Bishops Petition Supreme Court for Marriage Equality

Twenty-nine bishops in the ten states (plus Washington DC) where same-sex marriage is legal signed an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States which challenges the constitutionality of the "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), a 1996 law which mandates that the Federal government cannot recognize same-sex marriages. The leaders of all but one of the 24 dioceses where civil marriage is legal signed the brief addressing the case of Windsor v. United States, which is being heard by the Court this month.

The case refers specifically to an inheritance tax burden of over $360,000 owed by a New York woman after her wife died. The couple of 40 years was legally married in Canada in 2007, but DOMA stipulates that the inheritance benefits of marriage do not apply to even those same-sex marriages recognized by some states.

A second brief, signed by the bishops of all six dioceses in California, speaks to the case of Hollingsworth v. Perry and the overturn of Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative which took away marriage equality in California after thousands of couples were legally married. The Supreme Court of California has already found the law unconstitutional, but its overturn was appealed by the initiative's sponsors.

Dozens of groups -- including one by the CEO's over many of the country's largest corporations -- recently filed briefs in favor of marriage equality.  The bishops' campaign was launched by the Right Rev. Marc Andrus, Bishop of the Diocese of California, which includes San Francisco.  Bishop Andrus explained his motives in a Washington Post column published February 28th.

“We overturned nearly two millennia of set tradition when we began ordaining women 34 years ago. We repudiated the traditional tolerance of slavery and racial prejudice in the mid-20th century. We traded our cultural privilege and hegemony as a largely Anglo denomination for the wealthy and have deliberately become more and more consciously a church for all,” Andrus wrote. “In all these things we have prayed and thought and been in earnest conversation in and out of the church, and believed that in the end we have discerned better the mind of Christ than we had in the past.”

“Integrity is delighted that the Bishops have signed on to these two amici briefs. Last year General Convention passed resolution D018 urging members of Congress to repeal federal laws that discriminate against civilly married same-gender couples. Signing the amicus brief in Windsor v. United States is a logical step as it supports the repeal of the discriminatory so-called Defense of Marriage Act,” said the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall, Integrity's President. “However it is a step that might not have been taken had it not been for the courage of the bishops involved and the leadership of the Diocese of California. Once again, The Episcopal Church joins with the leaders in this important witness and commitment to social justice.”

Please join us in thanking all the bishops for speaking out on marriage equality. For a complete list of the signers and more background, please visit this article on the Diocese of California website.

The Rev. Deacon Carolyn Woodall Elected Vice-Chair of Stakeholders' Council

On Thursday, February 21st, the Stakeholders' Council of Integrity elected The Rev. Deacon Carolyn Woodall as its Vice-Chair.

Carolyn is the Parish Representative for St. Mary-in-the-Mountains in Jamestown, Calif., in the Diocese of San Joaquin. She wrestled with both a call to the diaconate and a struggle with her gender identity for many years, and left the church for a time while transitioning from living as a man to her true identity, as female.   After many conservative people, including the bishop at the time, elected to leave the Episcopal Church in her area, Carolyn returned and took an active role in the formation of the Continuing Diocese of San Joaquin. She was ordained a deacon in March of 2012, and is among the transgender clergy who tell their stories in Integrity's film Voices of Witness: Out of the Box.

The Rev. Deacon Carolyn Woodall

Carolyn continues to bring new ideas and leadership to the church, both locally and nationally.  She served on Integrity's Legislative Team at the 2012 General Convention.  In her diocese, she is co-chair of the Commission on Equality and was among the leaders of the first LGBT retreat in the area. She helped write the diocese's own liturgy for blessing of same-sex unions, adopted on Pentecost 2011, and more recently conceived of Spirit Sunday, a tie-in to a grassroots anti-bullying campaign which Integrity and her bishop, the Right Rev. Chet Talton, are encouraging the church to adopt nationally.

“Carolyn has been a steady and insightful presence on the Council, and I am grateful for her willingness to assist us in this capacity,” said Stakeholders' Chair Christian Paolino. “It was a privilege to serve with her at General Convention and to be present with her and other transgender clergy when the church voted in recognition of the value of their ministry.”

The Stakeholders' Council is a body of approximately 400 past and present Integrity leaders and key partners which performs several important functions: In the event that the President of Integrity was to leave office in mid-term for any reason, the Stakeholders would be responsible for electing someone to fill this role for the remainder of his or her three-year tour.

In calmer times, the Council acts as a conduit between Integrity's national leadership and the regional network of chapters, partner congregations and individual members.  It has recently undertaken several projects to identify and highlight some of our chapters' and partners' best work as resources to encourage further ministry to the field.

The Chair of the Council has a seat on the national board and brings news, concerns, and partnership opportunities to the board's attention.  The Chair and Vice-Chair (who would fill in with the board in the Chair's extended absence) are elected to three-year terms by the Council membership.

The Stakeholders with vote include: Life Members, Chapter Conveners, Diocesan Organizers , and designated representatives from our Proud Partners.  We also welcome the day-to-day participation of Provincial Coordinators, Past Presidents, current members of the Board of Directors, representatives of organizations designated by the Board as "allied organizations," and the Executive Director, when one is in place.

Requiescat in Pace: John Victor Larson 1939-2013

Integrity regrets to report the death on January 24th of John Victor Larson, who was instrumental in the 2007 revitalization of our Northern Illinois chapter. "John was the driving force behind the re-formation of our chapter in the Diocese of Chicago," said David Fleer, Integrity's Province V Coordinator, whose territory includes the Great Lakes region. "He was its treasurer until he moved to Pennsylvania to live closer to his sister as his health began to fail. He will be greatly missed."

Born in 1939 in Peoria, Ill., John attended the University of Illinois and worked as a nuclear engineer for Westinghouse. In addition to his work with Integrity, he was involved in other peace and justice organizations including P-FLAG. When the Gay Games took place in Illinois in 2008, John was instrumental in P-FLAG's efforts to bring the rowing competition to Crystal Lake.

While living in Illinois, John attended St. John the Evangelist: Lockport. In 2011, John relocated to the Pittsburgh area and attended St. Stephen's: McKeesport, where he will be remembered in a memorial service at noon on Saturday, March 2nd. He is preceded in death by his father Robert and his wife Bonnie, and survived by his mother Velma (who turns 104 in April), three sisters, two sons, eight grandchildren and two nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to either St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church, 312 East 11th Street, Lockport, Ill. 60441 and/or PFLAG Council of Northern Illinois (where a scholarship fund is being established), P.O. Box 734, Elmhurst, Ill. 60126, and/or St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 220 Eighth Street, McKeesport, Penn. 15132.

Obituary and Photo - Windy City Times

Damsel, Arise - Walking Away from Westboro

During the 2010 Believe Out Loud Power Summit, Social Movement Theorist Beth Zemsky taught us a powerful lesson about our fellow Christians who oppose our views on LGBT inclusion, marriage equality and related issues.

Whether or not they articulate it, or are even conscious of it, Zemsky says there is a subtext to how they interact with us:  "I learned what I know about people like you from people I loved and trusted."  She asserts that much of the resistance people have towards evolving their thinking about LGBT issues stems from one fact: it forces them to confront the possibility that -- if the people and institutions they relied on for their understanding of one issue are flawed -- they might have to question everything else they learned from those sources.  This is naturally quite traumatizing and can cause people to cling to ideas and prejudices that their hearts and minds might otherwise reject.

A rather extreme example of this dichotomy made the news this week when it came to light that two granddaughters of Westboro Baptist Church founder Fred Phelps had left the notoriously anti-gay organization and -- after secluding themselves for several months -- were now beginning to speak about their story.

Megan and Grace Phelps-Roper moved from the family's compound in Topeka, Ks., this past fall and eventually settled in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood.  In a lengthy interview with author Jeff Chu, Megan describes how it felt to walk away from everything she'd ever known.    Once active in the church (she was the first WBC member to tweet, something for which her mother Shirley has become notorious), she began having trouble rationalizing the absolutist views of the church (made up almost entirely of Phelps' descendents) with her own evolving understanding of God and the world.  Eventually she reached a point where she could no longer participate.

As with everything else, leaving WBC is absolute and final. While she harbors no ill will towards her congregation and family, Megan is coming to grips with the idea of life without them.  She has not lost her faith, however; she and Grace spend many hours talking about God, and sorting out a belief system for themselves after it had been dictated to them for so long.

Megan and Grace released the following statement.

Into the Cloud: Transfiguration Liberation

A homily preached in the Episcopal/Anglican Fellowship at Harvard Divinity School 

Readings for Transfiguration Sunday, Year C

Monday, February 11, 2013

Transfiguration greetings from inside the cloud.  I say this not simply because of the fog that envelopes us here in Cambridge as rain melts our record snowfall, not only because of the in-between place the Diocese of Massachusetts diocese has entered in the wake of our bishop’s retirement announcement, or even in honor of the strange possibility that, as the Anglican News Service explains, "a new Archbishop of Canterbury and a new Pope may be enthroned in the same month."  I say this inspired by Luke’s unique observation that all of those present on the Transfiguration mount were not only “overshadowed” by a cloud but actually, terrifyingly, “entered into it” (Lk 9:34).  In some way, Luke seems to do more with the Transfiguration, to link the very paschal mystery to it, and to make that mystery accessible to his readers—to all of us.  In the hands of Luke, all of us are delivered into the mysterious liberation that is transfiguration.

This cloud-envelopment is not the only unique gift brought to us by the Year C in our liturgical/lectionary rotation.  Only Luke, among the synoptic witnesses, gives us a window onto the summit conversation between Jesus, Moses and Elijah.  All three accounts tell us that Peter, John and James see these towering figures of the Law and the Prophets.  But Luke alone explains that “they appeared in glory” and, most importantly, that “they were speaking of [Jesus’] departure which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.”  The term for departure is ἔξοδον, a word that evokes the Exodus of the Israelites from their Egyptian captivity.  Already the gospel story draws upon Moses’ shining encounter, as our first reading reminds us.  But Luke’s window onto Jesus’ mountaintop discourse gives us more on which to chew.  Jesus was about to embody Exodus.  Think about what that might mean.  Think of what we know about the journey that lay before him:  the downward slope into Jerusalem, the crucifixion, the resurrection and ascension.  The shorthand Luke uses for this, the frame through which he wants us to read it is ἔξοδον.  It is liberation from oppression. It is the transformation of an individual body—suffering and death followed by resurrection life—as the transformation of a collective body.   Does this relationship of collective to individual embodiment not shift how you might read Jesus’ words of agency? Do you not hear the notion of “accomplishing” this paschal mystery in a different way?  It is not simply a matter of deciding to suffer and to die (which, of course, is not simple in and of itself).  This “accomplishment” is about the exodus of a people, or as Paul puts it in our reading from 2 Corinthians, freedom, which flows out from “the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor 3:18).

Both in written reflection and in iconic depiction, the Christian East has long honored the Metamorphosis (as it is often called, after the term with which Matthew and Mark describe Jesus’ transformation), and has seen in it a deep connection to the mystery of Easter itself. Transfiguration is not only something that happened to Jesus on Mount Tabor, as our unnamed peak is often called.  It is also the effect of resurrection power in our lives here and now, as well as at the end of all things, when that power will lift us up from the grave.  Transfiguration is the transformation “from glory into glory” to which Paul speaks in this breathtaking vision: “all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18).  This is not an effect reserved for the end.  It is with us now.  It is why, “we do not lose heart” as we carry forward in our ministries (2 Cor 4:1).  The present, pervasive reality of transfiguration allows us to discern the holy in this cloud in which we stand.

The idea that to be transfigured is to be changed, to be transformed, to be metamorphosed first drew me to the theology of transfiguration-- as someone who has transitioned, it spoke powerfully to me.  The complexity of my gender identity also gave me a particular appreciation for its liminal placement in the liturgical year.  But surely I am not alone in my love of the uniquely clear way in which the transfiguration (and more specifically Transfiguration Sunday, placed here, at the threshold of Epiphany and Lent) makes the heart of the gospel-- the good news of God’s transforming, healing, reconciling work -- available to us, a prism through which to see our own lives as in some way part of this larger collection, these stories of salvation history.  This combination of liminality and transformation should prompt us to see not only the obviously-set-apart places, the mountaintop locales, but also the more mundane interstices, the in-between spaces of our lives, even the painful ones, as places of transfiguration. 

These thresholds can be temporal, spatial or both.  What if we considered the context of divinity schools and seminaries, of universities and of higher education  more broadly through this lens?  Such contexts are crucibles—as you surely don’t need me to tell you—spaces of intensive formation,  carrying the anxiety of next-steps, for students as well as for faculty and staff.   And so from that crucible, from this cloud, I want to invite us all to consider here and now:  What is the ἔξοδον you are about to accomplish, or rather, that God is about to accomplish in you?  How are you being called to embody the paschal mystery in all its incorporation of death and new life?  Stand on this verge today and know that by virtue of your membership in the body of Christ, you too are being transfigured.  You, dear friends, are caught up in the mystery of metamorphosis, you are poised to leap up from the sacramental waters of your baptism. In the least likely spaces of your life, you are being “changed from glory into glory,” invited to grow like the engrafted olive shoot you are into the very heart of the living God.  The death Christ died and the resurrection life through which creation itself was recast—these fundamental tenets of our faith our not simply mental exercises, but spiritual realities with deeply concrete implications.  As we move toward the dust-filled return of Ash Wednesday and the wilderness territory of Lent, think on this mystery.

Luke’s vision of the Transfiguration frames our entry into Lent and Easter like no other gospel.  To be sure, the placement of this day at the end of the season of Epiphany, as the bookend to Jesus’ baptism (another iconic favorite in Eastern Christianity) works similarly in all three years of our lectionary.  Transfiguration stands as the mandorla, the holy hinge on which the cycles of Incarnation and Pascha swing into one another. But Luke’s version alone gives us a prism through which to read the paschal mystery itself.  Luke alone truly uses Transfiguration as the key for interpreting the cross and the empty tomb.  Luke alone refracts our very body/ies through the lens of Exodus (for an Easter preview, see Luke 24:1-12).  And so again I ask you, what is the ἔξοδον that God is seeking to accomplish in you?  How are you being called to embody the liberation that is the Paschal Mystery?  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Cameron Partridge is the Episcopal Chaplain at Boston University and a Lecturer and Episcopal/Anglican Denominational Counselor at Harvard Divinity School.   

Even in the Red States, Change is Coming - Wyoming Marriage Equality Report

Wyoming, known as the “Equality State” for first giving women the right to vote, recently inched closer to acknowledging LGBT Equality Rights with proposed legislation to establish Domestic Partnerships, Marriage Equality and ENDA-like Employment Protections. While none of the measures were approved this session, the fact that two made their way out of committee and received significant floor votes has heartened some Equality advocates to believe that, even in the reddest of red states, change is coming.

“Even in the Red States, Change is Coming.”

Unlike the last full legislative gathering in 2010 when rights activists spent the entire session fending off hostile DOMA-style bills, this year activists were able to focus their energies on proactive, pro-rights bills. HB 168 would have established Domestic Partnership Rights & Responsibilities; HB169 proposed to recognize that all couples are entitled to marry; and SB131 would have added “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to Wyoming's anti-discrimination statutes. All three bills were introduced by Rep. Cathy Donnolly (D-Laramie), the only “out” member of the Wyoming Legislature.

 

Marriage Equality never got out of committee, but Domestic Partnerships made a valiant but unsuccessful showing 25-34 on the House floor and the anti-discrimination protections failed 13-17 in the Senate. Considering the gross ignorance exhibited by some legislators – one warned of the risks of “GRID” and another spouted fantastical statistics about gay & lesbian life expectancy, activists are encouraged that 42% of state legislators supported some measure of equality.

A highlight of the committee hearings came when Sen. Bernadine Craft passionately explained her support for Equality by citing her Baptismal Covenant. Sen. Craft (D-Sweetwater Co.), a cradle Episcopalian from Holy Communion-Rock Springs who is in the holy orders process, said the debate should not be centered in religion. “I should not have to be here representing my faith community…because this shouldn’t be about religion or faith, this should be about the law.”

Craft, who’s beloved as “Bernie” throughout the Diocese of Wyoming, said she was taught from childhood to “seek and serve Christ in every human being, to love my neighbor as myself and to respect the dignity of every human being.” Craft reminded listeners of the multiple biblical definitions of marriage in the Old Testament and stressed that, ultimately, her particular religious views were not an issue here. Rather, she said, “I think this is about human rights. I think this is about human dignity.”

“A highlight of the committee hearings came when Sen. Bernadine Craft passionately explained her support for Equality by citing her Baptismal Covenant.”

Craft closed by saying, “My God says respect every human being. My God says judge not lest ye be judged.”

Supporters watching the hearings and instant messaging on Ustream.com, proudly proclaimed Craft’s membership in The Episcopal Church. It was an unlikely but effective evangelical moment.

The Domestic Partnership bill garnered the support of every Democrat, as well as the few moderate and libertarian-leaning Republicans in the State House. Extremist social conservatives, spouting outdated and offensive views, shocked some of their constituents. Talk of fielding moderate GOP challengers in the 2014 elections began soon after.

Wyoming’s serious consideration of these equality measures garnered media attention from around the country. The legislative campaign was championed by a coalition of diverse Equality advocates in the state, including the Matthew Shepard Foundation, various faith groups, Wyoming Equality, Queer Advocacy Network, PFLAG and others. The coalition was formed during the 2011 Legislative Session when extremist groups such as Wy Watch (funded by Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs) sought to enshrine DOMA in the Wyoming Constitution. Intense, round-the-clock efforts by passionate equality-minded citizens narrowly beat back the goliath discriminatory threat – much to the surprise of both sides. Communication networks established on the fly in 2011 were put back into operation for this year’s session. (Wyoming has a part-time citizen legislature which meets in full session for 40 days every odd year; during even-numbered years only budget matters are considered.)

Debriefings with GOP legislators who voted against domestic partnership and discrimination protections are presently underway in an attempt to find common ground for bills to be introduced in 2015. Some say they need assurance that the bills are not an attempt to “redefine” marriage.

Meanwhile, concurrent to the legislative session, a high school senior in the small Wyoming town of Worland (pop. 5,458) waged a successful campaign for the right to include a small rainbow flag in his senior picture. Matt Jolley, an openly gay teen, launched an online petition campaign after his high school principal told him he could not use his picture of choice in the annual yearbook because it was “political.” Matt immediately turned to Change.com to garner support.

Integrity’s Province VI Coordinator alerted a network of LGBT-friendly educators in Wyoming to generate an email & phone campaign to the Washakie County school district superintendent and school board. Thanks to widespread Facebook sharing, Matt’s petition earned nearly 5,000 signatures within 72 hours. With surprisingly little ado, the superintendent said the photo was permissible. Matt was deeply gratified by the support he received, especially from his hometown, his friends and his family. Yet another sign that attitudes, even in uber-conservative Wyoming, are changing more rapidly than many realists might expect.

- Pamela R.W. Kandt

Pamela R.W. Kandt was recently named as Province VI Coordinator.  She has served as a Gay-Straight Alliance mentor to teens in Matthew Shepard's hometown and is a volunteer organizer for pro-LGBT bills in the Wyoming State Legislature. She's also the former director of the Wyoming AIDS Project.

Pamela joined Integrity in 2009 and attended General Convention as a volunteer in 2009 and as a Deputy advocate in 2012. Pamela also serves as a co-convener of the Episcopal Women's Caucus.

Proud to be an Episcopalian at Creating Change

Alan Yarborough

To get to the Creating Change conference, I took a quick drive down the road to Atlanta, GA, from Clemson, SC, where I go to school. Having the conference in a Southern city was a wonderful experience, proving that the South is home to a significant component of the LGBT rights movement. I had the privilege of staffing the Integrity booth in the exhibit hall, where you can find booths for organizations of every kind, from welcoming church organizations to lawyers offices.

The conference itself is a wonderful space for LGBT activism and intersectional social justice work, where attendees can choose from workshops on race, class, immigration, religion, politics and more. The variety of people attending the conference makes for an eclectic opportunity to converse and problem solve in a safe and affirming environment with people and organizations who are on the forefront of not only the LGBT rights movement but every other social justice movement in the country.

So many visitors to Integrity’s table expressed words of gratitude for Integrity being one of those organizations on the forefront of equality. One woman in particular spoke about Integrity’s tangible work for transgender and gender nonconforming people. She said while many other organizations include transgender in name only, Integrity takes action on transgender rights. 

Others who stopped by the table were unfamiliar with Integrity and the work of welcoming and affirming organizations. Many revealed their current lack of faith and the moment when their church community turned them away. I believe that for many, seeing the Episcopal Church present at Creating Change inspired a bit of hope and reassurance.

Representing Integrity at Creating Change meant standing on the shoulders of all of those past and present who have done amazing work for LGBT rights. Representing Integrity meant I received these expressions of thanks for the work of so many, and I want to pass that thanksgiving on to all who are a part this organization.

In this time of re-imagining for Integrity, we will remain a leader in this work. Having experienced success on a national level within the Episcopal Church, we can move ahead in bolstering Integrity’s presence throughout every community, like in my small home town, Clemson, South Carolina. We can move ahead in our commitment to the trans community and in our intersectional work across race, class and national origin.

Thanks greatly to Bishop Gene Robinson’s attendance, the Episcopal Church had a large presence at the conference. Integrity and the Episcopal Church emerged as leaders in this movement years ago, and they are still at the front of the line today. The change Integrity has inspired in our world, insisting that all have a place at the table, makes me proud to be a gay man, a Christian, and an Episcopalian.

- Alan Yarborough

Alan Yarborough is a student at Clemson University, where he is a Peer Minister at the Episcopal chaplaincy, the Canterbury Club.  He was one of several young adults who participated in Integrity's Leadership Summit in Pasadena in autumn of 2012, and has also worked with us as a research assistant and intern.  Alan was joined at Creating Change by Province IV Coordinator Bruce Garner. The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Retired Bishop of New Hampshire, was presented with the Susan J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement by the  National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.

Bishop Shaw of Massachusetts Announces Retirement

The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, Bishop of Massachusetts, announced January 15th that he intends to retire in 2014 and called for the election of his successor.


The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE“I love being your bishop and it is an honor to serve you,” Shaw told the diocese in his announcement,  “These years have been some of the richest years of my life.  All of you and this work have taught me much about myself and the nature of our loving God for which I will always be grateful.  I am full of gratitude for all that God has given us to do:  the challenges God has offered us, the opportunities and all the experiences of God’s abundance which we have experienced in our life together.”

"Integrity is grateful for the quiet leadership of Bishop Shaw," said The Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall, Integrity's president. "He is a man of deep spirituality who has been a gift to the Church as a bishop and will continue to be a gift to the world in his retirement."

Bishop Shaw brings a somewhat unique perspective to the episcopate, because he is also a brother in the Society of St. John the Evangelist, a religious order in the Anglican church whose members take vows of poverty, celibacy and obedience. He speaks about his experience as a gay man in the monastery and the wider church in Love Free or Die, the award-winning documentary about the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the first out, partnered gay person ordained a bishop.  Integrity has sponsored numerous screenings of the film across the country. If you are interested in a screening please contact us.

Bishop Robinson, a close friend of Bishop Shaw, also recently retired.  Retired bishops in the Episcopal Church retain their voice and vote in the church's House of Bishops for life.

et cum Lazaro-- a young adult reflection on World AIDS Day

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est…[1]
Et cum Lazaro quondam paupere[2]
Come then, my God!
Shine on this blood,
 and water in one beam,
 and thou shalt see,
 kindled by thee
Both liquors burn, and stream.[3]

S.R. Glenn
December 2, 2012

December 1, 2012 marked the twenty-eighth recognition ofWorld AIDS Day, the first global health day. It was also the second World AIDS Day since my diagnosis with the HIV virus onJanuary 10, 2011 in New York City. It is oddly fitting that the week-longtorment of my seroconversion (which, at the time, I mistook for a severe flu)happened to follow on the heels of the observance of World AIDS Day in late2010. It was at such time that I was working on a Master of Arts in Music atQueens College in Flushing, New York. In the midst of my fever, aches, massivefatigue, chills, and loss of appetite, I was required to conduct a concert ofmotets by the twentieth century composer, Maurice Duruflé, for my privatestudy of choral conducting. It was with great resistance and bodily objectionthat I pulled myself out of bed on December 15, 2010, put on my tuxedo, andslowly made my way from my room in Jackson Heights, down 82^nd streetcatch a train to the Queens College campus. I wondered if I would be able tofulfill my duties that evening. Indeed, I could barely lift my arms to put onmy coat; how was I supposed to conduct?

Lengthy narrative aside, I made it to the pre-concert warmup and managed to work with a fine group of singers through Duruflé’sUbi caritas, a motet that would become an aural signifier of myconversion and eventual diagnosis, some three and a half weeks later. I did notrealize at that time that I would soon become part of a three-decade longstory; that I would shortly be joined by blood, as it were, to a kind ofeschatological community of those living and those departed. I did not realizethen that I would soon, like Lazarus, witness a kind of ongoing resurrectionwithin myself. As a member of a Eucharistic community, I knew long before mydiagnosis the power often signified by blood; yet now it would come to signifysomething more, something quite multivalent.

I had never personally lost anyone to HIV/AIDS, for I wouldonly become conscious of that world long after the trials and tribulations ofthe 1980s and 1990s when I began to identify my queer sexuality as a gay man inthe early 2000s. I did, however, have a role model: Lu, my roommate during mylast two years of undergraduate study in Seattle, Washington. Lu was a reminderof the strength that comes through facing tribulation head-on. He was the firstperson I called after learning of my diagnosis, even before I called my immediatefamily members or informed my now-long-term partner oftwo years. Over the phone, Lu simply said, “welcome, brother.” It was almost abaptismal greeting. Lu had been living with the virus since the mid-90s, andcontinues to live with a vibrancy few can hope to imitate. He broke the wallthat separated me from HIV-positive individuals; I could put a face to thecondition, and a courageous one, at that; a face that I loved and continue tolove. He had lived through the riskiness of early treatments, when medicationshad to be administered every four hours in doses I cannot possibly fathom.Knowledge of those times haunts me nightly as I administer my once-daily doseof Atripla.

During the week after my diagnosis, a week for which fewdetails survive the haze, I attended a daily said Eucharist at my thenhome-church, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, where I had recentlystarted living above the diocesan house. It was at that service that the canonfor liturgy and arts gave a sermon concerning matters of epiphany season. Thedetails of his sermon escape me now, almost two years later, but they resonatedwith my struggle to face the virus head-on. I recall thanking the canon as Ileft the service, for I was quite candid with him and revealed the reasons forhis sermon’s resonance within me. What he said to me thereafter has remainedwith me since: he took my hands, smiled, and said, “We live now, forthis is when God comes to us.

”

And so, his words, coupled with Duruflé’ssetting of the Maundy Thursday hymn, Ubi caritas, changed my renderingof the circumstances. Indeed, I have come to learn through my twenty-threemonths with the virus that it is within our woundedness that God comesto us—that we may, in some way, see the face of the wounded yet eternallyrisen Christ. Through our own wounded resurrection, as once did Christresurrect our brother-in-woundedness, Lazarus, we can make manifest the MaundyThursday trope: Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est (Where charity andlove are, God himself is there). Even though the trials of the 80s and 90s arebehind us, the work has, in many ways, just begun; may God grant that we neversuccumb to the atrophy of apathy.

Amen.   

S.R. Glenn is a candidate for the Master of Theological Studies at the Boston University School of Theology and seminarian for the Boston University Episcopal Chaplaincy. 

---

[1] MaundyThursday Hymn at the washing of feet.

[2] From the InParadisum of the Requiem Mass.

[3] HenryVaughan, Midnight.

God Bless Us, Every One!

After years of work by Integrity USA and its allies, The Episcopal Church approved a Rite for the Blessing of a Same-Sex Relationship at the 2012 General Convention. The Rite is now available in a final format - click here for just the rite, or click here to buy a full book with the Rite and the other liturgical resources.

The Church has authorized the use of this service - depending on the assent of each diocesan bishop - beginning Advent I (December 2) of 2012. Does your diocese have policies allowing (or not allowing) this rite, or same-sex marriage? Please email us the information so that we can create a record of what’s happening across the country.

Is your parish considering whether to have these blessings in your church? One resource you might find helpful is from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Click here to read their story, watch a video, and find links to additional resources.

The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music developed a tremendous resource which is not yet published but is still available online in the Blue Book on the 2012 General Convention website. It includes a section on canon law, a pastoral resource section, particularly the declaration of intention and the model congregational guidelines.

In addition, Gary Hall, Dean of the National Cathedral and  Ruth Meyers  of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific edited a study guide entitled Christian Holiness and Human Sexuality, which doesn’t directly address these particular resources but is intended to help Episcopalians reflect on the subject more broadly.

 If you, your clergy or bishop want to go even deeper, CDSP is hosting a week-long discussion of the blessing and its implementation as part of its 2013 Epiphany West program,  January 21- 25.

Are you and your sweetheart getting blessed? Send us a photo and tell us your experience. Integrity will be participating in providing feedback for consideration by the next General Convention.

Searching for Hope on World AIDS Day

by Bruce Garner

World AIDS Day is December 1, this coming Saturday.  (The secular world did not consult the faith community when it chose a date to declare as World AIDS Day, so the observance is almost always in competition for either the first or second Sunday in Advent.)

I am painfully reminded of another Saturday in November, the Saturday after Thanksgiving in 1987.  It was the 28th, which falls on Wednesday this year....today.  I received a phone call letting me know that my dearest, closest and best friend had died from AIDS on Saturday, November 28, 1987.  I knew Alan's death was coming.  I had seen him the previous weekend, evening sitting by his hospital bedside the entire night after I arrived in Ft. Lauderdale where he lived.  Most of the night I prayed that God would take him home... would give him peace... would free him from the pain and confusion the virus was wreaking on him.  It would be yet another week after I returned home before my prayer would be answered.  

Alan and I were like brothers born from different mothers.  We spent vacations together and developed a bond so strong that whenever one called the other, we could tell within minutes if all was okay with the other.  His death was devastating... and in ways I didn't even realize for months.   My grief took time... and I didn't realize how much time I actually needed. Some of the anger still lingers... always will.

Those were the times during this epidemic that we never had a chance to grieve our losses. Those were the times of multiple funerals a week.  Those were the times when we wondered who would be next.  Those were the times when death was a constant companion.   I stopped counting the number of friends I had lost when the total reached 200.  It was, in more ways than we realized, like being in a war. We were in a war.  We were fighting a virus about which we knew little except that it seemed to have almost a hundred percent mortality rate.  And those were the times when politicians rarely uttered the word AIDS except in some derogatory context.  Those sick and dying were expendable... after all they were people of color, fags, intravenous drug users, sex workers and immigrants from an island where a nation called Haiti was located.  The only group impacted that generated any degree of empathy were those who relied on blood products to live... mostly hemophiliacs.  Even then there was the disdain shown to those with chronic health problems.

Those were the times when airlines dumped people with AIDS on the tarmac or sidewalk rather than take them as passengers.  Those were the times when a landlord could kick you out of your house or apartment just because you had AIDS.  Those were the times when you could be fired from a job... especially in public contact positions... for having AIDS. (Some people still can't comprehend that unless you are having a sexual relationship or swapping needles with your wait person, you will not get AIDS from them... imagine how it was then.)  Those were the times when funeral homes would not handle the body, much less the funeral of someone who had died from AIDS.

So what has changed since those first AIDS cases were reported in June 1981?   That depends on your perspective, I suppose.

There are medications available... very expensive medications.  Yet their efficacy is highly dependent on a certain level of literacy and ability to comprehend the regimen required for them to fight the virus.  If you read at a second grade level, the chances are good that you have no clue what you should be doing with your meds and why, much less the consequences of not following the regimen you have been given.  And if you don't have significant resources or can qualify for compassionate care resources for the medications or don't have access to insurance or Medicaid or Medicare, and on and on and on... there may as well not be any medications.

There have been great advances in the treatment of what we now call HIV.   See above paragraph before proceeding.  

It is fairly rare to hear of someone being evicted for having HIV... rather they get evicted because trying to treat the condition has exhausted their resources and they become dependent on public assistance for their income.   We do have laws prohibiting most forms of discrimination based on having HIV... but as always there are those who get around the law by careful use of language.

We do have more effective prevention education programs... provided you live in a state that allows something other than abstinence only education.  Yet even with improved prevention education, some entire communities have failed to benefit from it.  You have to acknowledge the practice of the behaviors that transmit HIV before you can teach how to avoid infection.  Dishonesty can be deadly... regardless of the reason.  The phrase from the early years "Silence equals Death" takes on a different meaning when the topic itself cannot even be discussed.  And yes I am speaking the truth to a pseudo power that still claims that some populations cannot be open about who they are and what they do.  The consequences are still death.  Tell the truth and shame the devil!

Infection rates have slowed in many areas of our own country, not in others.  The geographic area that makes up Province IV of The Episcopal Church continues to have rising infections rates, never having had a time when they decreased.  It is the cradle of HIV infection these days.   Circumstances come together to provide the perfect storm for ongoing HIV infection: poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, racism, sexism, homophobia, apathy... need I go on with the list?  We are rapidly approaching a situation eerily similar to the mid-1980's again.  This time the fastest growing group of infected are young, gay males of color (even though some claim such a group does not exist).  Sadly however, as the problem continues to grow, the resources that were pulled together in the early days of the epidemic are not there... they have been exhausted... private resources, government resources.

Notice that I have confined my comments to the situation in The United States?   Contrary to popular myth, HIV/AIDS has NOT moved overseas.   It still lives and thrives among us.  Yet there has been a substantial change in how we see or do not see those infected.  Most are people of color.  How many of our congregations have significant numbers of people of color in them.  There are exceptions....but the norm is still pretty white.   What we no longer see, we no longer think exists... at least that's the way it seems to be for most of us... regardless of the subject.  The Episcopal Church has even bought into that myth.   Few dioceses have commissions on AIDS anymore or any ministry to those with HIV.  The various forms of the Commission/Committee on AIDS of the church, of Executive Council, of whatever have ceased to exist.  We don't fund what we do not see.  Although they have stated reasons they consider legitimate, even Episcopal Relief and Development does not address HIV/AIDS on the domestic front... only overseas.  We do not see those who do not have a face that we find familiar.

Clearly I do not find much reason to find real hope in this continuing health problem that impacts every one of us.  And obviously, my comments contain a touch of negativity if not bitterness.  I will not deny either nor will I shrink from that stance.  I see it from a perspective much different than most.  Aside from losing so many friends, I have also served on non-profit board after non-profit board for organizations struggling to address an issue that so many do not see a need to address.  I've watched as public funding gets cut for medications, treatment and prevention education.  I've served on state wide bodies whose mission was to create a comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS, only to have good ideas torpedoed by politics.  So no, I do not find much real hope.  

I made a panel for the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt for my friend Alan.  A picture of it hangs in my home.  I once made the comment in a presentation that "when" a panel was made for me... not "if" a panel was made for me.  I don't know if it was the proverbial Freudian slip or not.   I do know that I have now lived with HIV for over 30 years.  By the grace of God, prayer, good medications and good medical treatment and a streak of stubbornness I plan to fulfill my doctor's prediction that I would die from old age and not from AIDS.  

Many portions of the AIDS Quilt will be on display around the country on December 1.  Will that move us to action?  Will it make us angry instead of just sad?  Or will we just make a note that we have seen it and allow it to go back to the warehouse where it lives until this time next year... perhaps hoping someone might do something?   The Quilt really isn't like the Christmas decorations we trot out once a year... the problem exists all year long every year.   But then again, how many of us only think about the gift of the Incarnation other than once a year?

December 1 is World AIDS Day.  What will we individually do on that day?   Was it Mother Jones who said "pray for the dead but fight like hell for the living?"  I don’t know, but it sounds like a good plan to me.  But then I am reminded of a carpenter from Nazareth who told those who were burdened and heavy laden to come to Him and He would give them rest.  He also called upon each of us to do as the Samaritan did upon finding a man beaten and bloody on the roadside:  Love your neighbor as you love yourself.  What.....will.....YOU....do????

 

Bruce Garner
Provincial Coordinator for Province IV, Integrity USA
Former Board Member and Chair of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition
Former Member of the Standing Commission on AIDS (now defunct)
Former Member of the Executive Council Committee on HIV/AIDS (now defunct)

Giving Thanks & Remembering the Lost

Stephanie Battagliano

On Sunday, November 18th, the Church of Redeemer, an Integrity Proud Parish Partner in Morristown, N.J. (Diocese of Newark) observed the Transgender Day of Remembrance at its 10:30 Eucharist service.  Stephanie Battagliano, a trans activist and longtime member of the congregation, gave a powerful sermon sharing her own journey from the "purgatory" of secretly living in gender conflict, through transition and coming out to her family and friends, and realization of a calling to speak out on behalf of other trans persons.  Stephanie transitioned while remaining at her corporate job, and being a parent to her son Andrew, who was a preteen at the time. Andrew gave his own witness at Redeemer several years ago, and parishioners still talk about it. Today Stephanie is on the board of the LGBT Center in New York as well as the Transgender Legal Defense Fund, and -- along with her partner Mari — works with GLAAD on transition issues in the workplace.

Stephanie drew strength from her faith and expressed gratitude for how much the community at Redeemer helped her not just survive, but thrive, during her transformation into the person she regards as her "true self."  She contrasted this with the isolation, poverty and violence that is reality for many trans people around the world, and charged the assembly to do everything in its power to reach out to the trans community and others that society regards as "different" to offer the sense of hope and worth that made such a difference in her life. 

The service continued with the reading of the names of the documented deaths of trans people that had occurred since last year's observance, along with the often grisly details of their deaths.  As each name was read, a member of the congregation extinguished a candle on the altar.  A startling number of the cases occurred in Brazil, which is described as the LGBT murder capital of the world, but some of the locations were distressingly familiar: Miami, Baltimore, Chicago.

Integrity continues to raise awareness of the need for trans inclusion in our churches.  The film Voices of Witness: Out of the Box, which we distributed to all the bishops and deputies before this summer's General Convention, features transgender clergy telling their own stories. It is available on YouTube and DVD, and we commend its use for parish forums and other settings for education and discussion.  Stephanie and other speakers are available to speak with congregations and groups; please contact us for details.

 

Stephanie Battagliano at Transgender Day of Remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance 2012

by Vivian Taylor, Boston Massachusetts

Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. TDoR exists to remember those who are murdered for the simple reality of being trans. Today isn't a day where we explain being trans, or defend ourselves for being trans, or any of that. Today is simply the day to remember those who have suffered for no reason other than that the powers of the world hate us and would rather we not exist.

I look forward to the day when we won't need things like this; but until we do, I offer the following meditation for personal or corporate use at Compline.  Click here to see the names and circumstances of the murders of trans people in 2012.  You may want to read these names out loud as you remember them.

Dear Lord, tonight we come to you in memory of Rita Hester and all those who have died and have suffered on account of their being transgender or gender nonconforming.

Dear Lord, remember them.

Dear Lord, give these souls the peace that they were denied in life.

Dear Lord, remember them.

Dear Lord, help us to remember and work for all people who are seen as less than in this hard world.

Dear Lord, remember us.

Dear Lord, you who made, know, and love all of human diversity — set us free from the systems of the world, and shield us from all scorn and violence that those systems expose us to.

Dear Lord, remember us.

Dear Lord, help us to discern the path you have cut for us into the possible.

Dear Lord, remember us.

Dear Lord, give us strength to speak truly, give us courage to love wildly, and give us faith to live oddly.

Amen.

Trailblazing Bishop Retires, Shares Blessings with Nation

by the Rev. Caroline J.A. Hall, president of Integrity USA

We will always need trailblazers – people who go out first and do something that has never been done before, and then live with the scars to prove it. Bishop Gene Robinson has been a trailblazer for the LGBTQ community – the one who was willing and who was chosen by the Church and the Holy Spirit to go out ahead and be the first openly gay bishop. Our lives have been changed by his ministry and leadership.

Bishop Robinson with
parishioner Kevin Therrien

When Bishop Gene was elected and confirmed in 2003, it brought to an ugly head the deep differences that were growing in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. It was not his becoming bishop that created rifts and even schisms – his charism was to bring to the light of day the crisis that was already well underway. His willingness to talk to the media, and to keep talking, brought the country and the Communion a new understanding that people of faith can be gay and that God welcomes us. Along the way Bishop Gene suffered isolation, ostracism and death threats.

Now he is about to retire as Bishop of New Hampshire after 26 years working in the leadership of the diocese.  In February he will become a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, in Washington, DC – a think tank founded in 2003 by former Clinton chief-of-staff John Podesta.  Bishop Gene’s new role will be “to bring a moral, religious voice to the issues that face us as a nation:  immigration reform, healthcare reform, poverty in America and the world, the growing divide between rich and poor, as well as ongoing efforts to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the life of the nation and in the communities of the church, synagogue and mosque.” Bishop Gene says, “It will be my challenge and privilege to try to provide that moral voice.” You can read his message to his diocese here.

Integrity USA is deeply grateful for the leadership that Bishop Gene has provided in our work for full inclusion and for his willingness to embody that inclusion even at great personal cost. If you would like to make a donation in honor of Bishop Gene, the Diocese of New Hampshire is setting up an endowment fund to continue work in the chaplaincy program at The New Hampshire Prison for Women in which Bishop Robinson did ministry while Bishop of New Hampshire. You can contribute here.

Thank you, Bishop Gene, for all you have given us. We look forward to seeing the blessings that come from your new ministry.

British-born Caroline "Caro" J. Addington Hall serves as President of Integrity USA and is Priest in Charge of St. Benedict's, Los Osos, California. Her book A Thorn in the Flesh: How Gay Sexuality is Changing the Episcopal Church will be published in the late Spring of 2013.

Integrity USA Cautiously Hopeful about new Archbishop of Canterbury

Integrity welcomes the announcement today of the next Archbishop of Canterbury: Bishop Justin Welby, currently Bishop of Durham. It is a difficult position – to be the designated “instrument of unity” for a Communion which is increasingly diverse and attempts to draw together peoples and countries with competing needs. Bishop Welby comes well equipped to take on the challenge, having worked in Africa and being familiar with the Church in several different countries.

Welby comes from the evangelical wing of the relatively conservative Church of England, and is said to oppose gay marriage. Caroline Hall, President of Integrity USA, said, “Our prayers will be with Bishop Welby as he takes on this enormous challenge. I hope that he will be able to build on the experience of his predecessor, Archbishop Williams and manage not to cave to the tactics of bullies. The majority of Anglicans want to work together to further the reign of God, and it will be Bishop Welby’s task to provide leadership for this cooperation. In the reign of God there is neither male nor female, black nor white, gay nor straight. I hope that he can help us to make this vision of inclusivity a reality throughout the Anglican Communion.”

When visiting the Episcopal House of Bishops earlier this year, Bishop Welby said, “I pray and hope that we live with confidence and hope, and grow in the ability to live in complexity. That we are able to have diversity without enmity. God has made the churches full of diversity, that is the miracle of unity, praise God for diversity, when lived in love and integrity.” Integrity's hope is that the Bishop will be able so to do.