Sexuality and Spirituality by Warren Hartley

I had the privilege a few weeks ago to be asked to participate in a radio debate panel for a radio station in Manchester called Gaydio.  It is one of only 2 radio stations in the UK which broadcast specifically to the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community.  Our topic was a somewhat contentious one, sexuality and spirituality.  This subject seems to be almost at the forefront of church, inter-church and interfaith discussions right across the globe.  Can you  be gay and christian or gay and Muslim, Buddhist or any other faith?  

The panel was comprised by a Quaker, Roman Catholic, Muslim, Anglican vicar, agnostic and myself, an Anglican layperson.  There was also a small audience  with a Hindu, self style lapsed Jewish Buddhist, an evangelical lay pastor and a transgender woman.  So we were a very diverse group with very diverse points  of view. 

The debate was chaired by Mike Shaft from BBC Radio Manchester.  We kicked off with the big question. Can you have faith and be gay?  Of course my response and the response of all the panelists was an emphatic yes.  The two are hardly incompatible, certainly no more so than being heterosexual and christian, black and christian, short and christian or blond and christian!  I didn't always used to think so, but I've been on a journey of discovery.  A journey of  self acceptance of accepting the person whom God has created.  It hasn't been  easy and the journey is very far from finished.  I think what I've learnt most  is that life and faith are a journey and not a destination, I will constantly learn, change and develop, get it right and quite often get it wrong but the minute I think I've got it all figured out is the time when I'll have it most wrong! 

The debate went very well indeed and has been broadcast today 19/2/11.  It has been so important to do this, as it can be as difficult to talk to other LGBT  people about your faith as it can be to talk to people of faith about your sexuality.  I not only look forward to the day when it will cease to matter what the gender of my partner is and only the quality of our love, but also to a church where all are truly welcomed.  I'm so blessed to be able to be part of a parish where this already happens, where we are a community that journey together discovering the reality of our God.