The Anglican Communion rebukes American, Canadian and Scottish churches that stray from its party line against same-sex marriage, but remains silent as conservative African churches ignore the Communion’s call for an end to homophobic prejudice, violence and criminal laws targeting LGBT people. LGBTI equality activist the Rev. Colin Coward challenged those positions in a talk … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Church of England
Be brave, Anglicans; oppose Jamaica’s anti-gay law
It’s high time for Anglican bishops, priests and lay people in Jamaica to pluck up enough courage and compassion to support the decriminalisation of gay Jamaicans, says the Rev. Colin Coward, founder of the Anglican LGBTI advocacy group Changing Attitude. After attending Montego Bay Pride in Jamaica last month, Coward reflected on the shared history … Continue reading
Anglicans must fight anti-LGBT abuses they once promoted
As a lawyer working for the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBT) people in my homeland of Jamaica, I am sadly accustomed to receiving death threats. However, when a particularly vulgar and graphic email promised to immediately end my life if I didn’t cease speaking out against homophobic abuse, I was … Continue reading
Canterbury rally to Anglican leaders: Listen to LGBTI people
African LGBTI activists, church members and their supporters are organizing a trip to Canterbury, England, tomorrow to deliver a message to Anglican Church leaders who are meeting there: Africans urge Anglican primates to listen to LGBTI people Date: Friday 15/01/2016 Time : 1pm-2:30pm Venue: Canterbury Cathedral Cathedral House 11 The Precincts Canterbury CT1 2EH United … Continue reading
‘Barbaric’ Anglican schism would not threaten LGBTI progress
Observers and members of the worldwide Anglican Communion, comprising churches that trace their roots back to the Church of England, are watching to see whether the Communion, representing a total of 85 million Christians, will break apart this week over the issue of inclusion or exclusion of LGBTI people. At this week’s meeting of Anglican … Continue reading
Church of England to blame for anti-gay Nigeria, Uganda?
The Rev. Richard Kirker protested today that an Erasing 76 Crimes blog post (“Anglicans’ LGBTI schism: Archbishop’s realism or bad idea?”) erred in listing the Church of England among the inclusive churches of the Anglican Communion. Further, he stated, the Church of England is partly to blame for “extreme forms of homophobia in … Uganda and … Continue reading
Anglicans’ LGBTI schism: Archbishop’s realism or bad idea?
The 80-million-member Anglican Communion of churches that are descended from the Church of England has been divided for more than a decade into mutually hostile anti-gay and gay-friendly churches. Now, according to the communion’s spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, it’s time to put an end to the pretense that the rigidly anti-homosexuality Anglican … Continue reading
Petition to archbishops: End anti-gay purge in Kenya
An online petition to two Anglican archbishops seeks an end to an anti-gay purge of allegedly homosexual priests in Kenya and an open invitation to LGBTI people to join the Anglican church. The petition, launched on Change.org by Anglo-Nigerian activist Davis Mac-Iyalla, is addressed to Eliud Wabukala, archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, and … Continue reading
Seethingly angry at anti-gay distortions of Christian teachings
The Rev. Colin Coward, MBE, director of Changing Attitude England, writes on Facebook: I feel incredibly angry today. I’ve been chatting for the last hour and a half with a gay Nigerian friend, a quiet, thoughtful, stable young man who allowed himself to trust a ‘friend’ who invited him to a café this morning. It … Continue reading
Stemming Britain’s tide of exported homophobia
I was proud and elated to witness the first same-gender weddings in the U.K. last week. The historic event got me thinking about what Britain could/should do to help its former colonies achieve full recognition of the rights of LGBT people. It is my thesis that the U.K. has an ethical responsibility to address Jamaican … Continue reading