Stephen Hunt,
University of the West of England
'Loosing Your Sons to the "Gay Scene".' Strategies of
the Christian Anti-Gay Lobby
Perhaps there
is no other debate, apart from women's ordination, that has divided
the Christian community as much as gay rights. In the UK, as in other
Western societies, the great majority of the principal denominations
have made policy statements on homosexuality and most of them take
a hostile, if sometimes ambiguous stance to acknowledging gay rights
both within the church and wider society.
This paper will consider the opponents to the gay lobby within the
Christian church and the tactics that they use to undermine and discredit
the gay movement and the implication that this has for their possible
advance. The emphasis will be on the more conservative-minded 'cause'
groups. Perhaps the most obvious tactic is that the gay Christian
movement is outside of the historical teachings of the church. Whereas,
'true' Christians are advanced as committed to promoting the historic
Christian teaching that all sexual activity outside of marriage is
morally wrong. Yet, while their objection to homosexuality is biblically-based,
conservatives have discernibly reduced their essentially 'religious'
moral element in order to defend their position and to partake of
the secular language and the rhetoric of rights that had long been
embraced by their liberal counterparts. Conservative Christian lobby
groups have therefore increasingly endorsed the logic of their opponents
in order to resist them. Given the various strategies used by anti-gay
Christian factions in the churches, the paper will conclude by considering
the level of their success and future prospects.
Michael Keenan,
Nottingham Trent University,
Fishers of Men: An Exploration of Gay Male Clerics' Negotiation
and Management of their Sexual, Spiritual and Professional lives.
(A work in progress)
Contemporary
western society is characterised by the increasing privatisation and
pluralisation of moralities and ethics for living. This individualisation
and the increased secularisation of authorities in social life have
lead to the shift of moral authority from external institutions to
the self. In essence the individualisation of faith has led to a religious
environment in which Christians with dissident identities, such as
lesbian and gay believers can find place, often by distancing themselves
from organised religion, while still maintaining their religious faith.
However this approach is not open to gay clergy as they are inextricably
linked to the institution.
My PhD research
concerns the lives of gay men in the Anglican clergy. This paper will
introduce my research, and its design discussing both its aims and
its rationale. The paper will also contextualise the research in line
with recent national and global events in the church.
The research
uses a longitudinal multi-dimensional approach it seeks to explore
these men's sexual, spiritual and professional lives by collecting
both qualitative and quantitative data. The research aims to explore
the ways in which these men negotiate seemingly conflicting aspects
of their identities while holding a position of moral responsibility
within an unaffirming institution. In doing this it is hoped to both
further understanding of the processes of identity construction, and
explore the position of Anglican clergymen in an increasingly secular
society. The paper will further explain these issues, and create an
opportunity for the discussion of the above.
Jeanette Rehnstrom
Within Silence and Fury: Homosexuality and Religion in Ghana
Discussions on
the issue of homosexuality and religion are increasingly coming to
the forefront, as clashes between what is often seen as the liberal,
pro-gay West encounters the views of the conservative, anti-gay 'developing'
world. The Anglican Church is, as we know, just beginning to feel
the impact of the introduction of a gay bishop in America. For this
reason, a split has been, and is, argued for. Further, the rising
importance of the Pentecostal churches of the world, some suggest,
will split the World Council of Churches itself into two, mainly because
of the issue of whether gay people should be allowed to be who they
are. The homophobia, of what may seem like a majority of Africans,
is particularly pertinent in our day and age, as it is, and has been,
at the battlefront of discussions on the issue of whether or not homosexuality
is in anyway compatible with religion. Ever since the 1998 Lambeth
Conference; when a Nigerian pastor tried to perform an unwanted exorcism
on a pastor of the UK Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement on live television,
this has been a burning issue. To get a better understanding of the
topic I have here chosen to look at one particular African country,
namely Ghana. I shall look at how both homosexuality and homophobia
functions in the country. After the presentation of the in-depth case
study, I will briefly look at how the same issues are dealt with in
the UK African Diaspora. What I hope to come to do, by presenting
this case study, is to clarify the background from which these homophobic
attitudes arise, so as to give a fuller picture of the complexities
one will have to address when faced with the issue either personally
or professionally.
Sian Taylder, University
of Wales, Lampeter
Never the Twain Shall Meet: Female Versus Male Homosexuality in
'Traditional' Catholicism
It is generally
assumed that both male and female gay Catholics inevitably belong
to the more radical wings of the Church, support the liberal agenda
outlined by the Second Vatican Council and reject the teachings of
an authoritarian hierarchy and its reactionary Pontiff.
Yet the great
paradox of the Catholic Church is the predominance of women within
the laity and immense devotion expressed to the Virgin Mary which
more often than not eclipses the role of God the Father and Christ
Her Son. In contrast, it is generally acknowledged that a substantial
minority of the clergy are homosexual and that the peculiar demands
of the Catholic priesthood attract an unrepresentative (and unhealthy)
proportion of gay men.
So, given the
traditional intolerance of the Catholic Church towards homosexuality,
what happens when the sacred not only meets the profane but actively
wants to get into bed with it? This paper explores the labyrinthine
and often conflicting relationship between same-sex attraction and
the doctrine and values of 'traditional' Catholicism and argues that,
for women at least, the two are not necessarily incompatible.
However, it also
argues that the interests of male and female homosexual Catholics
are often at odds with each other and that the domination of gay men
within the clergy and the increasing 'rationalisation' (or, perhaps,
masculinisation) of faith within a post Vatican II context - especially
the diminution of the role of the Virgin Mary - has the potential,
in the longer term, to reduce the Church to what Marina Warner called
the 'sombre suited masculine world of Protestant religion [which]
is altogether too much like a gentleman's club to which ladies are
only admitted on special days'.
