those who have chosen to be part of the Uniting Church witness in the Mardi Gras are in my thoughts and prayers

As a minister of the Uniting Church who has ministered to gay, lesbian, bisexal and transgendered members of the Uniting Church over the past fifteen years I write in support of the members of the Uniting Church who have chosen to take part in the Mardi Gras under the theme Celebrating Diversity.

I am deeply aware of the division that such an action is causing within the Uniting Church, however I am even more aware of the total failure of the Uniting Church to stand pastorally with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people within the Uniting Church and give them support. The Assembly in Perth totally failed to acknowledged the cost of coming out for gay and lesbian people. The Three president report does not acknowledge the cost to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as they have shared their call to be ministers and members of the Uniting Church.

There is no recognition of the paradigm shift necessary to overcome the heterosexism and the homophobia present within the Uniting Church. Clergy are not able to be honest about their understanding of and support for gay and lesbian people because of a fear of the reaction of their congregations. Those who have taken a stand are ostracised and will probably not be able to exercise future ministry in the Church.

All this reminds me of what it was like as a social justice officer in the church in the late 1970's in respect to racism and our church's support for the African National Crongress in South Africa and the humanitarian grants to the liberation movements of Southern Africa. At that time we had to stand up and be countered in order to as least begin a debate of such serious issues and the inhumanity that such racism expressed to people of colour. We have recently seen the travesty of injustice we perpetuated in the name of the church when we were part of the taking of Aboriginal children away from their families. Now we have equally draconian theological ideas about the nature and morality of homosexual people which causes young gay and lesbian people to commit suicide or leave their homes and the church because they cannot bear to tell their parents or the church who they are. We have countless hundred of gay and lesbian members of our church who were forced into marriages because they were not able to think through the implications of their sexual orientation. This leading to untold disaster when such marriages have broken up when the moment of truth has had to be faced. There are many other who are forced to stay in the closet and lead double lives. The stories of the brokenness within the church are endless and probably have the potential to affect most families and congregations if there was the honesty to listen.

In the face of such oppression the least we can do as members of the Uniting Church is to stand up and witness to the unlimited love of Christ for the oppressed and those who are captive within the structures of society. To celebrate diversity as Jesus did and be inclusive of the poor, tax collectors, prostitutes and the eunuchs is to me an important proclamation of what the Uniting Church should be saying to the gay and lesbian community.

The hate which such a commitment engenders within the Uniting Church bears out the witness of last Sundays gospel reading in Luke 6. It is indeed very painful to experience such hate within the church community. I would hope that the Mardi Gras would be one of the places where we can rejoice and leap for joy.

You and those who have chosen to be part of the Uniting Church witness in the Mardi Gras are in my thoughts and prayers as you prepare for the coming event.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Stringer,
National Secretary for Social Justice
17th February 1998