consultation, a sponsoring organization of the documentary.
“Many, many years ago, when the townships were in smoke and people were dying, we never thought that we would be where we are now,” Yvonne Daki, manager of iThemba Lam Center of Inclusive and Affirming Ministries in South Africa, says in the documentary. “We will have one day a situation where gay people can speak openly about their sexuality.”
For Black, one of the surprises when working on the documentary was “how willing participants were to have their name and image used publicly, even when they knew their bishop would be receiving a copy of the film, and even when there could potentially be horrific consequences for doing so … Their courage is incredible.”
Sherrod was most impressed how the interviewees’ faith “informs their actions every minute of every day. All of them spoke of God as a intimate part of their lives, a presence who gives them hope and strength in the face of terrible oppression and active persecution, not only by the state, but in most cases by the Anglican church leaders in their country. To witness the depth of their faith was inspiring and humbling.”
“Viewers who have followed the plight of GLBT people in Africa will hear familiar and tragic stories of fear, imprisonment and abuse,” the Chicago Consultation news release said. “However, they may also be surprised by the support and hope voiced by some of the film’s subjects, including African Anglican bishops and priests.”
Black said that much inspiration can be found in the stories of hope that were heard — “hope that one day the church will have moved beyond the issues of sexuality that divide it.”
All the instruments of communion have supported a process of listening to the experiences of homosexual people throughout the Anglican Communion. At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, resolution 1.10 committed all the provinces of the Anglican Communion to a listening process. It was not until 2005 that the Listening Process was officially launched with the appointment of a facilitator who would monitor the work being done, share the results and enable further listening.
The Anglican Consultative Council, the communion’s most representative policy-making body, met in Jamaica in May 2009 and supported the renewal of the Listening Process, which has received a 2.5-year grant from the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia to run five “pilot conversations” around the communion.
The “Voices of Witness Africa” documentary is being released just before the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, which will be held July 8-17 in Anaheim, California. “At the meeting, deputies and bishops will discuss both the church’s mission in the developing world and the inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people,” the Chicago Consultation news release said. “The film is being mailed in advance to all deputies and bishops. It is also being mailed to all bishops of the Anglican Communion, including those who lead churches that are hostile to GLBT Christians.”
“With General Convention approaching, some people focus on what effect its actions might have on the part of the Anglican Communion that is more conservative than the Episcopal Church,” said Black. “I think the film helps us to remember that there are hundreds of thousands of LGBT folks in the communion who are watching what the Episcopal Church does.”
Further information on the film, including a study guide for use in Episcopal parishes, is available here.
Future public screenings of Voices of Witness Africa will be held on:
June 5: All Saints Church, Pasadena, California
June 6: Christ Episcopal Church, Dearborn
June 7: Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge
June 8: All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Chicago
June 10: Church of the Ascension, Silver Spring, Maryland
June 12: Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri
June 14: St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Houston, Texas
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/06/voices-of-wit…
Integrity Responds to Primates’ Communique from Alexandria
MOBILE, AL–Integrity USA is disappointed but not surprised that thecommunique issued by the primates of the Anglican Communion earlier todayrepeated the all-too-familiar call for moratoria on the election of bishops in same-gender unions, rites of blessing for same-sex unions, and cross-border interventions.
“There’s an American superstition that ‘bad things come in threes,’” said Integrity President Susan Russell speaking from the Episcopal Urban Caucus Annual Assembly in Mobile. “And accepting the lumping together of these three issues in one moratoria package would be a very bad thing for the Episcopal Church as a whole and its LGBT faithful in particular.”
“Calling a halt to actions that violate the polity and boundaries of the autonomous national churches that are constituent members of the Anglican Communion is preserving the historic unity of the church. Scapegoating a percentage of the baptized by excluding them from a percentage of the sacraments of the Body of Christ is participating in the appeasement of bigotry. They’re apples and oranges.”
Russell continued, “Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is absolutely correct in stating that moratoria are a matter for General Convention in Anaheim this summer. Resolutions have already been submitted that would move the Episcopal Church beyond the non-canonical restraints imposed by B033 and forward on marriage equality. Integrity USA believes that General Convention will reaffirm that all the sacraments are open to all the baptized. We will be working with our allies to achieve that gospel agenda item next July.”
“Integrity encourages all concerned Episcopalians to contact their bishops and General Convention deputies and dialogue with them on these issues as they prepare for Anaheim,” concluded Russell. “The question on the table is whether or not we mean it when we renew that Baptismal Covenant’s promise to respect the dignity of every human being. Integrity is counting on the Episcopal Church saying, “We will with God’s help.”
Visit www.integrityusa.org/all for more information.
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/integrity-res…
Gay rights advocate punched in Felton
A 22-year-old man advocating gay and lesbian rights was allegedly punched in the face in front of New Leaf Market in Felton on Dec. 10 between 2:10 and 2:20 p.m.
A 22-year-old man advocating gay and lesbian rights was allegedly punched in the face in front of New Leaf Market in Felton on Dec. 10 between 2:10 and 2:20 p.m.
The man’s nose was bloodied, and he refused medical assistance on the scene.
The suspect, a white man in his mid-20s estimated to be 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 220 pounds, reportedly fled the scene in a black pickup after the incident.
Deputies are treating the incident as a felony battery and hate crime.
“The victim is associated with a group that works for human rights to achieve gay and lesbian equality,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Mario Sulay.
See Gay rights advocate punched in Felton
Scotts Valley/San Lorenzo Valley Press-Banner, CA
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Original source : http://gay_blog.blogspot.com/2008/12/gay-rights-ad…
