Date: Sun, 24 Oct 1999 21:07:11 -0400 From: Chris Ambidge Subject: *Integrator* volume 99-5 INTEGRATOR, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto volume 99-5, issue date 1999 10 23 copyright 1995 Integrity/Toronto. The hard-copy version of this newsletter carries the ISSN 0843-574X Integrity/Toronto Box 873 Stn F Toronto ON Canada M4Y 2N9 == Contents == [99-5-1] A BED OF THORNS? / a sermon by Bonnie Crawford-Bewley, preached at St John the Evangelist, Ottawa, during Ottawa Pride 99. [99-5-2] "LOCK THEM UP" -- UGANDAN PRESIDENT TARGETS LESBIGAYS / by Chris Ambidge [99-5-3] A BROTHER FROM UGANDA / by Don Meen of Integrity/Vancouver [99-5-4] RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE: THE CAMBRIDGE ACCORD / Bishop Steven Charleston, Dean of EDS, calls on all bishops to oppose violence directed to lesbigays. [99-5-5] THE CAMBRIDGE ACCORD [full text] [99-5-6] THOUGHTS ON FORGIVESS / Sister Thelma-Anne ssjd 's regular column "Ways Of Prayer" ======== [99-5-1] A Bed of Thorns? A sermon preached by BONNIE CRAWFORD-BEWLEY at St. John the Evangelist Church, Ottawa, on Ottawa's Pride Day, 11 July 1999 Readings for this service: Isaiah 55. 10-11 (en francais); A reading from *The Prophet* by Gibran; Matthew 13.1-9 When I saw the readings for this service the first question that presented itself to me was "Is the Church the good soil or is it the thorns? " I will tell you honestly that there are too many days when it feels like the thorns. While the church is debating whether gays and lesbians form relationships they even need to acknowledge let alone bless, the Supreme Court is saying that we are protected from persecution not only as individuals but in relationship. While the church still tries to make hiding your orientation a condition of ordination for gays and lesbians, Pride Day in Toronto had crowds of about a million people, corporate sponsorship and two TV stations covering it live for 3 hours. Having said that, one thing we must remember about the parable of the sower from Matthew is that the sower sows his seeds everywhere, not knowing ahead of time if the soil is good or not, but trusting in God that enough seeds will find fertile soil that an abundant harvest is insured. When something like Lambeth happens it is hard to believe that any of the seeds we have sown in the church have taken root at all. Lambeth is a meeting of all the bishops in the Anglican communion which happens every ten years in England. Last year it was dominated by a hideously awful homophobic debate and resulting resolution on homosexuality. However, it is important to remember three things about what happened at Lambeth: First, that following the passing of that resolution 188 bishops including 9 primates signed a pastoral letter to lesbian and gay Anglicans, apologising for the hurt caused to us by the resolution and promising to continue working for our full inclusion in the life of the church. This number included our primate and 16 other Canadian bishops, just under half of the Canadian bishops. However, as Chris, the other Co-Convener of Integrity Toronto pointed out to me, the bishops that signed represent significantly more than half the Anglicans in Canada. The second thing to remember is that I have heard a number of the bishops who were at Lambeth say that even the most conservative of the Canadian bishops were horrified by the tone of the debates. And the third thing to remember about Lambeth is that the report produced by the panel of Bishops who had actually worked on this issue for three weeks was substantially more liberal than the resolution passed in the house. The resolution in the house was passed by people who had not worked on the issue and so were voting their prejudices. The panel who worked on this issue included the most vocal bishops on both sides of the debate. Even considering that, when they actually worked on the issue together they were able to produce a report that, while still conservative, was much more accepting than the resolution ultimately passed. Sometimes the most unexpected soil turns out to be fertile. I sat in the gallery at the triennial Canadian General Synod last year and watched the debate on a resolution designed to affirm the churches commitment to heterosexual marriage as the only acceptable relationship before God. By all rights that should have been very rocky ground indeed, but I watched in amazement as in no time at all the resolution was amended so much that it ended up affirming the need for the church to keep studying the issue and working towards a fuller inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church. The most important thing I have learned in my 15 years of being involved in the gay and lesbian movement is that I have yet to meet a single person who said to me "I support gay rights but you are the first gay person I have ever met." Every supportive straight person I have met has said that they have a family member or a friend who is gay, and that their love and respect for that person was what made them realise that we are valuable members of society and deserve to be treated like it. It is a simple fact of human nature that we are afraid of what we do not know. If we hide away in our closets and do not let people inside and outside the church know that they do, in fact, know somebody who is gay or lesbian we conspire with our own oppression. People will only change their negative attitudes about gays and lesbians when they get to know us. We can not deny them that opportunity. As a lesbian activist I have taken part in rallies, marched in parades, written letters of protest, and even filed a human rights complaint to get the Ontario government to amend its change of name act to include people who are changing their name on the basis of a gay or lesbian conjugal relationship. I consider all of these things important, but more important than any of that is that I have talked openly to people about my experiences as a lesbian in society and in the church, and I have talked to people about how their attitudes and those of society and of the church hurt me. There are some people who will not change their minds about us no matter how long we talk to them, but most people when given the chance to know us will accept us. Seven years ago I accepted a job in the accounting department of Winners Apparel which was, at that time, a fairly small but growing company. I will admit that accepting that job was hard for me. I was afraid that I would give up the job I had only to get there and find out that my new bosses were more homophobic than my old boss and that I would dead- end in the job or, worse, be fired. I considered trying to hide who I was but the decision was effectively taken away from me by somebody else who was hired at the same time. She overheard me talking to Michelle on the phone and asked me point blank if I was a lesbian. I would never lie about this so I said yes. She said, while that was fine with her she thought our mutual boss would not take it well. I knew she was very ambitious and would do whatever she could to discredit me and I could not risk her controlling how my boss found out that I was a lesbian. I made a point of put Michelle's picture on my desk and of mentioning Michelle by name when asked about what I had done on the weekend. I was relieved to quickly find out that both my boss and my boss' boss did not care who I lived with as long as I was a good accountant. When the woman I mentioned earlier realised my bosses did not care that I was a lesbian she tried to make my orientation an issue with my co-workers. I tried to deal with it by talking to her myself but my boss found out what had been happening and intervened. He apologised to me and a warning letter was put in her file saying that homophobia would not be tolerated by Winners. The interesting thing about all of this is that she was totally unsuccessful at turning anyone against me and instead only ended up alienating herself. She could not make my orientation an issue because I had always been honest about who I was. She could not surprise anybody with a grand pronouncement or juicy gossip, people knew who I was and accepted me for myself because I gave them the chance to. That is the only time in the last seven years that anyone at Winners has tried to make an issue of my orientation. Seven years later Winner's is a much bigger company and I am a senior manager with a good future ahead of me, and she is gone. I do realise that it is very un-Christian of me to gloat but it was nice to know that there was no question about who Winners would protect. Exactly the same principle applies within the church. We must sow our seeds generously, be honest about who we are, be counted as valuable members of the church, give people a chance to realise that we are not as strange or threatening as they imagined and trust in God that enough of the seeds will find fertile soil that an abundant harvest is insured. It is only by putting a human face, our face, on the label gay and lesbian that we will ever change attitudes in the church. We must remember the words of the prophet "We are the seeds of the tenacious plant, and it is in our ripeness and our fullness of heart that we are given to the wind." I will not tell you will never be hurt, I can guarantee you will be, but I can tell you that I was hurt far more before I was honest with people. Remember we are tenacious plants we have survived this long we can persevere a little longer. Even though sometimes it seems that progress happens at the speed of molasses in January, when I honestly look back at where we were 15 years ago compared to where we are today in terms of rights and acceptance I can see that we are making a difference. Canadians as a whole and Anglicans in particular are a very polite people: take advantage of that. Act like you expect to be accepted and a surprising amount of the time you will be. I am not telling you to try to change the laws, I'm not telling you to write letters or join protests if you do not want to, but I do ask that you live your life honestly and that you give people a chance to really know who you are not just an edited version of yourself. Give people a chance to realise that they do know gay and lesbian people and that they like and respect them and there is no reason to be afraid of us and every reason to protect us. I will end by quoting Isaiah, "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that which I propose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it." This is my hope, my prayer and ultimately my belief. = = = = {Author Box: Bonnie Crawford-Bewley Bonnie has been a member of Integrity/Toronto for over a decade, and is currently is Co- Convener. } ======== [99-5-2] "LOCK THEM UP" Ugandan President targets lesbigays By Chris Ambidge Lesbigays in North America have it easier than their sisters and brothers in other parts of the world. True, there are indeed too many instances of discrimination and job-loss here. Just a year ago Matthew Shepard was assaulted and left tied to a farm fence to die; and he is just the tip of the gaybashing iceberg. No-one is pretending that our situation is ideal, but progress has been made and continues. The vast majority of Canadians are now covered by human rights codes which outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation, and sexual activity between consenting adults is no longer a criminal act. Within the Anglican church, there are growing numbers of people who are eager to have lesbigays fully accepted in all parts of the church. Life is very different for lesbigays in central Africa. Societal pressure makes them much less generally acceptable in the culture. President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has described gays as "lower than pigs and dogs" on a number of occasions. Similar condemnations of homosexuality as unChristian and unAfrican have been made on various occasions by Namibia's president Sam Nujoma and Zambia's president Frederick Chiluba. Readers of *Integrator* will remember the strongly homo-negative opinions of the bishops at Lambeth last summer: these churches are of their own societies and doubtless reflect them. Homosexual acts are illegal in many jurisdictions, but there are doubtless gay and lesbian citizens of all of these countries. Against this background, situations have been coming to a boil recently. In late September, Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi gave a speech warning against homosexuality and mocking gay people. The next day, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni announced a crackdown on homosexuals: "I have told the Criminal Investigation Division to look for homosexuals, lock them up and charge them." This was in part in response to reports in the state- owned *New Vision* newspaper of a gay wedding earlier in September. Later press reports from Kampala indicate that the "wedding" never took place, but arrests have been made, and out gay people are on the run. The opposition *Monitor* also reports that vigilantes have discovered "gay hideouts" and have reported them to the press and police. Some commentators have suggested that these crackdowns are being used to distract attention from unpopular governments or government actions. That is not certain; but lesbigays in these countries, and particularly Uganda, are being persecuted for their sexual orientation. That may be hard for Canadians to grasp, but please hold these our sisters and brothers in your prayers. ======== [99-5-3] A BROTHER FROM UGANDA by Don Meen It was in 1997 that our friend Ronald Lwabaayi first came into the lives of the Integrity Vancouver family. It was in the form of a letter from Kenya outlining his goal to work for basic human rights for gay and lesbian people, and his request for our support. It just so happened that at that time we were winding up our library and looking for a suitable person or organization to receive it. The books were forwarded and our friendship began. Ronald is originally from Uganda, and in 1997 he was living in Kenya, writing a weekly column for one of the Nairobi dailies. From there he tried to contact over 200 gay and lesbian organizations around the world in his request for support for his work with lesbians and gays in Africa. He met with limited success, but did establish contact with us at Integrity/ Vancouver. Some correspondence ensued over the next few months. Then there was a disturbing silence out of Africa. When Ronald resurfaced he told us that he'd been in jail for ten weeks. Police had arrived in the middle of the night to apprehend him, as a result of some articles he had written for the Nairobi paper which sought to educate people about homosexuality and the lives of a gay and lesbian Africans. They incarcerated him, the first two months of this in solitary confinement. As Ronald tells it there was no trial, no appearance before a judge. He believes that pressure from the Church was instrumental in having him incarcerated. All of his possessions (including the Integrity library) disappeared. While in jail Ronald was able to send some letters out with the Red Cross, one to his family in Uganda telling them that he was alive, and others to the Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops of the area. He tells us he received no reply from the Anglican Bishop but that the Catholic one actually came to see him in prison. Ronald told us that after berating him about his homosexuality, this prelate told him that he would at least arrange to have him expelled from Kenya to his home country of Uganda. News of Ronald's return to Uganda was apparently reported in the newspaper. Since that time he has continued his work in and around Kampala - - writing letters to the newspaper, speaking with gay and lesbian people, offering information and support. He heard from us that many members of Integrity would be attending a retreat at the Sorrento Centre, a conference and retreat center operated by the Anglican Church in British Columbia. The week was to be led by author Chris Glaser, a gay Presbyterian from the USA. Chris has worked for many years for the full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in the life and leadership of his church. His theme for week was *Cultivating the Inner Voice of Love*. Ronald indicated an interest in attending this retreat if it was at all possible, and the Integrity Vancouver group began to raise funds to accomplish this. In the end we were indeed able to raise the funds and Ronald joined us in Vancouver. It was a truly amazing cross-cultural experience for Ronald and for us. He was particularly moved to have met not only gay and lesbian Anglicans, but gay-supportive Anglican clergy and even a Bishop. He has returned to Uganda and went about setting up a support and resource group for Ugandan gays and lesbians, called *Right Companion*. That effort has since been overtaken by other events in Uganda which have brought gay and lesbian issues even more into the public eye. First of these events was the expulsion of some 20 teenage students from their school because they were suspected of being gay. More recently, there were reports of two gay weddings which prompted the president of Uganda to issue a call to the police in late September to arrest and imprison homosexual people. In a telephone conversation with Ronald on 2 October, he stated that he was now in hiding since the police would know his name and place of work from newspaper articles. He has some information to say that there have been at least a couple arrests of people that he knows. He said then that he wants to stay in Uganda to continue the struggle rather than to escape danger by fleeing the country. Since then he has thought that leaving Uganda would be more prudent. At some point he is hoping to make contact with a human rights lawyer but for now he is very restricted in his movements because of the police activity. At present Integrity and Dignity members are pursuing the matter with Amnesty International, with the Canadian government and with the Anglican church in Canada, the US, and the UK. * * NEWS FLASH: Since this story was written, Ronald has been * * detained, released, and then detained again. He is now trying * * to be released once again and intends to seek refuge in * * Tanzania. = = = {Author box: DON MEEN has been active with Integrity/ Vancouver for many years, including a term as President. He was on the task force that developed *Hearing Diverse Voices, Seeking Common Ground* for the national church, and spoke to General Synod in both 1992 and 1995 on being lesbigay in the Anglican Church of Canada } ======== [99-5-4] RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE: The Cambridge Accord On 1 October 1999, Bishop Steven Charleston, President and Dean of Episcopal Divinity School, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, published "The Cambridge Accord." The Accord [full text below, article 99-5-6] is intended as an international response to increased violence against homosexual persons around the world. Of special concern are the recent developments in the African nations of Uganda, Kenya, and Zimbabwe where the presidents of these nations have publicly cited biblical sanction for labeling homosexuals "un-African" and outside the law. The Cambridge Accord seeks to respond to this kind of pogrom against homosexuals by clarifying the Anglican position through a shared statement by the bishops of the Church. While recognising that the bishops have divergent views on biblical, theological, and moral issues surrounding homosexuality, it invites them to stand in unity on three essential points: (a) that no homosexual person should ever be deprived of liberty, property, or civil rights because of his or her sexual orientation, (b) that all acts of violence, oppression, and degradation against homosexual persons are wrong and cannot be sanctioned by an appeal to the Christian faith, and, (c) that every human being is created equal in the eyes of God and therefore deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. In creating the Cambridge Accord, Bishop Charleston hopes to find common ground for Anglicans to stand together to prevent acts of violence against homosexual persons, especially when these acts are vindicated on a biblical basis. "After Lambeth," he says, "I am also acutely aware of the uniquely Anglican need to make such a public statement. The African nations that are currently in the spotlight are all strong areas for our Communion. Their bishops need our support in resisting this kind of misuse of the Christian faith." Integrity/Toronto strongly endorses the Cambridge Accord, and urges all bishops to add their signatures. For Canadian bishops it is not really breaking new ground: twenty years ago the House of Bishops said "We believe as Christians that homosexual persons, as children of God, have a full and equal claim, with all other persons, upon the love, acceptance, concern, and pastoral care of the Church. The Gospel of Jesus Christ compels Christians to guard against all forms of human injustice, and to affirm that all persons are brothers and sisters for whom Christ died. We affirm that homosexual persons are entitled to equal protection under the law with all other Canadian citizens." The Cambridge Accord is an opportunity for bishops around the world to say together and to say very publicly that persecution of gays and lesbians is contrary to the Gospel, and cannot be justified on biblical grounds. Contact information is at the end of the text of the Accord. ======== [99-5-5] THE CAMBRIDGE ACCORD In the name of God, we, the bishops of the Anglican Communion who have affixed our names to this Accord, publish it as a statement of our shared opinion in regard to all persons who are homosexual. We affirm that while we may have contrasting views on the Biblical, theological, and moral issues surrounding homosexuality, on these three points we are in one Accord: 1. That no homosexual person should ever be deprived of liberty, personal property, or civil rights because of his or her sexual orientation. 2. That all acts of violence, oppression, and degradation against homosexual persons are wrong and cannot be sanctioned by an appeal to the Christian faith. 3. That every human being is created equal in the eyes of God and therefore deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We appeal to people of good conscience from every nation and religious creed to join us in embracing this simple Accord as our global claim to human rights not only for homosexual men and women, but for all God's people. Published October 1, 1999 = = = All bishops who wish to add their names to the list of those affirming this Accord are invited to do so by simply contacting the President and Dean of Episcopal Divinity School, the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, at the following address: Episcopal Divinity School 99 Brattle Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138-3494 U.S.A. e-mail: scharleston@episdivschool.org FAX: 617-864-5385 = = = {Author Box} THE RT REV STEVEN CHARLESTON was Bishop of Alaska and is now Dean of Episcopal Divinity School. His reflection on Matthew Shepard appeared in the April 99 *Integrator*. * * * * * A number of Canadian bishops have already signed the *Cambridge Accord*. They include, as of our press time: Peter Coffin / Ottawa Terence Finlay / Toronto Michael Ingham / New Westminster Caleb Lawrence / Moosonee Ralph Spence / Niagara Ann Tottenham / Toronto - Credit Valley ======== [99-5-6] THOUGHTS ON FORGIVENESS Sister Thelma-Anne SSJD's regular column "Ways of Prayer" Paul Feheley's homily at the Integrity/ Fidelity Eucharist was a challenge. As I reflect on it, and on my own experiences of forgiving and being forgiven, I realize more than ever that forgiveness, though simple, is not necessarily easy. It has been wisely said that in a world such as ours, love will inevitably take the form of forgiveness. No matter how much we love, there will always be hurts and misunderstandings which need to be healed by forgiveness. As members of Christ's body, if we fail to forgive, we are somehow restricting or even blocking the circulation of love on which we all depend. And most of all, we harm ourselves: to the extent that we are unforgiving, we are unable to receive forgiveness; to the extent we are unloving, we diminish our own capacity to receive love. Moreover, failure to forgive sets up currents that flow outward and become more powerful and destructive the longer they are unleashed. And yet, we have probably all experienced how hard forgiveness can be. It sometimes takes years to be able to say, "I forgive you" and mean it. We may have to struggle long and hard with anger and resentment. Only our prayerful and persevering openness to the possibility of forgiving brings with it, in God's own time, the healing we long for. After perhaps years of estrangement, we rejoice one day to find that we can indeed forgive. The broken relationship is restored, richer and deeper than before. What are some of the things that make forgiveness so difficult? One is the inability to forgive ourselves, or the sense, even, that we are unforgivable. This can be the result of a kind of rigid perfectionism, equally demanding toward ourselves and others. People who have a poor self-image find it very difficult to seek forgiveness; they also refuse to believe that their forgiveness will really make a difference to anyone else. Again, our low sense of self-worth can make us more sensitive to rejection, prone to misinterpreting motives, and likely to magnify into real grievances things which were not intended to hurt. Beneath this often lurks an image of God as unwilling to forgive certain heinous offences. "There is no point in my praying ever again. I know that God will never forgive me for what I have done." This is reinforced by the all-too-common view of God as a punitive, vindictive tyrant. Once we experience God's unconditional love and forgiveness, we are motivated in our turn to forgive others. But what about real, ongoing and serious injustices - things which are not going to change or to go away simply because we have forgiven their perpetrators? I think we can still forgive, but continue to challenge the wrongs. Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are outstanding examples in our own times, people who while maintaining their own integrity, refused to demonize those perpetrating the injustices, who continued to forgive at whatever cost to themselves, whose forgiveness proved to be creative beyond all expectation. When I reflect on Paul's homily I ask, "How does forgiveness translate for me in our situation?" It seems to me that we are being invited to forgive the hurt we unavoidably inflict on each other because we are on opposite sides of a question about we are passionate. We are being called to move beyond the we/they, "love me, love my dog" mentality which interprets disagreement as rejection, to separate the person from the convictions we can't accept and the hurt they may cause us. We know this will bring suffering, but we commit ourselves to staying with the pain and accepting it as somehow redemptive. This requires faith, courage and perseverance. As Gandhi has expressed it, "Forgiveness is the virtue of the brave." The cost of forgiveness is a willingness to be vulnerable. We move out from our fortresses. We come to see one another as human beings, not "the enemy". We are not called to water down or compromise our own convictions. We are being called, I believe, to do our best to hold together what would otherwise be fragmented by the spirit of divisiveness and contention. We are being called to allow the lifeblood of love to flow through the capillaries of that minute but eternally significant part of the Body of Christ which we are. === end of text === End of volume 99-5 of Integrator, the newsletter of Integrity/Toronto copyright 1999 Integrity/Toronto comments please to Chris Ambidge, Editor chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca OR Integrity/Toronto Box 873 Stn F Toronto ON Canada M4Y 2N9 -- -- Chris Ambidge chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca Integrity/Toronto http://www.whirlwind.ca/integrity Integrity is a member of the Alliance of Lesbian & Gay Anglicans http://www.alga.org