NEWS STORY: Episcopalians Consider Sin of `Heterosexism’

c. 2000 Religion News Service DENVER _ When Moses descended Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in hand, there was no mention of “heterosexism” on his list of “Thou Shalts” and “Thou Shalt Nots.” But for Episcopalians, the preference given to straight people at the expense of gays and lesbians could soon be classified as […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

DENVER _ When Moses descended Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments in hand, there was no mention of “heterosexism” on his list of “Thou Shalts” and “Thou Shalt Nots.”

But for Episcopalians, the preference given to straight people at the expense of gays and lesbians could soon be classified as a “sin,” along with adultery and taking God’s name in vain.


The 2.5 million-member church, meeting here through July 13 for its triennial General Convention policy-making session, is considering a resolution that decries the “sin of heterosexism” and asks for guidance on how to grant both homosexuals and heterosexuals equal footing in the church.

Admitting to the sin of heterosexism would be a first for a major Christian denomination. Almost every Christian body is polarized by the issue of homosexuality and the role of gays and lesbians in the church, but few are willing to admit they are guilty of favoring heterosexuals over gays and lesbians.

In a special committee formed to handle all sexuality-related issues, delegates drafted a resolution that asks for guidance on heterosexism when the church meets again in 2003. Heterosexism is defined as “a systematic form of injustice in which heterosexual persons are advantaged economically, societally … at the expense of homosexual persons.”

The admission would place heterosexism on the same level as institutional and personal discrimination based on race, gender or class.

Supporters say it is a major step, even for a church that has long been open to gays and lesbians and in some areas ordains them as ministers and blesses same-sex unions.

“Anything that divides us from one another, and thus from God, is sinful,” said Bishop Chester Talton, a suffragan bishop in Los Angeles.

The heterosexism measure now faces a vote by the church’s House of Deputies, made up of close to 1,000 lay members and priests. If approved there, the measure will go to the 200-member House of Bishops. The church would revisit the issue in 2003.


While sweeping in its theological implications, the measure is also particularly significant as the church prepares to debate whether to create special services to bless same-sex unions. Currently, that decision is left up to local bishops and dioceses, and a church report largely recommends maintaining the status quo. Changes to the report, however, could be made by the end of next week.

The Rev. Ian T. Douglas, a church deputy and professor at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., said heterosexism is different from homophobia, which implies a fear of homosexuals.

“As a straight white man, I assume I have an unearned backpack of privilege that affords me access and influence at the expense of others,” Douglas said.

Still, supporters point out that being heterosexual does not make a person a sinner, just as being white does not necessarily make someone racist.

“Being heterosexual in and of itself is not a sin, but it’s the exercise of inordinate power of one group over another that is sinful,” Talton said. “And all of this is about unearned power.”

The resolution prompted wide support from gay and lesbian factions within the church. Beyond Inclusion, a group advocating the full participation of gays and lesbians in the life of the church, issued a statement saying that what the church says and does has a long ripple effect on society.


“As long as the church perpetuates the evil of heterosexism, the church contributes … to a society in which people perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered are fired from their jobs, evicted from their housing, excluded from their families, physically and emotionally harmed, or killed,” the group said.

DEA END ECKSTROM

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