Last time the Equal Employment ordinance was up before the City Council, many of us clergy became alarmed that the rhetoric used by the opposition did not stay grounded in rational, civic discourse but engaged in hurtful, threatening language that has again and again resulted in violence to the LGBT community, particularly youths.  The month before Omaha’s contentious city council meeting, a young man in Norman, Oklahoma attended a similar contentious city council meeting.  There the resolution was adopted by the city council, but due to what he had heard in the meeting from Christian ministers in opposition, the young man went home and killed himself.

I don’t pretend to change people’s views of human sexuality, though I believe that over time they will come to the position of full equality, as many have done on race and gender.  However, what I do argue passionately for is that all people cease their harmful and destructive language and behavior.  And I further recommend that everyone take the time to educate themselves on these issues, to read the information that is widely available and seek to understand, through compassion and empathy at the very least, the experience of their LGBT fellow Christians and citizens. 

I hope we can find common ground and engage in ecumenical dialogue, but I will continue to contest the sins of homophobia and heterosexism and the violence and abuse they lead to.