a call to affirm transgender people - standing with Sorèl

In the face of wider societal backlash, a fellow transgender Anglican priest in Australia (the Revd Sorèl Coward - pictured with my wife and I above) has been refused a license to officiate - this at a time when trans people need all the help we can get, and when we were explicitly excluded from national church ‘same sex marriage’ discussions (the ostensible reason for Sorèl’s rejection),   This is such a confused decision by the Archbishop of Adelaide (who is also the Primate, i.e senior Australian bishop, of the Australian Anglican Church) that it is hard to know where to begin or end with the questions it raises.  But now it is in the public sphere, I at least will ask some of them - and I hope as many people as possible will do so too.   It is a direct consequence of official Church refusal to engage appropriately with the complexity of human gender and sexuality, and how little gender and sexually diverse people are even allowed to contribute our expert wisdom and experience.  It is potentially another step to narrow sectarianism and such sad treatment of a lovely person who, ironically, has both the professional expertise and personal experience to help the Church grow in these matters. The affirming model of trans care is clearly vital to anyone with the eyes to see - and this certainly doesn’t involve using people’s long established loving marriages (blessed in Church for God’s sake!) against them.  It is more than time for the Church and others to do all that is possible to address the deficit of transgender care and celebration.

Initial coverage of this novel problematising of transgender Anglicans can be found here and here.  My wife and I, as married Anglican priest in  good standing, have written today to the Archbishop of Adelaide - a letter which can be found below (or downloaded here).

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