Nigerian and West African LGBT Christians Meet

PRESS RELEASE

Lome Statement
issued by the leaders of Changing Attitude Nigeria and West African LGBT Christian Groups

Sunday, 13 May 2007

by Davis Mac-Iyalla

The meeting this weekend, 11 to 13 May 2007 in Lome, Togo of 35 lesbian and gay leaders from West African Christian groups was a moment of history for LGBT Christians in Africa. The leaders represented groups from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Togo meeting with leaders from Changing Attitude Nigeria. We represented members of the Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic Churches.

On Saturday morning we began our day by celebrating Holy Communion together. For most of us, this was the first time we have been able to share the life-giving body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ openly with our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters.

It was also the first time many of us have met with other LGBT Christian leaders. We thank the leaders in Togo and the leader of Changing Attitude Nigeria, Davis Mac-Iyalla, for creating a weekend conference in which we were able to meet in safety and security.

Present at the meeting were the Revd Colin Coward, Director of Changing Attitude England and the Revd Stephen Coles, Vicar of St Thomas, Finsbury Park and member of the General Synod of the Church of England.

Lome Statement

Our message to our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) brothers and sisters at home is our hopes and dreams are possible; God is blessing us and our work.

We have discussed the issues, threats and opportunities that confront us in West Africa.

We believe we are created in the image of God, to love and to express the love we feel.

We are proud of who we are.
We will not live our lives in darkness.
We want to be fully included in the churches to which we belong.
We want our voices to be heard.
We want our churches to learn about our sexual identities.
We want our churches to accept and honour our relationships.

Read it all HERE

Davis Mac-Iyalla visit to US schedule HERE