Pages 1 – 3: Newsletter of the Quaker Lesbian and Gay Fellowship No. 131, September 2011 Goodbye, farewell … 1 & 3 Dates for your Diary 2 Editorial … 2 The Heroines of Utoya ... 4 Prides reports ... 5-6 Scottish Youth Parliament ... 6 EHRC and bigotry ... 7 British muslim LBG views ... 7-8 CPs on religious premises ... 8 Quakers and Zombophobia 9 Optimism ... 10 Humour ... 10-11 News from Africa ... 11-14 Snippets ... 14 ‘Sexual apartheid’ ... 15 Snippets ... 15 QLGF Committee report 16-17 QLG Gathering report 17 Your letters ... 17 Canterbury, a Quaker Tale 18-19 Tomsk & LGBT film festival 19-20 Gay Zebra Finches ... 20-21 Stella Browne: feminist ... 21 A Quaker view of sex ... 22 Gay-friendly meetings ... 22 God, Sex and Gender ... 23 So long, farewell, and thanks for all the fish ... The current editorial team took over the newsletter in February 2002. What a shy little faun the newsletter was then, peeping its eight or twelve pages out from the bushes, and occasionally scampering out onto the lawn to nibble a flower or two. In our Frankenstein laboratory, it has grown into a steroid-rich twenty to twenty four pages of good natured Godzilla, rampaging across the scene, with a mixture of passion, humour, reflection, judicious outrage and a few personal axes to grind, and doubtless the odd unwise treading on feet. It has been a blast. There has never been an issue where I haven’t wanted to resign sometime between deadline and publication, usually when looking at submissions by other QLGF members not on the committee (that is, an empty file). But on the whole it has felt fun and worthwhile. Partly we have wanted to challenge the mindset that Quakerism was plain and worthy and laughing at lunch was OK but not in business meetings ... We have no more than begun to sketch out the idea of Quaker satire, which speaks truth to power with humour, but respects the individual none the less. Much of what we wrote about is absolutely deadly serious (people are dying) but laughter is sometimes what gets us through it. We have tried to avoid the ghetto mindset. (“Asteroid to hit Earth – Pride might be cancelled”) We wrote about past lives, biological determinism, and once I remember, bookbinding. And if you wanted to pick a decade or so to write about Quakers, religion and sex, what a decade it was. In around 2001 it was possible to see the then Labour government as being slow and cautious on LGBT issues. Then things took off, and by the time they left office, most of the legislative demands of 2001 had been met. Two key developments were the Gender Recognition Act, Contd. on Page 3 Contd. from Page 1 which whatever its flaws, really begins to offer Trans people recognition and security. And of course civil partnerships, vigorously attacked as some malign social experiment which would crack society from top to toe… a more pernicious attack on the common good than global warming ©Bennie ‘The Rat’ Ratzinger. The equivalent of legalising bestiality © The Evil Jellicle Alliance. What happened of course was that the great British public went “Oh bless! Elton John and David Furnish in morning suits”. I still believe a profound moment was Michael “Clause 28” Howard and no fool announcing that he would vote for civil partnerships – the date when homophobia was officially declared a vote loser for the secular Right. Quakers also found a more confident voice. The problem has long been that we’ve seen gay issues as Quaker Life (quietly pastoral and internal) rather than Quaker Witness (lighting candles against the darkness). Gay and straight friends adopted a non aggression pact that by and large they’d see that meetings stayed welcoming and by and large we wouldn’t push the broader Society to do much on worldwide homophobia (honourable exceptions of course but usually not wearing Quaker bonnets as they did so). But in the new century, Friends at large actually spoke out on Gender Recognition and Civil Partnerships. We began the long and winding road to York… and many times I thought this would end in stalemate. Sitting in meetings where we didn’t want to upset the other churches, or Auntie Nora who doesn’t believe lesbians exist, or some unnamed person who is so upset they can’t come and have a quiet coffee with the gay people in the meeting and talk… I’ve been called an infiltrator, a cuckoo in the nest, and told it was hormones in the water. Muttering ‘trust the process, trust the process’ … listening waiting and trusting…. Not demonising people and trying to keep open. And then the transformation at York, and being able to claim Quaker witness on same sex marriage as the textbook vindication of our business method. (Ok, these truths we hold in clay vessels…) It was the decade where bigotry had to shield behind religion. The disloyal and unprincipled sacking of Jeffrey John, the Muslim clerics who celebrate the stonings and shootings, the bullying and threats, the talk of gay people possessed by demons through the anus, being responsible for floods and famines, and the paedophilia smears. And yet in this decade, the Church of Scotland among others has made genuine progress. (Incidentally, a tip of the hat to long term inclusion supporter Nicholas Holtam, the new Anglican Bishop of Salisbury – better a courageous straight than a compromised and closeted gay any day.) Millions in the pews just get on with it. There is still work to be done. There is now a kneejerk assumption that all spirituality is hostile to LGBT people. What is going on the schoolyard remains a big issue and many members of the United Nations are 20, 40 or 400 years behind. (Great the UN has voted to investigate prejudice into LGBT lives – but by a narrow majority.) QLGF has had the problem of most Quaker organisations, a bigger remit than people willing to do things. We’ve had a very introspective period since York, but the clear message from the Dunblane Gathering and the last Committee Meeting is, this period is coming to a close. It is definitely time to look outward and forward. QLGF has always seen ‘being’ as very important as well as ‘doing’. But above all, it is not a group ‘serviced’ by its committee but a Fellowship, which will be and do and achieve what its members are guided to be and do and achieve. Whether you like the newsletter or lot, unless the editors know, they cannot reflect that. Nine years is long enough to do one Quaker job, new blood is coming forward, but they need your support. There are things I would have done differently, some of the people I offended I regret (but not all of them), and it is hard to know how much difference you personally have made. I dislike back seat drivers, and people leaving a committee then moaning about decisions they were involved in so here’s my written pledge to do neither. Here and now, warts and all, “je ne regrette rien”. SC Editorial ... Human sexuality is a divine gift, forming part of the complex union of body, mind and spirit which is our humanity. The sexual expression of a loving relationship can bring delight, joy and fulfilment. For many, a life-long faithful relationship gives the opportunity for the greatest personal development and for the experience of sexual love which is spiritual in its quality and deeply mysterious. Others may find fulfilment in different ways. Whatever the moral climate, a sexual relationship is never purely a private matter without consequences for wider human relationships. Its effect on the community, and especially on children, must always be considered. Sexual morality is an area of challenge and opportunity for living our testimonies to truth, nonviolence, equality, integrity and love. In our Advices of 1964 we are reminded: “No relationship can be a right one which makes use of another person through selfish desire.” 1994 QFP 22.11 22. Respect the wide diversity among us in our lives and relationships. Refrain from making prejudiced judgments about the life journeys of others. Do you foster the spirit of mutual understanding and forgiveness which our discipleship asks of us? Remember that each one of us is unique, precious, a child of God. Two reasons I joined the Society of Friends. SC Page 4: Would you repeat the story of the heroines of Utoya? The silence of the media was deafening when it came to the story of Toril Hansen and Hege Dalen. These two women saved the lives of forty teenagers when they became aware of the events unfolding on Utoya Island in Norway. They were finishing dinner opposite the island when they heard the gunshots. They saw the teenagers running and throwing themselves into the water. Without thought for their own safety they took their boat out across the water to the island four times (the first time they went they came under fire) and they dragged the injured and the fleeing into the boat. I believe that this story is important for two reasons. Firstly, the German tourist who also took a boat to the island to save the teenagers was a hero, as were all the others who have been reported in the press. We all need heroes. We need heroes who are single mothers, disabled, deaf, heterosexual and yes, homosexual. The other reason I think the story is important is because what does it say about our society that the media (for the most part) may have ignored the story of these women’s heroism because of their sexual orientation or because they were women. There is a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson which explains that men were meant for the fields and women for the home. Men are meant to bear arms and women to use needles. He states that all the rest is confusion. I would disagree. I think that fact that we do label and pigeon hole people causes the confusion; it creates problems for everyone, and not just the homosexuals. Imagine the harm we do to everyone when people are afraid to express themselves for fear of being labelled. We harm ourselves and others when we do not acknowledge an heroic act of someone because we do not approve of their sexual orientation. If people do not see role models they can identify with then they may be left with the feeling that there are none, they may think as others do, that there can be nothing positive about homosexuals. Not only does this create negative internalised feelings for the gay person but heterosexuals suffer as well. If they have been brought up with the fear of being called a “sissy” or “mannish” then this can stop them from pursuing careers that are seen as specifically gender based (e.g. nursing, fireperson). I believe it can also stop them from forming relationships with people of their own gender and finally and maybe most importantly, it may drive them to act in ways which are contrary to their better natures. I believe that heterosexuals are expected to behave ways that are just as damaging to them as homophobia is to homosexuals. Am I delving too deeply into the world of homophobia? Is it really that big a problem? What about the looting in London, the famines in Africa, drug abuse, inflation, recession…..? What have these global, national and personal issues got to with homophobia? I believe that homophobia has been seen as a personal choice for so long that it is nearly impossible to make it a global problem, but it is. Are individuals not the sum of society’s parts? Homophobia, whether driven by the media, religion or individuals still denies society contributions from gay people. The fact that Mrs Dalen and Mrs Hansen were not mentioned in the original “despatches” meant that even the headlines that eventually drew them to international attention were still lead by the word Lesbian, not “heroes or heroines of Utoya.” (The language of the media when discussing homosexuals is an interesting point in itself). I asked a question at the top of the article. Would you repeat the story of the heroines of Utoya? Would you or your friends fear being labelled a homosexual, after all why else would you be interested in these “two?” Could it not just be admiration for courage and compassion as demonstrated by them? MM Pages 5 - 6: London Pride 2011 ... It must be twenty years since my first London Pride. And people were complaining then it was too big, too commercial, not political enough and boring compared with the good old days. I thoroughly enjoyed Pride this year and it continues to feel worthwhile. Sorry if you need a bit of police harassment to enjoy it but that is available elsewhere in the world. Firstly we met in the park for a meeting for worship, not the most gathered for me but that was mostly my stuff. It feels good to start that way. Then we marched immediately behind ‘Other Christians’. There were crowds of spectators, they were almost all friendly and cheerful although the odd tourist group looked as though we were something the cat had dragged in. The response to the ‘Quakers Affirm Same Sex Marriage’ banner - in cute pastel colours now it has faded – was remarkable, do you know any other time or place where the Quakers get rousing cheers? Wish we’d had more stuff to hand out. Pride is the normal mix – the drag queens and the odd submissive acting out a dog fantasy and the political parties, unions and big businesses all vying for our approval. And the Big Society – lesbian volleyball and the bisexuals and the Battersea Dogs Home float and bars and charities and faith groups… I saw Theresa May and an entourage of about 12 whizzing past on foot and thinking of how little my 1991 self would have expected a Tory Home Secretary to be at Pride. And the Comrades of course… “Forward to the collectivisation of sex! Only when boyfriends are allocated by workers power will we have true liberation! Don’t buy their newspaper, they are unsound on the catering arrangements of the Fourth International – cream cheese bagelist splitters!” The Muslims had a bus, and there were about eight Sikhs, and the Other Christians had three Catholics carrying a banner and Sharon Ferguson of LGCM blowing bubbles from a mobility scooter. Not up to New York Pride where they had priests, cross carriers, curates swinging incense burners and a banner with the Holy Mother of God on it… that was a Catholic presence and a half. But we all start from somewhere. And of course the official counter protest – I think the BNP have given up and its just the evangelicals who were being counter-protested (counter-counter-protested) by a group of students dressed as Japanese schoolgirls. Oy vey! And I never did figure out why three drag queens decided to march behind us, it seemed a little rude to ask. So we got to Trafalgar Square where the Council had decided to squeeze everyone into about a third of the space required… I never even found the Quaker stall. It was pointless and claustrophobic. Westminster meeting was open for tea and cake and was colonised largely by Outdoors Club people, but this too was an important part of outreach. And we later caught up with St James Piccadilly and some more cake and more tea in their churchyard which was very pleasant although I wasn’t by then in a mood to talk too much. One ran into the ex boyfriend (the one I wanted to run into) and every time I go, a different head of department at work sees me and asks why I am from a faith group... sigh. We affirmed same sex marriage, and that people of faith can be out and proud and LGBT and people of faith and parents. So I felt we were there for a reason. We ate cake. Come next year and make it even more Quaker. SC Pride Scotia 2011 ... The gathering place is conveniently hidden away behind Waverley train station. A motley crew hangs around, some with balloons, some dressed as bears, one in a Salvation Army outfit, and we are joined by an ambulance, a fire engine and the Chaplins Disco double-decker bus which drives round and round, loud music blaring and seemingly random people standing on the top deck, one wearing a Michael Jackson mask. The “Our Tribe” group from Augustine URC manages to join up with the Unitarians, QLGF and the Wild Geese Sangha, each with their banner held high but with few people on the ground. The route takes us up Jeffrey Street to the Royal Mile and then down to Holyrood, up Abbeymount, along Royal Terrace and finishing up at the Omni Centre. A short journey with a small crowd of about 200 and even fewer spectators. It feels like we are being kept away from the eyes of the general public, that all our years of struggle have simply made us rather complacent and lacking passion. What is our purpose? Why are we marching? We don’t seem to have enough gritty stuff to protest about in Scotland – or what there is doesn’t inspire us to energised action - and we haven’t yet reached the point where we can simply celebrate so we walk, hold our banners and balloons, and occasionally a whistle is blown, a siren is sounded, a woman attempts an African yodel. It is a far cry from what I have experienced in Boston, Massachusetts and Austin, Texas where Pride is a full-day event with a fair, stalls, entertainment and food during the day then decorated floats, fancy dress outfits, singing, dancing, and crowds all along the route cheering and waving, reaching out to give high fives, to accept freebies – and those in the parade include babies in pushchairs, great grandmothers on motability scooters, hot chicks on Harley Davidsons, all creeds and none. We need to learn to claim our space and to embrace who we are and all that we have to celebrate. We also need to stand up for those who have no voice and find ways to provide education to the members of the public we encounter en route. But perhaps more than anything else we need to rediscover community and do some serious in-reach to encourage more LGBT folk to recognise the need to participate in Pride and the fun that can be had by turning up and parading! So next time I’d like to invite “Protest in Harmony” to join us and teach us some songs; I’d like us to find one key theme to celebrate and one issue to be addressed. I’m not offering to do it all but I am keen to know if others are at all interested in making next Pride Scotia more of an occasion! There might be good reasons for not parading along Princes Street - dare I utter the word “trams”? But surely we could find a way to raise our profile and walk a more public route? Once we have unearthed what our profile is, of course... Leti SYP choose marriage equality as their national campaign We’re very happy to report that the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) met at the weekend to choose their national campaign for this year, and chose Marriage Equality – to allow same-sex couples to marry, and extend civil partnerships to heterosexual couples. This campaign will be the main focus of the SYP’s political activity until March 2012. You can read more on the SYP website here: http://www.syp.org.uk/choosing-a-national-campaign-for-syp-W21page-203- In the Scottish Parliament, SNP MSP Marco Biagi (Edinburgh Central) put down a motion yesterday welcoming the SYP’s decision: S4M-00276 Marco Biagi: SYP to Campaign for Marriage Equality: that the Parliament celebrates its long and close working relationship with the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP); notes that the SYP represents young people aged 14 to 25 from all across Scotland; further notes that, at its annual general meeting on 11-12 June 2011, the SYP chose to make marriage equality for same-sex couples its priority campaign for the coming year; awaits the opportunity for what it considers to be the wide range of views held on this subject to be expressed when the Scottish Government formally launches its consultation, and encourages the SYP, as part of its campaign, to play a full and proper role in this process. Page 7: Faith based bigotry wins Human Rights support – surely not? The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has recently announced a significant change in its attitude towards the protection of religion and belief in equality cases. It has in the past been criticised by some conservative Christians of being too harsh in its response to religiously motivated convictions where these clash with the requirements of their job, for example in providing services to LGBT people such as civil partnership registration and relationship counselling. Now the Commission appears to agree that it has indeed been potentially discriminatory in its approach to religion and belief – one of the protected characteristics safeguarded by the Equality Act 2010. The Commission has stated that judges have interpreted equality law too harshly against Christians. As a result the Commission is now intervening in four cases before the European Court of Human Rights where Christian workers have been disciplined or lost their jobs due to clashes between their religious convictions and the requirements of their job or workplace. Lawyers representing the Commission have called for more “compromise” and “accommodation” in such cases. The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) is concerned about the tone and direction of this change of position. The Rev Sharon Ferguson, Chief Executive of LGCM said: “As a faith-based organisation we certainly understand and respect religious conviction and can see the conflicts which can sometimes occur when the rights of one group appear to trump the rights of another. But the EHRC must be careful. It is one thing to allow a more generous approach to people wearing crosses at work for example, or for a Jewish person to be able not to work on the Sabbath, which can be sorted by efficient organisation of a work rota. Neither of these restrict the rights and freedoms of others. But the Commission is going further and potentially lending support to those who refuse to provide public services to others who are lesbian or gay. This is contrary to the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and contrary to the work with which the EHRC have been tasked. We note their assurances that this is not their intention but are concerned to see quite how this new approach can avoid such a result.” It appears to us that the biggest source of confusion in the latest actions of the EHRC are due to them combining instances of harmless personal religious expression with situations of blatant discrimination which are then justified on the grounds of religion. These must be assessed separately as the implications are clearly dramatically different. The Rev Ferguson added: “It is obviously tremendously important to us that all people are free to live according to their beliefs in all areas of their lives, which includes the workplace, but this can never include the oppression or discrimination of others. The freedom to wear a religious symbol at work and refusal to perform a public service that is part of your job description are two very different issues.” Ends (Eds: Bleeding Nora ...) Since the writing of the above article there have been a few developments: John McDonnell, a Labour MP has asked the Equality and Human Rights Commission to review its plan to allow for “compromises” and “reasonable accommodations” for people who refuse to serve gay people. He has stated that any such move is “outrageous” and “totally unacceptable.” (Source: Pink News 27th July 2011) Mike Hancock, Lib Dem MP for Portsmouth South withdrew his name from the EHRC motion (tabled by Gary Streeter MP (Con)) after realising the full implications of what he put his signature to. He joins John Hemming (Lib Dem), who withdrew his name last week. The motion was tabled after four cases have become before the court of human rights One of these cases concerns a Christian counsellor who refused to work with gay people, and another concerns a Christian registrar who refused to perform Civil Partnerships. Note: What is interesting is the wording of a statement by EHRC legal advisor John Wadham. He is attested to have said that “compromises” and “accommodations” could be found for religious people in the same way that disabled people are accommodated at work. Pages 8 – 9: British Muslims proud of UK stance on gay rights ... A poll of British Muslims suggests that almost half say they are proud of the country’s stance on gay rights. According to the research by think-tank Demos, 47 per cent of Muslims agreed with the statement: “I am proud of how Britain treats gay people.” This figure was slightly higher than the average and just higher than the 46.5 per cent of Christians who agreed with the statement. Thirty-four per cent of Muslims said they did not agree or disagree, while 10.8 per cent said they strongly disagreed. The number of Muslims who strongly agreed with the statement was higher than the number of non-religious people who did, at 14.9 per cent compared to 7.9 per cent. The poll also found that more than four out of five Muslims said they were “proud to be a British citizen” and only one in five said they were not proud of “Britain’s role in the world”. Max Wind-Cowie, head of the Progressive Conservatism Project at Demos, said: “British Muslims are far more enlightened and proud of our liberal values than they are often given credit for. Despite recent headlines about the anti-gay sticker campaign in East London there is a much larger group of British Muslims who support gay rights. A strong sign of this was the East London Mosque banning homophobic preachers.” In 2009, a Gallup poll found that not one of the 1,001 British Muslims interviewed believed homosexual acts were morally acceptable. Commenting, Sunny Hundal of the Liberal Conspiracy blog wrote: “The two results are not contradictory: Muslims can agree that Islam does not tolerate homosexuality, while celebrating gay rights enshrined in the law.” News Release: Civil Partnerships on Religious Premises ... 23 June 2011 The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain has responded to the Government Consultation on civil partnerships on religious premises. Quakers recognise same sex unions as equal to opposite sex ones and have welcomed the opportunity to register premises for civil partnerships but say proposed bureaucratic hurdles and costs may make it impractical to do so. The Consultation followed the Equality Act 2010 which opened the door to civil partnerships being held on religious premises in England and Wales, if a faith group wishes. The Act made clear that faith bodies could not be compelled to conduct civil partnerships against their conscience. The Government promised to consult faith groups on how this would work. In a written Response to questions posed by the Government Equalities Office Consultation Quakers say they would only wish to register civil partnerships in Meeting Houses for those who are Quakers or closely associated with Quakers. Meeting Houses would not be hired out for non-Quaker civil partnerships. “We wish to see equality for marriage and civil partnerships,” writes Paul Parker, Recording Clerk for Quakers in Britain. In 1753 Quakers were given the right to conduct marriages in England and Wales. “We welcome and cherish this privilege,” he continues. “Our argument of principle is that, not only for religious reasons but also in the interests of creating equality and removing discrimination, we want as far as possible to apply to civil partnerships in Quaker Meeting Houses the same arrangements as the Marriage Act provides for opposite sex marriages in Quaker Meeting Houses.” Quakers say they would be deterred by the cost of registering premises and bureaucratic hurdles such as procedures for layout and holding the ceremony and using an external registrar. “If religious premises are registered as places of worship, it seems over-elaborate, time consuming and expensive to duplicate this registration,” says their Response. They suggest using their own existing registering officers who ensure that marriages are prepared, celebrated, witnessed, reported to the state, and legally valid. Quaker meetings do not have clergy. The Consultation raises questions about consent, registration, process and premises. In 2009 at their Yearly Meeting (the annual assembly with supreme decision-making authority for Quakers in Britain) Quakers recognised unions of same sex couples as marriages. “However,” explains Paul Parker, “we specify that such couples must have a civil partnership as we recognise such marriages are not recognised by the state as lawful at the present time. Thus we have encouraged and welcomed this ability to register civil partnerships on our own premises.” Ends Quaker Post-Life Network challenges zombophobia. ... The Quaker Post-Life Network has held its second successful Gathering. Around forty pre-dead and post-dead Friends gathered at Newton Bumble meeting house, which lies in the South West demilitarised zone, and thus offers a safe place for both to meet. When the dead began to rise from their graves, to feast on human flesh, many Friends initially shared the prevailing view that this was a bad thing. However, Quakers have always looked out for those who ‘break society’s conventions or laws’ and believed in ‘that of God in everyone’. The decision by the State to resort to powerful, pump-action, hand-held rocket launchers, aiming for the head, is incompatible with Quaker principles. Friends are also uncomfortable with the growth of vigilante groups, particularly as ‘The Occurrance’ swept several regions and conventional military forces were overwhelmed. Fear and force worry Friends and we look more to mutual and principled solutions. Furthermore, the so-called ‘zombie problem’ is not neatly separated from the Society of Friends. Some post-dead people are (or had been) members and attenders in the Society, or related to us, and there have been some painful examples where seeking enquirers, who merely happened to be cannibalistic undead, had been treated unkindly at individual meeting houses. For example, some parents have objected to post-dead Friends taking children’s meeting, although the incidence of snacking is greatly exaggerated. We are even aware of a few cases where long standing members were asked to leave positions of responsibility, merely because they had died. A few meetings – particularly those with difficulties around filling nominations – have decided to put our inclusive principles into action. But too many Friends still resort to the barricades, or even ECG tests, like the less inclusive churches. Safe in the knowledge that there are no absolutes in either Quaker theology or actions, the Quaker Post-Life Network continues to thrive and grow. Admittedly, the number of pre-dead members does appear to drop off quite rapidly, for no immediately apparent reason, but the number of post-dead members shows excellent growth. The Network feels there is a real opportunity to reach out to a vulnerable and growing social group, and thereby provide some much needed vigor and appetite within the Society. With a social event - a bring and share meal - and a workshop planned for Britain Yearly Meeting – Devouring our Darkness - the march of a Quaker concern for the post-dead seems unstoppable. It merely requires Meeting for Sufferings to exert its moral authority, to ensure that the commanders of Fortress London permit post-dead Friends to travel past the Johnson Wall. SC Pages 10 – 14: Optimism ... Having made the final touches to an optimistic article I had written on a school group’s trip to Peru I had one last look at the internet before I was going to submit it and found, to my dismay, a series of articles on the rejection of anti-homophobia laws in Italy, bans on gay marriage, couples being attacked, Taiwan denying immunity for the spouses of gay foreign diplomats, and the list goes on. I intended abandoning my article on Peru and concentrating on the above stories, I thought they were more important, but then the lessons I learned in Peru helped me look at my reaction to this discrimination differently. I was attracted to the Quakers after a long and personal search for community; one with its roots in Christianity but also one where acceptance was not just a term given in a series of empty speeches at conferences. When I read the “Advice and Queries” I found myself drawn to so many of the points that I realised that this was the religion for me. What has this to do with Peru? Take 16 teenagers, four teachers and a leader assigned to us from the Vine Trust (a Christian charity based in Scotland). You may not expect two weeks to be long enough to be a life affirming or even life changing but it was. Through the hard work of lifting and creating adobe bricks in the sun shine, the exertion of wheeling full “bogies,” I came to realise that Advice No 27 “Live adventurously…..Let your life speak…” was not beyond my reach. There has grown in Peru a community based on compassion, and the corner stone of Christianity, “Love Thy Neighbour.” The students that worked so hard in Peru were not immune to the community they found themselves in and I am sure each and every one of them has had their lives touched by what they saw happening in such a complex society where the divide between the rich and the poor is so great. In that two weeks I lost the helpless feeling I sometimes get when faced with what seems insurmountable obstacles to justice, fairness and equality. There are people out there doing something for other people. No-one cared why they came, no-one asked any questions about faith, religion, sexuality, marriage or employment; all they cared about was that they were there. For the first time I felt as though I had made a difference and not just by putting my hand in my pocket. The trip to Peru has had such a profound impact on me that I will write even more letters, beginning with the Taiwanese Embassy in London and I will take “the fullest opportunity for the use of (my) your gifts in the service of God….” Maybe my gift to other people is the ability to lift heavy things all day long (but at least that is something)! MM Humour ... In the nine years I have been involved in the editorial process of this magazine I have only had one moment of disquiet about what we were publishing. This was the issue when we likened The Pope to the Chief Dalek. Strangely enough this was the issue about which we received most feedback from the supporting meetings. They are usually silent supporters of our publication. This feedback took the form of ONE (more in sorrow than in anger) comment on how upset a Dual Membership Catholic Quaker had been on seeing it in the meeting house. We were asked to remember that our magazine was used by many meetings as a reminder that Quakers were very welcoming to our community, so the front cover was all they saw of us. We were asked to remember that the meeting houses were used for ecumenical worship and we should be mindful of the offence we were causing by such jokes. Members of the LGBT community are often accused of being flippant and resorting to mockery rather than debate. At Pride we blew kisses to the evangelical protesters and prayed for them to see the Light rather than engaging with them in what would probably have descended into a shouting match. So are there limits when we use humour to make our point, defend our community and generally cheer ourselves up? Is the Pope not able to either laugh at himself or acknowledge the saving grace of laughter? To the people who are persecuted by his followers the ability to laugh is often all that remains as they are ostracised by family and community? Is the pain of one Quaker-Catholic or the offence felt by visitors to our meeting houses worth the denial of the comfort of laughter to QLGF Friends who sometimes feel saddened by the fellowship their ecumenically minded Friends feel towards people who actively hate us. Hate is a strong word but from all I have seen and read I cannot but see that the Pope and many of his followers do hate us both for seeing through their pretentions to liberalism and for daring to say that theirs is not the only authentic form of being a Christian. His followers certainly express that hatred often enough both in private and sometimes in their public actions. I don’t think most Quakers and even most Catholics understand the depth of that persecution. Yes, we as Christians turn the other cheek but in order not to be depressed by the reality of the constant disapproval, Friends will have to live with the fact that sometimes we just have to despise those that persecute us and take the sting out of it all by laughing not with them but at them. Did Jesus ever laugh? He isn’t recorded as having done so. In the Bible, as I recall, only Sarah laughs, and that is at the angels of God. Sarah D Two members of QLGF offered some thoughtful criticism of the article - Other Ed News from Africa ... Extraordinary Kenya ... Sections 162 to 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code criminalize homosexual behaviour and attempted homosexual behaviour between men, which is referred to as “carnal knowledge against the order of nature”. The penalty is 5 to 14 years’ imprisonment. Lesbianism is not specifically illegal although senior government figures have called for lesbians to be arrested. And yet as part of a constitutional reform, Kenya has just confirmed Dr Willy Mutunga, an earring wearing Muslim, as its new Chief Justice. Mutunga has been involved with the Ford Foundation and helped register a gay rights group. Mutunga’s deputy is a woman, Nancy Baraza, whose doctoral thesis was on gay rights. The Guardian reports: Kenya is on the verge of having its “Gene Robinson” moment as parliament prepares to debate and confirm Kenya’s first gay rights chief justice and deputy chief justice. [which it did a few days later]. Dr Willy Mutunga, the nominee for the chief justice position, is the current east Africa representative for Ford Foundation and was involved in facilitating the registration of a gay rights organisation. As if this was not enough, Kenya’s Judicial Service Commission also went on to nominate Nancy Baraza as the deputy chief justice. What is her crime? Nancy has been outed. Not for being gay but for doing her doctoral research at Kenyatta University on gay rights. Needless to say, these nominations have generated the most intense debate surrounding any public appointment in living memory. It has forced a discussion on the issue of gay and gay-rights-affirming people and their suitability for public office. The judiciary, however, is not just about public office, it is the final arbiter between right and wrong in a secular society. It is the new chief justice who will preside over the appointments of judges to a totally new supreme court that will exercise final appellate authority in the land. Is this, the question goes, the kind of responsibility you can entrust to a man and a woman who are not only gay rights advocates, but who are also both divorced, with the chief justice on his second divorce and with his sexual orientation in doubt because he wears a stud in his ear that he is not prepared to shed for the new job? No said the church, but yes said the president and prime minister and, more significantly, the people of Kenya with an 80% affirmative vote in a poll. The nature of the nomination, the ensuing debate and the actual approval by parliament all have extraordinary ramifications not just for gay rights in Kenya but for the national and continental efforts to stem the rise of HIV and Aids. The criminalisation of homosexuality has been described as the “black hole” in HIV and Aids prevention efforts. What may follow in the next 18 months is a constitutional challenge to the laws that criminalise homosexuality, based on the provisions of Kenya’s new constitution, which a legal expert has argued protects gay rights and even gay marriage. This will make Kenya, which is the highest single national recipient of US aid for HIV and Aids, the continental centre for a fully inclusive, evidence-based approach to the prevention and management of HIV/Aids. What, then, led to all this? The nomination and appointment of the new chief justice and deputy chief justice is the culmination of a constitutional change process in Kenya that means to redress the problems of authoritarianism, dictatorship, corruption and the exclusion of the people in participating from the affairs of the state. This process resulted in a referendum on a new constitution on 4 August last year and a promulgation of a new constitution in the same month. Because of perceived widespread corruption in the judicial system, the new constitution provided for a complete overhaul of the judiciary. This involved the resignation of the sitting chief Justice within six months and the nomination of a new chief justice by the Judicial Service Commission for vetting by parliament, after the names had been forwarded to it by the president. It is this process that landed the majority-Christian country with a nominee for chief justice who is Muslim, wears a stud in his left ear and supports gay rights. It has also had the beneficial effect of forcing the country to publicly confront the issues of sexual orientation and the rationality of the laws that criminalise homosexuality. If 80% of the public believe that a supporter of gay rights is qualified to hold the highest judicial office in the land, then which other roles in society can gay people be excluded from? Needless to say, Protestant church leaders on the basis of their “Christian values and beliefs” opposed the nomination. They also called on the president and prime minister to “confirm whether the concerns being raised by Kenyans with regard to the nominees require their intervention’’. The president and the prime minister, however, responded by endorsing the nominations on the same day that the church leaders were calling on them to scrutinise the nominations.Under normal circumstances, what the Christian leaders said should have settled the issues and led to the rejection of the nominees at the presidential level. In a country where homosexual convictions carry a jail sentence of 14 years and are heavily stigmatised, the issue of discussing the merits of candidates who are openly pro-gay rights would not in times past have arisen. Indeed, in 2009, when Esther Murugi, a minister in the office of the president in Kenya, told the participants in a national symposium on HIV/Aids aimed at gay people and sex workers that, “We need to learn to live with men who have sex with other men … we are in the 21st century and things have changed”, there was a national outcry.This time, however, the attack on the chief and deputy chief justice nominees on account of their support for gay rights was met with immediate, angry and animated counter-attacks. The nominees were too well known and too respected for their stellar roles in national transformation and the expansion of civil liberties for it to be otherwise. What has happened in Kenya is truly extraordinary for an African country where homosexuality is criminalised and stigmatised. The confirmation of the nominees, can only give further impetus to discussion of these issues. Nigeria Even before the Women’s World Cup 2011 kicks off this Sunday, the rules have already been broken. This week the New York Times reported that the Nigerian Football Federation has been conducting a witch-hunt to kick women off the national team “not because they were bad players, but because they were lesbians.” For so many young women around the world, playing at the Women’s World Cup is a dream come true. Can you imagine being kicked off your football team because of who you love? This Sunday, Nigeria is going to take the field for the opening game of the Women’s World Cup. Can you sign the petition telling FIFA, football’s international governing body, to publicly condemn this kind of systematic discrimination? Tell them that homophobia has no place in the league. We’ll deliver your comments to FIFA next week, during the games. www.allout.org/fifa This should be a no-brainer for FIFA, which has a long history of standing up to discrimination around the world. In 1961 FIFA expelled South Africa from the World Cup because of its racist apartheid system, readmitting them only in 1991 after the release of Nelson Mandela. In 2001 FIFA passed the Buenos Aires Resolution against racism, and followed it up with an ambitious “Say No to Racism” campaign, in response to the problem of racist taunts hurled at players around the world. And just last year the FIFA president responded to international pressure and apologised for a remark offensive to LGBT people, saying, “it was not my intention and never will be my intention to go into any discrimination ... this is exactly what we are against.” Tanzania Edson “Eddy” Cosmas is a Tanzanian native who came to the United Kingdom to study theology, and applied for asylum because he felt safe here as a gay man. But after filling out his paperwork Eddy was detained, put into the back of a van, and driven directly to an immigration detention center. A judge hastily ruled that there is “no risk” to Eddy, a long-time gay rights activist, in being returned to Tanzania. In fact being gay is punishable by life imprisonment in Tanzania, and a recent crackdown has seen gay and lesbian activists harassed, arrested and detained. “Of course I’m in danger there in my country,” Eddy told us by phone from the Harmondsworth detention centre. “They know who I am. They’ll arrest me when I get back there.” Now because Eddy has been put in a “fast-track” process, he could be sent back to Tanzania at any moment. For LGBT people like Eddy hoping to escape lives of persecution and fear, the UK’s “fast track” system is off the rails. We are joining with our partners at 38 Degrees to demand that UK Home Secretary, Theresa May halt Eddy’s deportation, and immediately end the unfair ‘fast track’ process for LGBT asylum seekers once and for all. Cameroon On 2 March Jean-Claude Roger Mbede was arrested by members of the Secretary of State for Defence (SED) security service while meeting a male acquaintance. Prior to the meeting, his acquaintance had showed the police text messages he had received from Mbede, and informed them they were due to meet. Mbede was taken into custody on suspicion of homosexuality at the Gendarmerie du Lac detention centre in Yaoundé. He was held there for seven days before being charged with homosexuality and attempted homosexuality and transferred to Kondengui Central Prison on 9 March. Mbede appeared before a court (Tribunal de Première Instance) in Yaoundé on 10 and 24 March. On 28 April the court found him guilty of homosexuality and attempted homosexuality and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. His lawyers appealed against the sentence on 3 May. Section 347a of the Cameroonian Penal Code states “Whoever has sexual relations with a person of the same sex shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years and with a fine ranging from 20,000 Francs CFA to 200,000 Francs CFA” (approximately 35 to 350 US dollars). This contravenes the international and regional human rights treaties (including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights) which Cameroon has signed and ratified. Homophobia is endemic in Cameroonian society and even the National Human Rights Commission refuses to recognise and defend the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Arrests, prosecutions and trials of gay men occur on a regular basis. Prisons and other detention centres in Cameroon are overcrowded and conditions are often life-threatening. Medical care and food is often not provided or is inadequate. Prison guards are poorly trained, ill-equipped and their numbers inadequate for a large prison population. Stop Press! Amnesty urges nation to honour human right treaties it has signed as it prepares to try two men for same-sex sexual acts Two men are due to stand trial in Cameroon on charges of homosexuality, prompting criticism from human rights campaigners of the country’s discriminatory laws. Amnesty International demanded the immediate release of the pair, a 19-year-old known only as Jonas and a 20-year-old known as Francky, who were arrested last month in a car outside a nightclub in the capital, Yaounde. They were charged under section 347a, and are being held at Yaounde’s Kondengui central prison. If convicted, they face up to five years behind bars. Dear QLGF This came in through the Amnesty Urgent Action network. People often ask us why QLGF does not campaign more and we wonder whether we could do more when we read about such cases. We support Amnesty and more recently AllOUT in their online campaigns and certainly Mbede will need letters sent in his support in the immediate future. QLGF do not have the resources to replicate the campaigning abilities of Amnesty but we can continue to draw attention to cases such as these and urge you as strongly as possible to spread the word that the battles we have won in this country are still being faced by our community overseas. As the generation who fought for our freedom to love in this country are passing away, we need to remember that it was only in my lifetime that we were similarly persecuted. It is possible to effect change through quiet campaigning and support for victimised campaigners. Please let us know what you would like to see QLGF doing in cases such as these and for our community in countries such as these. SD For more information about Amnesty International UK visit our web site: www.Amnesty.org.uk Snippets Brad Pitt has been invited to join the Gay Men’s Health race in Glasgow this year. He has been asked to signal the start of the race on the 19th of August in Kelvingrove Park. The Glasgow Herald reports that he is due to be filming in the city that day, and as a Gay Rights supporter and benefactor, he has been invited to “flag” the race at the beginning. He has famously said that he will not marry his partner Angelina Jolie until everyone is free to marry who they wish. He has also stated that he believes that “no state should decide who can marry and who cannot.” Page 15: 'Sexual apartheid' of discrimination and oppression ... A bishop from Uganda, presently in Edinburgh, is set to challenge the 'sexual apartheid' of discrimination and oppression against LGBT people at a meeting today. Bishop Christopher Senyonjo is speaking on Saturday 13 August at a meeting entitled 'The worst place in the world to be gay?', a conversation with Amnesty International's John Watson, which is one of 200 events forming the 2011 Festival of Spirituality and Peace in Scotland's capital. The outspoken Ugandan churchman, who has faced ostracism and intimidation for his counselling and advocacy work with LGBT people in Africa, spoke last night after a showing of the powerful film 'Getting Out', at the Filmhouse Cinema, is also preaching at Glasgow's Episcopal Cathedral on Sunday morning, and for evensong at St John's, Princes Street, Edinburgh in the evening. He is also due to appear on the BBC Radio 4 'Sunday' programme next week. The show runs from 7.10am. Hardline politicians, church leaders and community figures in Uganda, Ghana and elsewhere in Africa have whipped up dangerous surges of hatred against gay people in recent years. Uganda considered a bill that would make homosexuality a capital crime. In the midst of this storm, Bishop Senyonjo, an Anglican, has gone against the prevailing winds, campaigning against what he calls ‘sexual apartheid’. While many vociferous African church leaders have taken a strong stance against same-sex relationships, a significant and growing minority, including Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, have argued a strong Christian case for compassion, dignity, inclusion and acceptance within the churches and within wider cultures where homophobia has seemed a norm. Bishop Senyonjo, whom the Huffington Post named ‘one of the ten most influential religious figures in the world’ in 2010, “demonstrates what it means to have conviction and faith enough to side with all those whom Jesus called ‘the least of these my sisters and brothers’,” says Festival of Spirituality and Peace director, the Rev Donald Reid. Bishop Senyonjo spent his entire ministerial career prior to his 1998 retirement in Uganda. From 1974 until 1998, he was the Anglican Diocesan Bishop of West Buganda at Masaka. He completed a DMin at Hartford Theological Seminary, USA, which was key to his understanding of marriage and human sexuality, two areas which would define his later career. Following his retirement from the bishopric, Senyonjo began counselling services for singles and married people. His pastoral work with LGBT people began in 2001. In 2010, he founded St. Paul’s Reconciliation and Equality Centre for LGBTQ/Straight Alliance. Bishop Senyonjo has been a keynote speaker at a number of international human rights conferences, including two at the United Nations in 2010. These two conferences helped to reinstate language protecting LGBT people against “extra-judicial” killings. Bishop Senyonjo is in Edinburgh from 9-16 August 2011. He arrives in San Diego, USA, on 18 August and will be visiting California, Portland, Minnesota, Chicago, Boston, Washington, New Jersey and New York. He will receive the Unitas Award from Union Theological Seminary before leaving the USA on 24 October. * More on Bishop Senyonjo and the Festival here: http://festivalofspirituality.blogspot.com/ [Ekk/3] Snippets “After witnessing same-sex marriages being performed in San Francisco during 2004, King Norodom Sihanouk expressed support for legalizing such unions in Cambodia, though he nor anyone in the government has yet to take any action to legislate for them.” [Wikipedia] Nepal is still waiting to act on its Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage. Pages 16 – 17: Committee Minutes ... ... of a Meeting for Worship for Business held on 18 June 2011 As usual full minutes can be obtained from the clerks Finance Income/expenditure to date Lis tabled income and expenditure figures for the period 1 January 2011 to 13 June, and noted that we shortly will go into deficit for the year, when the bills for the Newsletter are paid. We do, however, have reserves of £7,000. We will need to review our income and expenditure carefully towards the end of the year. Lis reported that the old TSB account has now been closed so that both our bank accounts are held by the Co-operative Bank. Subscription rates for 2012 We agree to defer a decision on subscription rates until our September Committee meeting. Mary Woodward reported that, following the Gathering, a West of Scotland QLGF group has been formed and is thriving. Nominations We are pleased that Roy has accepted the post of National Contact; he will liaise with Sue to arrange handover by Autumn 2011. Nick has agreed that we may put his name forward to the Business Meeting at the Autumn Gathering to undertake design and layout for the newsletter for another year. He would be part of the Communications Team but would not normally attend Committee meetings. We note that we need to appoint a second Gatherings Officer and additional members for the Communications Team, and that we will need to make further appointments in Spring 2012. We noted the names of Friends who may be approached to join the Committee and we ask Gill to email the membership to seek expressions of interest in joining the Committee or assisting in other ways with running QLGF. Gatherings Arrangements for Autumn 2011 and Spring 2012 Alistair reported that he has confirmed arrangements for the Gathering at Milton Keynes on 29 October. We hope we may be able to arrange a friendly dialogue between LGCM and ourselves for this Gathering.Alistair has also been in contact with the Nightingale Centre to confirm charges for our Spring 2012 residential gathering (13-15 April); accommodation will cost £119 per person for a basic room and £149 for en suite. We have already paid a deposit. We have been approached by Dominic Janes of Birkbeck College about the topic “Martyrdom and Homosexuality”, which he is researching. We do not think this would be a suitable topic for a Gathering but we will invite him to write for the Newsletter. We explored the idea of having a “creative and craft” weekend at the Nightingale, and ask for suggestions to go to Alistair and for a feature in the Newsletter. Review of future arrangements for Gatherings We plan to run a day Gathering in Autumn 2012, subject to their being Friends available to organise it. Beyond that, we will review our position at our September Committee meeting and, if we expect to have two Gatherings Officers (subject to appointments to be made a Gathering Business Meetings), we will hope to run a residential Gathering in 2013 (if a venue is available). If we are unable to appoint two Gatherings Officers, we will nevertheless hope to run day Gatherings in 2013. Communications Communications Update Stephen reported that Mairi and he will co-edit the September 2011 newsletter, and that Nick has offered to continue to do layout and design for the newsletter. Sally has set up a Facebook presence for QLGF which can be seen by anyone. John G, Sally, Nick and Stephen have been looking at updating the website and John hopes to report to our September Committee meeting. At present, we lack Friends to do publicity, press and liaison work. Consultation on CPs in religious premises Stephen will send an endorsement by QLGF of the response by Friends House Local Meeting to this consultation. LoveSpirit event 14 Sept. We agree to take part in the LoveSpirit event in London on 14 September, and accept Roy’s offer to run an introduction to Quaker worship and Quaker beliefs. Stephen will revise the QLGF leaflet with up-to-date contact details in time for this event. Contact with LGCM Gill reported that she had held a telephone conversation with Marian Bennett, a Trustee of LGCM, and an attender at High Wycombe Meeting. We agree to try to keep in contact about events and campaigns. Friends House Clerks’ Mailings We agree to prepare information about QLGF for a Friends House Clerks’ Mailing. Gill will draft this and circulate it to the Committee for comments. Presence at YMG 2011 Sarah and Stephen will be attending YMG and will have a stall for QLGF; they have indicated to the Pastoral Care Committee that they will be present. Quaker Lesbian Gathering May 2011 ... 16 of us gathered at Norwich, for what ultimately proved to be an extraordinary week-end. In between the usual fun, food, and companionship, we gave thought to the theme “Equality and Inclusion.” Both the theory and the application. A giant topic, even for a longer week-end. The 16 of us had travelled from a variety of places (in every sense of the word ‘travel’) and after settling in on the Friday night, followed a pattern of workshops, discussion, free time, and community. Some of us spent the free time visiting parts of the Broads, exploring Norwich, making music, and engaging with each other over walks, or rest periods, accompanied by tea and cakes. It strikes me that the group grew out of a need for ‘Equality and Inclusion’, and that despite the advances many of us have seen in our lifetimes, ‘Equality and Inclusion’ are rarely static states, where we can rest on our laurels, and trust that all is well. Locally, Nationally, or Globally. With such thoughts on our minds, it was good to join Norwich Meeting, for Meeting for Worship on the Sunday, and spend time in stillness and reflection, the promptings of the Spirit, and engagement with each other. In our midst we had a ‘stand up’ (or ‘sit down’) comic who entertained us, and we also spent time in a sharing circle, circle dancing (to Bells of Norwich of course) and even found time for a workshop on building self-confidence. So: “Ring out Bells of Norwich, and let the people come and go, all shall be well again, I know ...” Our next gathering will be at Northfield, on 7th-9th October 2011. Angela Hill Your letters ... Dear qlgf complex, or committee. The name has for sometime bothered me but I could come up with nothing better. But still I have a few thoughts: For an enquirer, which I was for many months, before I sent in the application, I remember the more welcoming nature of the word ‘fellowship’, rather than the words ‘club’ or ‘society’ etc., both of which imply ‘completeness now’; even ‘visitors welcome’ softens the meaning only a little. As soon as you add other letters like the Americans have done, the initials on their use alone gets cumber some. For the four letter QLGF it is hardly worth bothering. Though there is the rather poor sounding word ‘legbit’, which covers most of the present name. I am not a word forger of any skill. Martin (our best wishes to Martin who has been ill) Name thoughts Rainbow Quakers For Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Friends, and anyone else interested Hi. Do you want contributions for the next issue? Virginia Yes Virginia, we do want contributions for the next issue. Bears and woods come to mind. Pages 18 – 21: Canterbury, a Quaker Tale ... At the historic 2011 Great Quaker Shindig, we agreed to (abolish capitalism and replace with something nicer and much more green, although with more meetings)(make the Property Committee accountable to the Trustees)(ask Jeremy Clarkson to give the next Swathmore Lecture)(delete as appropriate). Actually I turned up utterly pessimistic about the sustainability issue (telling 2.3 billion Chinese and Indians what to do when we won’t even turn off the lights in our own office blocks) and left reasonably challenged to do more and trust a way will be found. We met in a giant dark blue plastic tent, recycled from Domestos bottles, which was stifling dark and hot in the blazing sunny weather and alarmingly creaky, loud and dark in the rainy weather, in either case enlivened by burning spotlights that caused some Friends to swoon. The resemblance to a circus tent was apt. Although the Recording Clerk turned up with a bassoon, neither he nor the clerks of the meeting wore top hats and red coats, nor indeed were moustaches twirled in a dramatic fashion. There were tigers and elephants, but only if you went on the trip to Howletts Zoo. (Its an Aspinall Zoo based on the premise that the animals are given a better chance to have a go at the staff, somewhat alarmingly.) My suggestion that a Swanee whistle was played every time the clerk used the phrase “Arrangements Committee thought it would be helpful…” was not taken up. A key highlight apart from seeing, but not having time to talk to, about 200 people you knew somewhat, was the Quaker Listed Groups Fair. This had 60 stalls, which suggests sixty projects and organisations, which means if they all follow church government, added to our local meetings, the Society has around 600 nominations committees, or around a minimum 1800 Friends at any one time trying to find someone to hand a job to. Which is around the number of Friends at Canterbury. If you have not found and played “Unable, unwilling” (Dragons-teeth games) the stunning unconstructive card game that takes the Michael out of nominations, please do so. Anyway as ever QLGF played where are the drawing pins and why have they put us here and why do we bother? Well, actually, we needed to bother. A stream of Friends came up... “My grandson is 16, he has just come out and his parents hate it, and they are in touch with a church in America that claim they can heal him... what should I do?” “X works for Friends and wants to change gender... what should s/he do?” “My daughter is 40, a fundamentalist Christian, she is coming out as a lesbian but thinks its sinful. How can I help her?” “Have you a local group in Rockall/Dogger Bank...” “I haven’t heard from you for ages are you still going...” “Good heavens the newsletter is funny.” [OK only a couple of those but give us a break]. Being next to the Friend, we pushed the newsletter with the punchline ‘Much funnier than the Friend’, but several people said to us solemnly, ‘that’s not very difficult, is it?’ which put us back in our box. And some classics. “Why doesn’t QLGF make more noise?” (“Are you a member? Are you volunteering to do anything...”) Yes, unfortunately, lots of evidence that we are still needed, in particular the trickle of straight men who seemed to think that York brought on the Kingdom and there was nothing now they needed to do except patronise us and be vulgar about transsexuals. The Fair has the usual range of exciting organisations like the Quaker Shorts Historical Archive, seeking to preserve Quaker casual wear for the nation. Emboldened by archiving the shorts given to George Fox by the Governor of Bermuda, they have launched a national appeal. Being next to the Quaker Antediluvian Foundation, which wants to dig George Fox up and expel him for liberalism, the sparks flew. Meanwhile the Friends Photo-synthetic Fellowship argued with the vegans that really Quakers need to sprout leaves to genuinely save the planet. But to the implement-ation of York 2009 and the most equal same sex marriage we can manage. A special ‘surgery’ was held where we chewed over whether the draft makes meetings for clearness more compulsory for divorcees than the undivorced, whether the language buys too much into state approval, and whether a Registering Officer can serve across area meeting boundaries. Who says Quakers don’t know how to have a good time? Then to the session where the truly excellent clerk told us what was what (clone her). And the first comment on the draft was ... oh the same old dreary stuff. The infallibility of the dictionary, how we were breaking the law, how this Friend didn’t recognise marriage in it... on and on. And then Friends, in the gentle discipline of the Spirit, administered a series of loving slapdowns. A registering officer at her joy in helping a same sex couple. A black Friend on how his marriage to his white wife would have been against the law in many countries. And were LGBT Friends involved in these processes (much smiles from the Yearly Meeting Clerk and Assistant Recording Clerk at the table...) A lesbian who spoke of her liberation in being married according to the ways of Friends... a step through into a new spiritual reality... A Friend whose son had married a woman who could not have children (“so Friends, a valid marriage without procreation, but clearly still a valid marriage”). The Friend who bought the concern in 1988 on how a step at a time we were getting there. And "Hope So" it went through, to stand until next year, when the Government has decided to implement the regulations and consult on same sex marriage qua marriage, and we will have to redo the chapter again. and again it felt right to be here and with Friends. The text was approved but with Church Government Advisory Group (toot on the pipe organ) left with some thoughts for the future. For Quakers are funny and irritating but the Gathering has been enjoyable, and challenging, and for some of us, even lifechanging perhaps... lifting our depression about the End of the World... and we can come and not be obsessed with That Issue if we don't want to be. And some interesting discussions among the poly Quakers, but that is for another time. SC Tomsk fails to stop Lesbian & Gay Film Festival ... Siberian LGBT outwit the Authorities as Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Goes AHEAD! Side by Side LGBT International Film Festival continuing its 2011 regional tour in Russia’s provinces came up against strong opposition from authorities in Tomsk, a city located in Siberia. The third of such regional film festivals (two having successfully taken place in Novosibirsk, 19-22 May and Kemerovo, 20-22 May, 2011) Tomsk proved itself to be not as tolerant as its neighbouring Siberian counterparts. Hours prior to the start of the festival, venues including the Academy of Photography and Hotel Bon Apart, received telephone calls from authorities (as yet unidentified individuals) threatening them with measures against them if they continued to support the film festival. Festival organizers, in spite of the short notice, moved the festival to an alternative venue. The festival was held in its entirety and over the course of the three days 24-26 June, conducted screenings and discussions addressing a range of issues including coming out and LGBT rights. Guests of the festival were Iben Haar Anderson and Minna Grooss Danish directors of the film “Hello, My Name is Lesbian” who took part in a Q & A with the audience. The public was informed about venue changes through social network sites, SMS messaging and by word of mouth. Although there was a degree of influence, these limitations did not influence greatly on attendance figures and the festival opened with a full audience and the remaining festival days were highly attended. A major outcome of the weekend’s events was the attention the festival attracted in the media. A local channel TV2 covered the unfolding Friday events in their entirety delivering objective news reports. The following day Festival Director Gulya Sultanova participated in a 10 minute interview at prime time on the channel’s news program. An unexpected guest speaker of the festival was Sergey Kuzmin organizer of Pink Flamingo the very first LGBT film festival held in Tomsk in 1996. At an impromptu talk and audience question and answer Sergey told of his experiences and the attempt to hold Pink Flamingo. “The film festival faced strong opposition,” he recalls “throughout the 7 days of the festival one hundred or so members of the Baptist church picketed the cinema standing with placards and icons forcing festival visitors to pass through their barricade.” In the days after the festival Sergey was arrested and seriously beaten by police sustaining injuries that have had long term effects on his health to this day. The regulations charter of Astarta the NGO through which Pink Flamingo was organized were confiscated by the authorities. To this day they have not been returned. This, coupled with the psychological stress and physical injuries incurred by key organizers put an end to LGBT activism in Tomsk in the immediate years after. http://www.bok-o-bok.ru/news.asp?lan=1&tid=601 Ed: those of us of a certain age would say “Good for Tomsk but was never sure about Uncle Bulgaria” Homosexual zebra finches form long-term bond ... Same-sex pairs of monogamous birds are just as attached and faithful to each other as those paired with a member of the opposite sex. The insight comes from a study of zebra finches - highly vocal, colourful birds that sing to their mates, a performance thought to strengthen the pair's bond. Scientists found that same-sex pairs of finches sang to and preened each other just like heterosexual pairs. The study is reported in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology. Lead researcher Julie Elie from the University of California Berkeley said that the research showed that “relationships in animals can be more complicated than just a male and a female who meet and reproduce, even in birds” Dr Elie and her colleagues are interested in zebra finches' behaviour. The birds establish life-long relationships and are highly social; males sing to their mates, the birds preen each other and pairs share a nest. “I'm interested in how animals establish relationships and how [they] use acoustic communication in their social interactions,” Dr Elie told BBC Nature. “My observations of [them] led me to this surprising result: same-sex individuals would also interact in affiliative manners, like male-female pairs.” Dr Elie decided to look more closely at the formation of these bonds and the behaviour of finches in same-sex pairs.First, she and her colleagues, Clementine Vignal and Nicolas Mathevon from the University of Saint-Etienne, raised young finches in same-sex groups. More than half of the birds paired up with another bird of the same sex. The team then closely monitored the birds for signs that they had bonded fully.Bonded birds, Dr Elie explained, perch side by side, nestled together. They also greet each other by “nuzzling” beaks. In the next stage of their study, the scientists brought novel females to a group of bonded male-male pairs. Out of eight males that were engaged in same-sex pair-bonds, five ignored the females completely and continued to interact with their male partner. The findings indicate that, even in birds, the drive to find a mate is far more complicated than simply the need to reproduce. “A pair-bond in socially monogamous species represents a cooperative partnership that may give advantages for survival,” said Dr Elie. “Finding a social partner, whatever its sex, could be a priority.” There are many other examples of same-sex pairing in the avian world. In monogamous gulls and albatrosses, it gives females the chance to breed without a male partner. “Female partners copulate with a paired male then rear the young together,” Dr Elie explained. In captivity, there have been cases of male penguins forming long-term bonds when there are females available. Perhaps the most famous of these was two male chinstrap penguins in NY Central Park Zoo, named Roy and Silo. They bonded and paid no attention to females in their enclosure for at least a year. They even built a nest together and incubated and hatched a fertilised egg donated to them by one of the keepers. BBC Nature Life and Times of Stella Browne: Feminist and Free Spirit. Lesley A. Hall (I.B.Tauris 2011) Stella Browne, almost alone of the British campaigners for sex education between the wars, bothered to take the message beyond a cosy circle of liberal intellectuals and the metropolitan elite. In doing so she is remembered by working class communities in some of the most economically deprived areas of Great Britain while those such as Marie Stopes who were more moderate in their demands and less outspoken in their campaigning, are better remembered in the history books. This admirable biography takes an uncompromising character and shows how by relentless hard work and fearless commitment one person’s voice can be influential in changing the perceptions of a generation. When invited to give evidence before a select committee on the reform of the law relating to abortion in 1938, it was Stella’s personal experiential testimony, that she herself was a living witness to the fact that abortion was not always detrimental to the health of the woman concerned, that stands out among the more bland contributions of the more high profile campaigners. Stella may be little known because most of her campaigning was done under the auspices of the BSSSP (British Society for the Study of Sexual Psychology), one of those small fussy organisations with almost more initials in their name than members. It is from the archives of this organisation that most of the research of this volume has been drawn. As Secretary for many years, consequently, a picture of Stella as a picky bureaucrat emerges. Yet when seen through the eyes of others in the letters and diaries of her contemporaries she emerges as a warmer, different kind of woman, concerned about what she calls the “Daily Mail” approach to her subject and deeply sympathetic to the women who shyly approach her after every speaking engagement to ask if she can possibly help with their personal problems. It is through the records of the oral historians who captured the memories of people in the 1960s who could recall her visits to such communities as the deeply socially conservative Rhondda Valley in the 1930s that she emerges most vividly. I was inspired by this book more than I expected to be as on first sight it appears too academic to be uplifting. It stands as a monument of the achievement of one woman and a small organisation working quietly behind the scenes, not reaching out for a high profile, wary of those, such as the private abortionists who would use them for profit, caring about the communities often forgotten and above all not afraid to just go forward full steam on a controversial issue. Would that there were more like her. SJD Page 22: Towards a QLGF view of sex ... One of the interesting diversions on the committee was Quaker Values and Sexual Behaviour. We looked at a Gathering to look at sexual relationship ethics in a Quaker context, thinking that it might be QLGF thinking a bit ahead of the curve. Maybe we’d end up with a pamphlet, or some Queries, or a conference... or just a lot of people throwing things. We held the Gathering, it was enjoyable and interesting, but to be honest the matter then stalled. Partly, it stalled because we found the Fellowship divided between those interested in talking about sexual ethics and those not. Partly, because none of the women likely to come, wanted to have any discussion in a mixed gender group, and it was hard to see how any QLGF view or action plan can arise if that was the case. Partly because we all have different yuck factors – and different enthusiasms for discussing matters in abstract. Some of us have been in groups which talk about this stuff, would be interested to hear Quaker approaches, but frankly don’t want to spend vast amounts of time on it. And partly because purely gay men and purely lesbians don’t need to have a dialogue about sexual ethics because they aren’t playing on the same pitch. Ironically I think that new thinking around sexuality in a Quaker context will come from Young and Younger friends, who, whatever their sexuality, seem happy to share thoughts and feelings on this. So QLGF is now not where the discussion will occur. Shame. I have been re-reading Playing in the Presence by Jackie Leach Scully. Ostensibly about genetic science and its ethical dilemmas, it actually asks broader questions about creation, decision making, and ethics. I can only briefly cite a couple of points I think are helpful about sexual, or indeed, any, ethics. JLS talks about professional ethicists who tend to concentrate on decisions and criteria ... and who tend to set out theories by which problems should be judged. I know one such who always asks if you are French German or English, i.e. do you start from Rights, Duties or Consequences? “Working out a moral orientation is not the same thing as elaborating an ethical argument... “I think what matters most to someone devising a workable moral structure is keeping faith with his or her core values at each stage of the process. Quaker core values are things such as the sacredness of each person, the importance (some would say sacredness) of all creation, relationship, truth-telling, acceptance of responsibility, freedom, justice, protecting the vulnerable and valuing diversity. By values I mean the often unarticulated foundation of our moral ideal; the images colours and flavours of the type of life we want to lead. Values define the goals – the places we want to get to. Ethical principles on the other hand define the tactics we might use to get there. A principle is not a rule nor in theological language, a command from God.... ethical principles are artificial aids for those times when we are tired or frightened or defensive, and at risk of falling short of our ideals.” P74-75 Playing in the Presence. I think it is helpful to note that when JLS speaks about values, “ ... my theology is consistant with a continuing creation and a creator active within and beyond it”. SC Gay Friendly Meetings Well, we hope they all are. But Roy, the new National Contact, is often asked for meetings which have openly gay or lesbian people attending and where newcomers can expect to run into such, if that is an issue for them. Any such suggestions to him. And if there are any meetings known to be dodgy, then send those to him too, although all such known to the committee usually involves warnings about particular individuals. Page 23: God, Sex, and Gender - an Introduction by Adrian Thatcher ... This isn’t the sort of book* I usually read. First, it’s a textbook. Second, it’s not just a textbook, it’s a theology textbook. An finally, the author subscribes to conventional theology – virgin birth, resurrection, sacraments, atonement, and the trinity. When I dipped into it, however, I was hooked. The book takes the student step-by-step through the theology of sexuality, gender, marriage, celibacy, chastity, same sex relationships, and “sexual min-orities” (bisexual, intersex or transgender people). Roman Catholic theo-logy is based upon scripture and tradition, but the Anglicans add to these two, reason, and many of the other churches add a fourth, experience – though not necessarily in the Quaker sense. I am no theologian, and. although I could (mostly) follow Thatcher’s arguments when I was reading them, I am not able easily to retain or reproduce them. So this is a bald summary, and you might wish to read the book yourself – it can be borrowed from the Woodbrooke library (shelfmark 261.835 THA). Initially, Thatcher notes that our understanding of sexuality – that there are two sexes – was not shared by our forebears, who saw male-female and masculine-feminine as on a continuum. Since male/masculine were superior, men had to work hard to demonstrate their masculinity and to keep “the others” in their place. This is the context in which the church developed its theology. He examines what theology has to say about sexuality and gender, noting the inconsistencies in scripture and tradition as it has evolved over time. He suggests that we need to see the Bible as a witness to God’s revelation in Christ but not as a moral handbook; and that we need to remember that tradition is not just handed down to us, we can make it for those who come after us. He then looks at what the Bible has to say about same-sex relationships, and what the churches teach. He notes the mistranslations, the difficult passages, and the misuse of specific stories to justify homophobia. He also refers to the accounts of same-sex love, such as David and Jonathan and Ruth and Naomi. From there, he looks at what tradition, reason (especially so-called natural law), and experience can contribute to the argument. He concludes that tradition can change, and that neither reason nor experience objectively justify discrimination. Later chapters look at virginity and celibacy, contraception and marriage, and in each he unpicks the inconsistencies of traditional theology. I am not sure why I ended up reading this densely argued book through to the end – but I think it was because it was a revelation to see that a theologian with conventional beliefs could arrive at an inclusive theology that not only embraced same-sex relationships, but bisexual, intersex and transgender people too! Many Quakers will say we don’t need this theological argument; we know that the Gospels are about love, and not about rigid adherence to “laws”, and that God (or whatever we call our experience) continues to teach us how to love. But, being a Friend who works closely with ministers from other churches, I am gratified to find that there are other ways of constructing a theology of sex and gender than that of the majority of the churches… perhaps they will discover them soon. Gill Coffin * Thatcher, A. (2011) God, Sex, and Gender: an introduction, Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, ISBN: 978-1-4051-9370-2