United Methodist Church to Split Over Gay Marriage

Like the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America before it, the United Methodist Church ("UMC") is headed towards a split over gay marriage and acceptance of LGBT people based on modern medical and mental health knowledge on human sexuality.  As with the other two denominations, the main opposition to gays has come from UMC churches in Africa and other ignorant and uneducated parts of the world.   To me, the "conservative" - meaning bigoted and hate-filled - African churches and their white counterparts in the USA embody the poisonous aspects of religion where a need exists to condemn others so that adherents can feel superior and pat themselves on the back for their false piety.  As the split goes forward. one can hope (i) the liberal churches cease providing any funding to the "conservative" churches, and (ii) here in the USA the exodus of the younger generations from the "conservative" churches accelerates. Here are highlights from the Washington Post on the coming split:

The United Methodist Church is expected to split into two denominations in an attempt to end a years-long, contentious fight over same-sex marriage, church leaders announced Friday. The historic schism would divide the nation’s third-largest religious denomination.

Leaders of the church said they had agreed to spin off a “traditionalist Methodist” denomination, which would continue to oppose same-sex marriage and to refuse ordination to LGBT clergy, while allowing the remaining portion of the United Methodist Church to permit same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy for the first time in its history.

The plan would need to be approved in May at the denomination’s worldwide conference.

“I’ve always been committed to unity. But over time, it could not be unity at someone’s expense,” said Bishop Kenneth Carter, president of the church’s Council of Bishops and one of the formulators of the new plan.

Jan Lawrence, executive director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, a pro-LGBT group within the church, said the separation plan “gives the hope that we can move toward a church that allows healing to begin.”

Friday’s announcement came as new sanctions were set to go into effect in the church, which would have made punishments for United Methodist Church pastors who perform same-sex weddings much more severe: one year’s suspension without pay for the first wedding and removal from the clergy for any wedding after that.

Instead, leaders from liberal and conservative wings signed an agreement saying they will postpone those sanctions and instead vote to split at the worldwide church’s May general conference.

Any local church that wants to join the new conservative denomination would have to conduct a vote within a specified time frame, the announcement said. A church would not need to vote to remain United Methodist. Churches that vote to leave could take certain assets with them, including their local church buildings in some cases.

After the separation, the agreement said, the remaining United Methodist Church would hold another conference with the purpose of removing the church’s bans on same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy. Some advocates for LGBT inclusion worried that simply removing prohibitions would not be enough.

“There are efforts in the protocol to stop condemnation of LGBTQ people, which of course is good. There are no signs pointing toward a church that affirms us and repents of the significant harm that has been done to LGBT people for decades because of its complicity in spiritual violence against us,” said the Rev. M Barclay, who was ordained in 2017 as the United Methodist Church’s first transgender deacon.

[T]he larger divide is between American Methodists and foreign members of the United Methodist Church, especially churches in Africa. In a church that conducts all of its major decisions in churchwide votes, the much more conservative-leaning voters from Africa competed with American delegates who often fervently pushed for a change on same-sex marriage.

At a conference last year in which church leaders had declared they would solve this issue, many American delegates favored a plan that would have allowed local churches to make their own decisions on whether to perform same-sex marriages and ordain gay clergy. Some supported a plan to simply allow same-sex marriages worldwide. They were stunned when a third option passed, instead — one dubbed the “Traditional Plan,” which ushered in not only a continued ban on LGBT weddings and clergy but also harsher penalties for those who disobey church doctrine.

For some LBGT Methodists, Friday’s news arrived too late. Williams, who worked on earlier negotiations, is pursuing ordination in the United Church of Christ instead of the United Methodist Church.

New Study: Only Two Thirds of Gen Z Is Straight

The findings of a new study ought to have Christofascists and their Republican political whores terrified.  Even as these extremists press their anti-LGBT agenda, the study finds that younger generations are increasingly saying that they are not exclusively heterosexual.  In the case of Generation Z - those born after 1995, a full one-third say that they are not exclusively heterosexual. It goes without saying that as this generation ages and votes more consistently, the news will not be good for the GOP which will also be facing growing numbers of non-white voters. Thanks to the Trump/Pence regime, the GOP is becoming irrevocable linked with racism and homophobia.  A piece in The Advocate.  Here are excerpts:

The youngest generation is proving to be the most tolerant and the most fluid, as same-sex couples and numerous sexual identities are given a platform in newer media and information is becoming increasingly accessible. 

Only 66 percent of young people today identify as exclusively heterosexual - which is the lowest of any generation up until this point,  according to a study from Ipsos Mori.

Baby boomers prove to have the highest percentage, with 88 percent identifying as solely heterosexual, whereas that number drops to 85 percent with Gen X, and 71 percent among millennials, the study says.

"In particular, this generation of young has grown up at a time when gender as a simple binary and fixed identity has been questioned much more widely – this is new, and will affect wider views of gender, sexuality and much broader aspects of identity," Hannah Shrimpton, one of the authors of the report, told the Daily Telegraph.

Shrimpton also said that there is "greater exposure to communications on the variety of lifestyles available to young people today through social technology.”

The study has labeled Gen Z “the liberal generation” and finds that 10 percent of the generation regards prejudice toward the LGBT community as one of the most pressing issues in the world today, as compared to only 2 percent of Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers who believe the same.

Other studies published by Ipsos Mori suggest that over 70 percent of Gen Z is comfortable with homosexual relationships, as compared to the 43 percent of Baby Boomers.

Figures from other organizations confirm Ipsos Mori’s suggestion that younger generations are more likely to either identify as LGBT or be accepting of the LGBT community, and that the percentage of the younger generation is more likely to do either continues to rise over time. 

The Ipsos Mori study also reports that young people are more likely to have a “less binary view of sexuality,” which suggests that younger generations do not feel as strong a pressure to use the label “gay” or “straight” but are comfortable with viewing sexuality as a sliding scale that they can fall somewhere in the middle of.

With popular figures such as Tessa Thompson, who came out as bi at the end of June, and Janelle Monae, who came out as pansexual earlier this year, young people have more popular figures in the media to look up who fall somewhere in between binaries when it comes to sexuality.

The GOP despite the Trump/Pence regime continues its slow moving suicide by alienating the growing and up and coming generations.  Its death cannot come soon enough.

The History of "LGBT Hampton Roads"

June is Pride month and appropriately a friend, Prof. Charles Ford,  has released a book entitled "LGBT Hampton Roads"  that looks at the history of the LGBT community in Hampton Roads over the course of the nation's history, from the colonial period forward. Too often some try to depict the LGBT community as a relatively new phenomenon while the reality is that we have been around throughout all of history - as my June, 2016 VEER column will explore - and LGBT acceptance was largely the norm until the 12th century in Europe and until far more recently in other parts of the world.  The Daily Press looks at  Charles' new book which will be for sale at HR Pride Fest on June 18, 2016, in Norfolk's Town Point Park.  Here are review highlights:

While members of the Hampton Roads' gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community have been active in the region and state at large in recent years, represented in the arts, business and legal arenas, a Norfolk couple at the forefront of the battle to legalize same sex marriage in Virginia played a significant role in the life of the region for many years before that, Charles H. Ford and Jeffrey L. Littlejohn assert in their book "LGBT Hampton Roads," released earlier this spring.

The book by Ford, a professor and coordinator of history at Norfolk State University, and Littlejohn, an associate history professor at Sam Houston State University in Texas who worked at Norfolk State from 2001-2005, provides a historical and pictorial overview of the subject.

The book spans from the colonial era and the early days of the U.S., exploring gender identity in those years, all the way to the social, political and other aspects of LGBT culture over the last 50 or so years — the primary focus of the book. The two have co-authored several other books on topics in 20th-century Virginia history as well.

"Hampton Roads was not a backwater. It was not behind the times in the 1960s and 1970s," said Ford, who came out as openly gay in the 1990s. "It was the powerhouse in Virginia."

The region's mobile, transient population, especially when including sailors into the mix, gave the area a reputation for being one of vice, and in the 1890s, Norfolk was known as "the wickedest city in America," according to Ford and Littlejohn. It was there that the LGBT communities began to emerge and develop into the 20th century.

Those who would be identified as LGBT today also helped shape the cultural identity of the area, Ford said.

Anna Wood, a co-founder of a school for well-to-do girls, also helped start Norfolk's Little Theatre, Norfolk Symphony and the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences, while Walter P. Chrysler Jr. helped transform the art museum that bears his name.

Gay people with local ties also gained international attention, Ford and Littlejohn said.
Leonard Matlovich, a Vietnam War veteran from Georgia stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, landed on the Sept. 8, 1975, issue of Time magazine after publicly identifying as gay before being caught in a sexual act or being accused of being gay by someone else.

Part of the challenge came from trying to document the life of a community whose members for a long time didn't want to be out in the open for fear of criminal, social and other repercussions, said Ford.

"It was hard," Ford said. "First people don't want their pictures out there, at a time when people didn't take pictures. Now, people document everything in their life."

More recently, groups like Hampton Roads Business Outreach, which represents LGBT business owners and organizations, and events like Hampton Roads PrideFest, have become more prominent in the public eye.

Changes in state and federal laws in the last decade or so have also made a difference in how LGBT people are perceived in the community at large, Ford said

State sodomy laws were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2003, and the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy ended in 2011.

While progress has been made for LGBT people in the U.S., there is still more that needs to happen according to Ford. Right now, activists are trying to ensure protections for LGBT people in workplaces all over the U.S., and debates about the rights of transgender people are taking place on a daily basis.  "We still have a long way to go," Ford said.

How Changeable Is Gender?

I've often noted that being gay and coming to terms with one's sexual orientation is not easy, especially for those of my generation or older who spent their teen years in an era where homosexuality was literally treated as a form of mental illness.  Hence, my years in therapy (the first years were focused on overcoming the anti-gay poison I was exposed in the Catholic Church) and two serious suicide attempts.   That said, what we gays experience is mild compared to the treatment experienced by those who are transgender.  I admittedly cannot wrap my head around what that experience must be like, but I do know that what these individuals feel is real.  An op-ed in the New York Times looks at gender identity. Some of what the author has to say may well outrage the transgender community.  Other aspects of the piece my be applauded.  Like it or hate it, the article does underscore something: (i) as with gays and lesbians, the brains of those who are transgender individuals differ from those of their heterosexuals counterparts, and (ii) the differences happen before we are born.  Here are a few column highlights:

We’re learning to be more accepting of transgender individuals. And we’re learning more about gender identity, too.

[R]ecent neuroscience research suggests that gender identity may exist on a spectrum and that gender dysphoria fits well within the range of human biological variation. For example, Georg S. Kranz at the Medical University of Vienna and colleagues elsewhere reported in a 2014 study in The Journal of Neuroscience that individuals who identified as transsexuals — those who wanted sex reassignment — had structural differences in their brains that were between their desired gender and their genetic sex.

He used a high-resolution technique called diffusion tensor imaging, a special type of M.R.I., to examine the white matter microstructure of subjects’ brains.

What Dr. Kranz found was intriguing: In several brain regions, people born female with a female gender identity had the highest level of something called mean diffusivity, followed by female-to-male transsexuals. Next came male-to-female transsexuals, and then the males with a male gender identity, who had the lowest levels.

In other words, it seems that Dr. Kranz may have found a neural signature of the transgender experience: a mismatch between one’s gender identity and physical sex. Transgender people have a brain that is structurally different than the brain of a nontransgender male or female — someplace in between men and women.

It turns out that the sexual differentiation of the brain happens during the second half of pregnancy, later than sexual differentiation of the genitals and body, which begins during the first two months of pregnancy. And since these two processes can be influenced independently of each other, it may be possible to have a mismatch between gender-specific brain development and that of the body.

Is it really so surprising that gender identity might, like sexual orientation, be on a spectrum? After all, one can be exclusively straight or exclusively gay — or anything in between. But variability in a behavior shouldn’t be confused with its malleability. There is little evidence, for example, that you really can change your sexual orientation. Sure, you can change your sexual behavior, but your inner sexual fantasies endure.

The critical question is not whether there is a range of gender identity — it seems clear that there is. Rather, it is to what extent and in which populations gender identity is malleable, and to what extent various strategies to change one’s body and behavior to match a preferred gender will give people the psychological satisfaction they seek.

Readers may or may not agree with some of the other views of the author, but one thing is clear.  Being transgender is real and not some made up experience.  No one chooses to be gay and no one chooses to be transgender.   We are born this way and we deserve to be respected and treated equally.  Not understanding someone's experiences and/or differences does not make the mistreatment of others acceptable.  Being gay, being transgender, being black, or being some other racial minority is not something that any of us got to choose.  We need to learn to allow everyone to live their life and respect differences.  Those most opposed to this are, sadly, typically are the ignorance and hate embracing Christofascists.  When the Christofascists seek to depict the those who are transgender as would be sexual predators seeking to prey on women and girls, it underscores what horrible people they truly are. It is they who need to be the societal outcasts.

OPENING HEARTS AND MINDS - DON'T MISS THE REEL IT OUT QUEER FILM FESTIVAL

The following piece on the upcoming "Reel It Out Queer Film Fest" is a republication of my latest column in VEER Magazine (I have been writing a monthly column for almost three years).  The films described are important and readers, gay and straight, in the Hampton Roads area need to try to see some of these films.  The proceeds go to a worthy cause:   

Recent news stories about the tragic suicide of Leelah Alcorn, a 17 year old transgender teen in Ohio and the award nominated movie, The Imitation Game, which looks at the work of  Alan Turing and the breaking of the Nazi's secret Enigma Code have brought to focus some of the hardships and discrimination faced by LGBT people, both in the past in the case of Turing and in the present day in the case of Alcorn.  Turing, perhaps the most notable unsung hero of World War II who some say helped shorten World War II by two years and saved 14 million lives, was driven to after a conviction for "gross indecency" - i.e., sexual relations with another man - and forced hormonal castration.  Alcorn likewise succumbed to suicide after experiencing parental rejection and, worse yet, forced sessions with "Christian therapists" if one believes her suicide note.

While familiarity can sometimes breed contempt, more frequently it can dispel stereotypes and lead to better understanding.  Lack of compassion and understanding, and a lack of familiarity with those who are different, often fuel harsh and brutal treatment towards members of the LGBT community.  Indeed, even when I “came out of the closet” in mid-life, I initially felt some uneasiness and discomfort around other gays. Perhaps some of that unease came from the internalized homophobia I developed during my Catholic upbringing.  But much of it came from the fact that I knew almost no one gay and absolutely no one transgendered.   

In the years since I “came out,” I’ve learned that the LGBT community, like any other group in society, has a large spectrum of personality types and certainly a huge diversity in looks and body types, ranging from big burly “bears” to the young, sometimes effeminate “twinks.” But overall, we are a community of pretty much ordinary people doing our best to get through life and find our share of the “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” referenced in the Declaration of Independence.  The end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (“DADT”) and the spread of same sex marriage have helped the larger society to see us as we really are: regular ordinary people who may be your neighbors or even family members.  But more familiarity and acceptance is still needed.

In recognition of this reality, the LGBT Center of Hampton Roads, a program of ACCESS AIDS Care, is sponsoring the third annual Reel It OUT Queer Film Festival of Hampton Roads from February 3, 2015 through February 7, 2015.   The goal of the film festival is simple: To introduce and educate Hampton Roads locals on the triumphs accomplished and hardships endured by the larger LGBT community through the film and media.  To accomplish this goal, the film festival is offering a mix of films.  Here’s a sampling of the selections (together with my reflections) which are showing at locations across Hampton Roads.

Southern Baptist Sissies (February 3^rd at the Naro at 6:30PM):  Southern Baptist Sissies is the story of four boys who are gay growing up in the Southern Baptist Church and how they each deal differently with the conflict between the teachings of the church and their sexuality. 

I was raised Catholic rather than Southern Baptist, but it is hard to adequately describe the pain, heartache and stress that one’s religious upbringing can bring to the lives of LGBT youth as well as adults.

Burning Blue (February 4^th at Norfolk State University at 7:30PM): This film looks at something that until all too recently haunted many gays in the military – I have friends who were discharged under DADT – and involves a witch hunt after a sailor reports seeing one of the top ranking fighter pilots in a gay club. The pilot in question and his squadron mates and their spouses all become the subject of the modern day witch hunt.  One can only hope that former supporters of DADT will see this film and realize the consequences of their past bigotry.

Trans (February 5^th at Christopher Newport Studio Theater at 6:30PM): This movie is particularly relevant given the recent death of Leelah Alcorn.  The film provides an up-close and very personal vision into the lives, loves, and challenges of remarkable individuals of all ages and from all walks of life who are seeking to answer the questions of “'who they really are” and “are you brave enough to find out?” 

Christine at the Crossroads (February 6^th the Norfolk Unitarian Church at 6:30PM).  This film is a drama/romance about a married woman who "discovers" her true (hidden) sexual identity, and falls in love with a coworker of the same sex.  

I cannot count the number of friends I have – both male and female – who married, had children and “did what was expected of them” only to realize that they have been living a lie of sorts and did not have the strength to continue to do so.  As shown in the film, one of the most difficult issues is deciding if your own happiness is worth causing someone else hurt and sorrow. Many cannot make the decision and end their lives seeing it as their only escape.

Short Film Competition (February 7^th at ODU University Theatre at 6:30PM): This competition includes short films from France, Portugal and Spain that look at various aspects of LGBT life as the characters move forward with their lives.

Sadly, those who most need to see these films will likely not attend.  But I encourage readers to find the time to see one or more of the films selections.  It is difficult to understand others with a different sexual orientation.  This film festival may just help provide a needed glimpse to further open one’s mind and heart. 

Proceeds from the film festival go to help support the LGBT Center of Hampton Roads which provides  services such as mental health for gay, lesbian, bi, and transgender youth and adults; support groups for youth, military personnel, and the transgender community; a variety of social outlets for area high-school gay student associations; meeting space for an over 50 group and weekly yoga sessions. The LGBT Center also offers free HIV testing and youth outreach is also held in the Center, which is partially funded through a grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

I sincerely encourage Hampton Roads residents to support the film festival.  More details can be found  at http://www.reelitout.org/.