Gays in the news (Gay sin then “ew”s)

Well, we are a persevering bunch, aren't we? Open the newspaper and you're bombarded with gay drama from politics to church to hate crimes. If only there were an island where all the gay people could retreat and seek shelter; oh right, that's Manhattan.

Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria was recently quoted in the Lakeland Ledger as "calling the growing acceptance of gay relationships a 'satanic attack' on the church" (I can see the new Fox show now: "Exorcist Eye for the Queer Guy"). Perhaps the term "attack" is lost in translation; usually I think of forcible entry and take-over. Since when have queens and queers attempted to overrun and ruin the church by means of attack? Ironic that people in Nigeria are sentenced to death by stoning for committing sodomy (http://www.afrol.com/articles/16722); perhaps Akinola should reconsider the meaning of the word "attack".

All this drama for the Episcopalians prompted Rowan Williams, the Anglican spiritual leader (in the Episcopal church I think this means leading a modest clap to organ music) to suggest a two-tier system of membership, with branches that ordain partnered gays given a lesser status.

Lesser status, indeed. Christmas commercials pound the radio advertising goods only for straight couples. The erotica and relationship section at Books-A-Million should really be entitled "Gays-be-gone"- not a drop of homo-anything (ironically making the section highly homogenous, haha). Thank you Mrs. Williams, for perpetuating our already publicly acknowledged and accepted discriminatory political and social policies that exclude gay people and their rights. After all, Blacks were not given equal status until after the Civil Rights Movement (and still do not truly have it). The queers can wait their turn.

So kudos to the Episcopal church for trying to make it through this rough patch in its growth and reach out to diverse populations. Changes in religion are always rough, especially when some people mask their anger as conviction. My advice? Well … what would you do with an emerging tree in the middle of a tangled thicket?

Cut back the thorns and dead wood that hold you down: then let yourselves heal, and reach for the sky.