Sydney Archbishop Apologises For ‘Mistakenly’ Promoting Gay Evangelical
The Anglican archbishop of Sydney has apologised to the clergy after “mistakenly” promoting an event by a gay evangelical in the diocese’s newspaper.
The Catholic archdiocese printed an advertisement in their Southern Cross newspaper, which promoted gay rights campaigner Jayne Ozanne’s upcoming talk entitled Unashamedly Gay. Unashamedly Christian, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
Trigger Warning: This story discusses suicide ideation, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.
Jayne Ozanne is the director of the Ozanne Foundation, an organisation that works with religious leaders and faith groups across the world with the aim of protecting the rights of LGBTQI people.
Ozanne founded the Ban Conversion Therapy coalition and is a gay evangelical who has gained prominence for fighting for the inclusion of queer people, particularly those of religious faith.
What Is The Archbishop Afraid Of?
The advertisement for her talk was taken down from the online edition and replaced with a photograph of a sunset.
Archbishop Kanishka Raffel published an announcement to the clergy, declaring his regret over his decision to accept the advertisement.
In the newsletter, Archbishop Raffel apologised for causing “distress” to the clergy and affirmed that the editorial process would go under review to prevent mistakes like this from happening in future. “I do not support the views of Ms Ozanne, and I do not recommend attendance at the event,” Archbishop Raffel said.
Archbishop Raffel said that the ad reflected a position from the diocese that was “not consistent with the Bible”.
“Ms Ozanne has recently participated in the UK General Synod which rejected the clear teaching of scripture, putting itself at odds with the vast majority of the world’s Anglicans,” he said in a statement.
“Looks like I’m creating waves in Sydney before I’ve even arrived- clergy have been told not to attend,” Ozanne posted on Twitter. Ozanne told SMH that she had invited Archbishop Raffel to the event. “I want to ask him what he’s so fearful of? I believe that Jesus is very clear about how we deal with difference. We need to love each other.”
Campaign Against Conversion Practices
The Christian campaigner spoke to the UK Christian magazine Premier Christianity in December 2021 describing her experience of undergoing over 20 years of so-called conversion therapy, which led to her suffering “significant harm”.
Ozanne spoke about her experiences which resulted in her being hospitalised twice, with her body “really cracking under the strain, both times having a full-blown breakdown, and looking at a very dark abyss where I felt the only option I had was to take my life”.
Her foundation also ran research with Mermaids and Stonewall among the trans community in 2020 which detailed several instances of violence and horror that trans people faced, including deprivation, verbal abuse, exorcism and physical beatings.
Last week, the Church of England’s General Synod, (a national assembly made up of bishops, clergy and laypeople nationally), voted to let priests bless same-sex marriages and civil partnerships while still banning church weddings for same-sex couples.
Church Continues Ban On Gay Weddings
Ozanne responded to the news by stating that she was “deeply disappointed”.
“I am deeply disappointed by the way the conservatives have consistently sought to undermine those of us who sought to move towards a church that could embrace a plurality of views on sexuality,” she said.
She posted to Twitter, condemning the church’s decision on their continued refusal to allow same-sex couples to be wed in a church.
“By continuing to tell LGBT people that they cannot hope to get married any time soon in their church or that their desire for sexual intimacy is sinful, we send a message to the nation that few will understand,” Ozanne wrote.
