Romans 2:11: “For God shows no partiality.”
Whether or not one chooses to ascribe to an organized religion, to believe in a higher being or to belong to a spiritual community, is their own decision.
In the past, however, this choice may not have been guaranteed for members of the LGBTQA+ community, but now the scope of affirming ministries in East Tennessee alone is a testament to the opening outlet for LGBTQA+ individuals belonging to a faith.
Robin Lovett, an intern at the Tyson House Episcopalian and Lutheran ministry, came out as bisexual before joining the Tyson House for worship.
Now, a year since her baptism, Lovett said identifying as bisexual has helped her deepen her faith rather than construct a wall between herself and other worshippers.
“I have a pretty good understanding that the church is supposed to support somebody,” Lovett said. “It is supposed to help somebody come into themselves as a child of God. Embracing your sexuality whatever it may be in a healthy, safe and responsible way is embracing part of who you are.”
FatherJohn Tirro, chaplain at the Tyson House since 2010, agreed with the supporting function of the church, and said he tries to create a safe place for students on campus.
“I do notice that students are periodically harassed, just walking down the street, for the way they look or the way that they are perceived or maybe, what somebody knows about them,” Tirro said. “That’s deplorable. Honestly, it just confirms me in my belief that LGBTQA+ people are blessed by God for who they are.”
Tirro referenced Galatians 5:19-24 as a means to distinguish between those who are truly living in communion with their faith.
“There’s really nothing about harassment that looks like the will of God,” Tirro said. “In contrast, I see lesbian and gay students and transgender, bisexual, just a whole range of sexual identities and expressions being kind and loving and gentle—the fruits of the spirit.”
The Tyson House holds a reputation on campus as one of the most open and affirming campus ministries, and Tirro said he hopes to keep it that way. For him, the LGBTQA+ community is an indispensable part of the congregation. He said without them, the image of God would be incomplete.
Tirro said he views word-of-mouth as the strongest form of Evangelism, and always focuses on ensuring that individuals view the Tyson House as a safe space where people receive “an experience of being welcomed and affirmed and valued as they are for who they are.”
To further the Tyson House’s reputation as an open environment, Lovett established a program called “Reconciling Spaces,” designed to facilitate respectful dialogue among LGBTQA+ members and heterosexual members of the congregation. Although it has only been active for this semester, Lovett said she holds high hopes for the group.
“The goal of this ministry is to recognize that the church has caused harm to LGBTQA+ people of any faith and to reconcile the church to LGBTQA+ people,” Lovett said. “That doesn’t mean dragging them into church. It means healing wounds that LGBTQA+ people have because of the church.”
One movement in the new program involves an interfaith discussion group every other Tuesday where LGBTQA+ individuals of any faith can come share their religious experiences— the good and the bad.
Lovett said her next step is to institute Safe Zone training for clergy members that will tackle everything from basic LGBTQA+ terminology to lofty, theological questions behind being an affirming church. Lovett said the church needs this training now more than ever beforeit completely polarizes itself.
“In LGBTQ+ communities, there’s a lot of distrust of the church and for good reason,” Lovett explained. “It’s kind of hard to explain to people what we’re doing without igniting suspicion, which is understandable. I’m a bisexual Christian, and I’m still skeptical of churches.”
It is Lovett’s hope that open, facilitated discussion practices will aid in “closing the gap” between LGBTQA+ individuals and their religious communities.
Christian sects aren’t the only religious organizations taking a more socially progressive stand though.
Julian Mastri, freshman in linguistics, grew up in Nashville in the Ohabai Shalom Reform Judaism congregation.
After coming out as gay at 14, Mastri said he doesn’t recall any highly negative experiences. He said his parents, close family friends and classmates at Nashville School of the Arts were always very supportive.
“Almost every Jewish organization is super welcoming and wants you to get involved and come to things,” Mastri said. “They want you to feel included. It’s a minority, and minorities naturally just want to bond together.”
Deborah Oleshansky, UTK Hillel coordinator, supported Mastri’s assessment on the positive relationship between the LGBTQA+ community and Judaism. Although she admitted that they lack the programs specifically dedicated to LGBTQA+ inclusiveness seen at the Tyson House, Oleshansky emphasized the presence of LGBTQA+ leadership in the congregation.
That being said, Reform Judaism offers a lot of freedom in general compared to the orthodox or moderate sects of the faith, including free thought in worship.
“Faith to me is a much more personal thing,” Mastri said. “Your faith is how you view the world, how you view how God works and how you view processes in nature and what drives all that. You are still able to be a part of that community and go to services and participate in prayer, whether you’re praying to connect with your community or to connect with God or both.”
Mastri said in Judaism, gender identity and sexuality aren’t such hot button issues in comparison to Christian communities because of the cultural encouragement of free-thinking, critical thinking and debate along with the ideal of a “Mensch.”
“It’s just being a good person, being a nice person and doing good deeds for other people,” Mastri said, defining Mencsh. “Even if you may not agree with somebody, it’s okay to debate that with them, but it’s not necessarily okay to deem that completely improper.”
Hancen Sale, senior at Bearden High School, said he experienced this sort of acceptance without full approval from some members of his community when he revealed his sexual identity.
“A lot of them are in a place where they don’t find anything to be wrong with the LGBTQA+ community, and they’ll go so far as to say that LGBTQA+ people are right and homosexuality is okay in the Bible,” Sale shared. “But others who are more conservative would probably say, ‘The question isn’t really whether it’s right or wrong. The question is how do we best love you.’
“That’s a pretty cool outlook I would say.”
Although Sale left his parish of Cedar Springs after his theological journey showed him that the church didn’t line up with his beliefs, he maintained that he was never treated badly there, but just never felt at home.
In the eyes of Tirro, situations like Sale’s are unfortunate in that they are so preventab
le with a little more compassion and understanding. He said two things are missing at the heart of the issue of equal LGBTQA+ rights.
“I don’t even like calling it an issue,” Tirro confessed. “I think a deeper issue that relates to this is that change makes people uncomfortable. Dealing with something that doesn’t fit your current understanding is uncomfortable. Learning to manage your discomfort such that you can be loving to someone you might not fully understand, who might even be yourself.”
For a list of LGBTQA+ affirming congregations in TN, go to http://etnfaith4equality.weebly.com.
