What are your thoughts in general on LGBT Christians?
"History is written from the perspective of those who preserve their records," proclaimed Mark Bowman, the founder and director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Religious Archives Network (LGBT-RAN). Standing before 300 people who work for LGBT acceptance in their Christian churches, Mark opened the conference, "Rolling the Stone Away," to remember the history of the LGBT movement and to look toward future needs.
At this gathering in St. Louis, 50 founders, movers and shakers of the LGBT Christian movement shared their stories to preserve a valuable piece of history. The wheelchairs parked on one side said a lot about the age of these pioneers.
"I found myself tapping into a place of grief and alienation," Mary Ann said of that meeting. "In my heart's eye, I saw faces of men and women I know whose sexual orientation is gay or lesbian and who live compassionately, justly yearning for a return of compassion and justice on the part of a church they love. I thought of men and women whose passion for wholeness in relationship is lived in deep commitment to life-long same-sex partners. I heard deep in my own being, their struggle to find a home in our church. … Around that meeting table, I was compelled to speak on their behalf, to tell the story of the beauty of their relationships, and to offer an alternative ethic of sexuality."
In her outgoing address as President of LCWR in 2003, Mary Ann Zollman shared that story and went on to describe her feelings, using the image of two trees. "I could feel my roots moving toward theirs and they leaning toward me as together we want nothing more than to shape a home space for those who are 'other.' " She could resonate with their feelings because they were similar to the ache of homelessness she felt as a woman in the church.