Reflection on Amendment 10-A

I’d like to share a story with you: my coming out story. A few years ago, I was sitting around a table, drinking beer with friends, and the topic of sexuality came up. And I said, “you know, I think I might not be straight because I’ve noticed that I feel attracted to women.” It was the first time I had ever said that out loud to anyone. That night, I remember feeling celebrated by the people who were with me, and excited about my future. The Table around which we sat was one of the round tables in the back room at the bar down the street, and the People who were gathered around it were members of the Worship Planning Team.

I am aware that not everyone, not all Presbyterians, feel the same way about the ratification of Amendment 10-A, or more specifically, about ordaining LGBTQ folk. That being said, in my journey, I became Queer when I became Presbyterian. In my life, I don’t know how to be one of those without being the other. And it is this faith community that has held me in both of these identities.

As Presbyterians, we will “seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.”

The LGBTQ community will also seek justice, but we walk with Pride, and with God.

And I wonder: aren’t the similarities striking, between the work of the PC(USA) and that of the Queer community? . . . I believe that we, as people of faith, are called to recognize the humanity of all people, and to work for the full inclusion of everyone in all aspects of society.

For “all are children of God though Christ Jesus . . . There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus.”