Why Ann is marching

Essentially, I am participating in the Mardi Gras as an act of penitence for the harm done to gay and lesbian people by the immoral way some people have participated in the debate in the Uniting Church. (I stated this in the NSW Synod debate in 1997).

The most fundamental moral question facing the UCA is not homosexuality, but how we conduct our discussions on morality. The greatest immorality in the church is the failure to conduct the debate in accordance with discourse ethics, which derives from philosophy but can be found in readily accessible form (a) in some of the ten commandments, such as don't lie and don't use God's name to sanctify your lies, and (b) in the UCA's A manual for meetings #1.1-1.8. The debate on homosexuality actually has repercussions in the life and relationships of people. Words are not only words, they are expressions of relationships and attitudes. The church has a moral responsibility not to use words in a way that undermine people's basic human rights, like the right to live in safety and the right not to be physically, emotionally or spiritually attacked.

I will not only participate in the Mardi Gras this year, but every year, until I have some sense that the UCA debate is being conducted by giving priority in expertise to the people who are the subject of the debate: Church members and ministers who are homosexuals. Until the church listens to them and respects their right to safety, there can be no moral debate and no moral conclusions. Conclusions about morality derived from immoral processes are themselves immoral. Whenever the church has treated adult human beings as children, depriving them of their full dignity and determining what is good for them, it has been wrong, whether it as dealing with "the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them high and lowly, and gave them their estate", or women, Indigenous people, or people of other cultures.

One of the problems in the debate about the Mardi Gras is that people think that they know what the Mardi Gras is. There is no one authentic description of the Marid Gras. It means different things to different people. But to see it simply as an expression of sensuality is nonsense. As long as people continue to treat homosexuals as less than equal human beings the basic significance is quite different. To dismiss it as debauchery distorts it, ignoring many of its elements, and fails to ask the question: why do people feel the need to parade in this particular manner? Why do modern day homosexuals need a medieval "Feast of Fools"?

The Mardi Gras is an assertion of human rights. It is reminds society that some human beings are homosexual and that society has to come to terms with that, not hide from it. As human beings, homosexuals should not have to hide their sexuality. There are many aspects of the Mardi Gras with which I would disagree - but its fundamental theme and reason for existence is human rights, and this I support.

In the 1980s the Uniting Church supported the decriminalisation of homosexuality in NSW. More recently, the Board for Social Responsibility supported the introduction of legislation to make vilification of homosexuals unlawful. In responding to the Human Rights Commission discussion paper on the human rights of religious groups, the Board's submission asserted that vilification is never justifiable, even when done in the name of religion. So recognising the human rights of homosexuals is not new. Church members did not participate in the Mardi Gras in previous years because many church members do not understand its basic significance and we did not want to create misunderstanding.

The time has come to participate in Mardi Gras as identifiable members of the church because the recent debate in the Uniting Church on sexuality has exposed that many ministers and church members do not recognise the full humanity and the full human rights of homosexuals. They want to be kind and compassionate towards them, but believe that Christian heterosexuals can determine who homosexuals really are and what is good for them. Some object to church councils listening to the stories of ministers in homosexual relationships. Participating in the Mardi Gras is a way of affirming the right of homosexuals to celebrate their identity as human beings, as equals, not second rate. Intrinsic to that notion of full humanity is that homosexuals have to work out their moral choices for themselves - in a way that respects the human rights of others - just as heterosexuals must.

In flagrant disregard of Biblical teaching such as the story of the Good Samaritan, some (and I stress the "some") moral conservatives in the church want to dismiss the faith and ministry of Christians who are in a homosexual relationship as worthless or evil. They want to exclude anyone in a homosexual relationship from any form of ministry or leadership in the church. Some of that campaign amounts to lies and vilification - a hysterical twist of the truth, by which suddenly all the good work that people have done for the church is given an evil connotation, as soon as it is known they are homosexual or accept homosexuals in ministry. Some of that campaign has involved a claim that the church, by failing to condemn homosexuality, has rejected morality. This is a denial of all the serious moral decisions the church has made on a wide range of issues, as if nothing counts if we don't condemn homosexual relationships. Lies, denigration and vilification never serve God, but only "the Father of lies". Such behaviour is a breach of Christian ethics and ministerial discipline. It appears to break two of the ten commandments, the prohibition against bearing false witness and the prohibition against misusing God's name. The moralists who think they can denigrate those who disagree with them instead of debating the issues in a moral way claim that they accept the Bible's authority. Yet Jesus warned moralists to remove the beam from their own eye before they tried to remove the speck of dust from anyone else's. Among those who adopt a more reasonable approach to the issues, action to stop the extremists has been slow, and so far not effective. There has been no attempt to rectify the damage. Participating in the Mardi Gras is, for me at least, a public protest against those lies and acts of vilification, and the church's failure to stop them.

While the law affirms the human rights of homosexuals, there are still many places in society, many families and many work places, institutions and associations, where homosexuals do not feel able to identify themselves. The situation is still fragile, society is not yet safe. That is why the Mardi Gras continues to be important. Church members go to work, participate in community organisations and so on - they take their attitudes with them, they influence other people. Some church leaders who have made derogatory comments are highly influential, with access to several channels of communication. This means that the problem in the church debate is not merely an internal matter for the church. If the lies, denigration and vilification affect church members, then they affect society. Human rights, and therefore the whole social fabric, comes under threat.

Under the circumstances, it seems to me that we have to choose where we stand as Christians and as members of the Uniting Church, and make that public. Do we support the lies about and the denigration of those who accept homosexuals as full human beings, and the vilification of ministers, leaders and staff who are homosexual? Or do we oppose that immorality and misuse of power by standing with, identifying with, participating with the homosexual community? The Uniting Church has, from its inauguration, affirmed the importance of human rights, and encouraged participation, when necessary, in public protests for human rights. It is therefore appropriate that we claim that heritage and participate in the Mardi Gras in an identifiable way as members of the Uniting Church. Its a stand for morality.

Ann Wansbrough

material provided for the media conference a few days before the Mardi Gras Parade, February 1998