Church of England passes motions to support transgender people and denounce conversion therapy

gaywrites:

Last week, leaders in the Church of England passed two measures signaling their growing support for LGBTQ people. 

The first was a vow to welcome and support transgender people; the church also said that they would consider creating services to mark when a person begins their transition. The second was a condemnation of conversion therapy.

Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes told the assembly that the world needs to hear the church say that LGBTQ identity is not a crime or a sin.

“We don’t need to engage people in healing therapy if they are not sick,” he said.  

While the two motions were celebrated by members of the church, some accused the Church of England of moving too slowly on other issues important to queer British Christians. In response to a Synod vote in February that rejected a report affirming heteronormative teachings about marriage, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Church of England’s two most senior bishops, called for a “large-scale teaching document around the subject of human sexuality.”

The process of putting the document together will involve a series of workshop and study groups, and is expected to last up to three years.

This is important. Every step matters. 

Church of England passes motions to support transgender people and denounce conversion therapy