• What institutional homophobia looks like

  19/04/2017

  Here’s a quick example to illustrate what institutional homophobia looks like.

  Yesterday the report of the Theological Forum of the Church of Scotland to the General Assembly was published and it deals with a number of issues of interest to LGBT people. (It is well worth a read).

  Amongst the “deliverances” ie proposals to go to the General Assembly from that Forum is this very clear call for an apology to LGBT people.

  The General Assembly:

  Invite the Church to take stock of its history of discrimination at different levels and in different ways against gay people and to apologise individually and corporately and seek to do better.

  What could be clearer? Should the General Assembly apologise for discrimination against gay people it would be a huge and significant moment and very much to be welcomed.

  However, listen to what the Principal Clerk to the General Assembly, the Very Rev John Chalmers of the Church of Scotland said on TV last night about the proposal:

  “What the General Assembly is being asked to do this year  is acknowledge and apologise for some of the harsh things that have been said on both sides of this debate over the last 20 to 30 years and I think the General Assembly will readily want to do that.”

  This is very clearly not what the General Assembly is being asked to do.

  This is a good example of institutional homophobia. In describing a call to apologise to gay people, gay people and their supporters are represented as being people making statements for 20 or 30 years which need to be apologised for.

  I don’t believe that John Chalmers is a homophobe. Just the opposite. I’m quite sure that he is charming to gay people and I suspect he wants the church to accept gay people. However, put in a public position to explain a proposal to apologise for discrimination he gets it very wrong.

  I have no doubt that there are huge institutional pressures on him over this issue and that is why he speaks as he does.

  However, this looks to me like a very clear example of what institutional homophobia looks like. Institutional homophobia seems to come most often from people who are personally supportive of those of us who are gay.

  Ironically, this is the kind of thing that needs to be apologised for.

  We have it in our church too.

  I find that people don’t like me pointing it out.

Previous Posts

• Special Service for Candlemas

  01/02/2013

  4.30 pm on 2 February 2013 – Special service for Candlemas with glorious music from the Royal School of Church Music Scottish Voices

• Coming Out, Coming In, Coming Home

  01/02/2013

  There’s a new online magazine launched today. It is called Mosaic Scotland, it looks gorgeous and it has an article from me in the first issue. It is classy, sassy and has articles by lots of people I know. This is what I wrote for it: There are not that many months that go by…

• The Cumbrae Revels

  31/01/2013

  Here’s some pics from last Saturday. I was on the island of Greater Cumbrae at the Cathedral of the Isles to see its two new canons installed. They are the Dean of that diocese – the Very Rev Andrew Swift and the Provost of St John’s Cathedral, Oban the Very Rev Nicola McNelly. Here they…

• Sunday’s Sermon

  29/01/2013

  Many people were kind enough to say encouraging things on Sunday after I preached this. Sadly I’ve got some problems with the video and don’t know whether I can make that appear later. In the mean time, here’s the text: And the eyes of everyone were upon him. In the name of God, Creator, Saviour…