09/08/2024
Attitudes towards LGBTQIA+ people have been steadily developing towards acceptance and celebration in the United Methodist Church. Already, many congregations are welcoming of samesex couples and LGBTQIA+ people taking an active role in the life of the church. The Peter Tatchell Foundation reports that in Ohio in the US, Beth Stroud, a 54-year-old lesbian, was defrocked from her role as a United Methodist pastor in 2004 for revealing that she was in a same-sex relationship. Earlier this month, she opted to be subject to a vote to be reinstated into the clergy. The vote passed with more than two thirds voting for her reinstatement. Mira Lazine writing at LGBTQ Nation takes up the story, saying that Ms Stroud was brought into the room shortly after the vote and was met with a round of applause and a wave of emotion. “I was completely disoriented. For what felt like several minutes, I couldn’t tell where the front of the room was, where I was, where I needed to go,” Stroud said. “Everyone was clapping and then they started singing. The bishop asked me quietly if I wanted to say anything and I said I couldn’t.”
