Every day, the straight heterosexist hegemony manages to find new ways to assert its dominance over all who do not share its presumptions.
Today, hangers on the back of an hotel room door.
Every day something different.
Seems to me “well-meaning but homophobic” in these days and times implies vincible ignorance and is no longer useful as an excuse for homophobic language. The leaders of the C of E seem paralyzed, unable to articulate policies to move forward on equality for LGTB persons that are other than laughable. Think “deer in the headlights”.
I suppose @RevArun might say that women are welcome for the same reason, eh?
Exactly what I thought.
I’ve removed a previous comment. I’d prefer to retain the focus on the institutional elements of this rather than speculating about an individual.
As society changes many people are not sure of the new, and therefore condemn it, without thought. I am safe, with the Devil l know. It’s a way of life, not dealing with changes. If we think about how much has changed; homosexuality was illegal until 1969 in England; Scotland caught up in 1983; women have a right to equal pay; the only job that is still excluded from them is working down a mine:
There are men who are prepared to wait to see a male doctor, especially if it is the genitals.
Racism is not tolerated by most, but it is still used by people who want a reaction. There was, when the world and I were young, a shoe polish, called nigger brown. This wasn’t considered at the time as being wrong.
I take your point, and I don’t disagree. If we look at another person and only see the gay part as ‘broken’, then that’s homophobic, no matter how well intentioned. Plus I always find something disturbingly patronising when people say ‘We’re all broken’, as if the speaker doesn’t quite believe it of him/herself, while seeing it very clearly in the other.
However, there’s another way of looking at it. The very fact that we are human means that we are broken. If being gay is part of that humanity, then it’s part also of that brokenness. It’s all part of the messy mixture that we struggle with, and build our rickety lives with, but for which we also should praise and thank God.
‘Thinking Anglicans’ has a post up about Vicky Beeching’s coming out but does not link to the discussion here. I asked why but they did not reply let alone publish my question.
I found myself at Euston yesterday, with a spare hour to kill, so I popped into the British Library, like you do, to have a look at the Codex Sinaiticus. A couple of months ago there was the following exchange at St Mary’s LGBT group, which had made me want to go and gaze in…
Many blessings upon the Rev Cedric Blakey, the Cathedral’s Vice Provost whom I still think of as my new colleague, even though he has been here since the start of December. It is Cedric’s anniversary of priesting today, St Peter’s Day. Many congratuations to him on the anniversary. He was preaching about it on Sunday…
Well, the Cathedral musicians certainly ended the summer term with a bang and not a whimper this time. Just when you didn’t think it could get more outrageously better, you find yourself in the middle of the most extraordinary Orchestral Evensong. 86 singers and a 50+ orchestra somehow managed to squeeze themselves into the crossing…
Just before the last fluttering rose petal hits the floor and we move on to new glories, make sure you don’t miss Beth’s comments about Corpus Christi and indeed her experience of St Mary’s both in this festival time and through the year. You’ll find what she has to say over on a post called…
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