Bishop of Oxford says church should marry gay couples
The Bishop of Oxford has said Church of England clergy should be able to bless and marry gay couples. The Right Reverend Dr Steven Croft said he was sorry his views on same-sex marriage were “slow to change” and had “caused genuine hurt, disagreement and pain”.
In an essay, he said clergy should also be allowed to marry a same-sex partner if they wished. By law no Church of England minister can bless or marry gay couples. He is the most senior cleric in the Church of England to so far speak out in favour of same-sex marriage.
The essay, Together in Love and Faith, sets out the ways Bishop Croft’s own views on same-sex relationships have changed over the last decade. “I need to acknowledge the acute pain and distress of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the Church,” he wrote. “I am sorry that, corporately, we have been so slow as a Church to reach better decisions and practice on these matters. “I am sorry that my own views were slow to change and that my actions, and lack of action, have caused genuine hurt, disagreement and pain.”
He added: “Any settlement must be founded on love and respect: love and respect for LGBTQ+ people and their families within and beyond the Church, love and respect for those who take different views. “This love must be the hallmark of our debates and conduct through this season”. In September, the daughter of the late Desmond Tutu was barred by the Church of England from leading the funeral of her late godfather in Shropshire because she is married to a woman.
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Gay Republican wins New York seat in general election
Republican George Santos is the winner in the race for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, beating Democrat Robert Zimmerman and flipping the seat from blue to red, NBC News projected. The contest marked the first time two openly gay congressional candidates had gone head to head in a general election.
With 89% of precincts reporting Wednesday morning, Santos had 54.2%, while Zimmerman had 45.8%. Santos took to Twitter on early Wednesday morning to celebrate his victory. “We did it! #NY03 has spoken! I promised one thing throughout this entire campaign: to be your champion in DC,” he wrote. “Thank you for this opportunity to be your voice!”
Santos will succeed Democrat Tom Suozzi, who left Congress last year in an unsuccessful bid for governor. He will also become the first openly LGBTQ non-incumbent Republican elected to Congress. Two former GOP House members — Steve Gunderson of Wisconsin and Jim Kolbe of Arizona — won re-election after they came out (or, in Gunderson’s case, having been outed). Former Republican Reps. Mark Foley of Florida and Aaron Schock of Illinois came out as gay after they resigned from the House.
In Poland, the LGBT community scores a point
For the first time, a homosexual couple “married” civilly abroad has had their union recognized by the Supreme Administrative Court, a decision which could contribute to changing the legislation in a country which has so far resisted legalization of “marriage for all.”
Catholic Poland, attached to traditional values, has been wavering since the court decision of November 3, 2022. But let’s go back to the story from the beginning: Jakub and Dawid entered into a civil union in Madeira in 2017. For five years, the two activists have been trying to have their “marriage” recognized in a Poland which has so far refused to legalize same-sex unions.
In 2018, the civil registry of Warsaw refused the steps taken by the two men who then turned to the justice system. After losing at first instance, the Supreme Administrative Court finally decided to grant their request, relying on a legal void existing in the text of the Polish Constitution itself. The latter indeed stipulates in article 18 that “the Republic of Poland safeguards and protects marriage as a union of woman and man, the family, motherhood and the quality of parents.”
According to the magistrates who judged the case, there would not be an explicit and formal prohibition to regulate and give a legal framework to homosexual relations.
The judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court was welcomed by the LGBT community, which sees there an opportunity to advance its cause, by encouraging many “couples” to go to neighboring Germany, where “marriage for all” has been legal since October 1, 2017. Ultimately, the goal is to make the Polish state bend by pushing it to legalize same-sex unions.
Straight man who wears skirts slams LGBT community for people thinking he’s gay
A married heterosexual influencer, who has challenged gender norms by wearing skirts and high heels to work every day for years, has blamed the LGBTQI community for everyone thinking that he’s gay. Mark Bryan, a 62-year-old American living in Germany claimed that gay people have made it harder for him.
Bryan, an influencer who’s developed a following for his outfit choices and wardrobe aesthetic, believes clothing is genderless and the clothes he wears does not reflect his sexuality or personality. During a conversation with Queer Eye: Germany’s Avi Jakobs in a new docu-series Beyond Fashion, Bryan told the beauty guru that he did not want to be associated with the LGBTQI community.
“I try to separate myself from the [LGBTQI] community because of the gay community that wore skirts and high heels before I did. I feel like they actually made it worse for me, being straight because now I’m assumed to be gay”, Bryan said. The series’ first episode is entitled ‘Hat mode ein geschlect?‘, which translates ‘Does fashion have gender?’ “I don’t really think that I’m fighting with you, but I’m not fighting against you, either,” Bryan claimed. The influencer asserted that LGBTQI people were to blame for the challenges they’ve faced and have made it “difficult for themselves by just being more flamboyant.”