27-Year United Methodist Pastor Comes Out Publicly As Transgender
September 1, 2009
TRANSGENDER MINISTER – Images by Pamplin Media Group
When Rev. David Weekley visited Minidoka, the site of an old Japanese internment camp in Idaho, and heard the stories of exclusion from Japanese-American members of his congregation who lived through World War II, he began to reflect on his own untold story of being transgender. And, when the pro-LGBT group Reconciling Ministry Network (RMN) announced that they would like to nominate him for a service award, he knew it was time to tell his story publicly.
So, after 27 years of service, as a United Methodist pastor—and as a transgender man, Reverend David Weekley came out in his sermon at Epworth United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, on August 30th.
GLAAD, RMN, Transgender Religious Leaders Network, his family and others provided resources and support. But what might surprise some people is that officials of the United Methodist Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference (the regional church body) issued a media release affirming Rev. Weekley’s continuing status as “an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church in good standing.” The Bishop Robert T. Hoshibata, leader of the Conference, was quoted in the release which was read to the congregation following Weekley’s sermon:
We believe that God has called David Weekley to serve as an elder in The United Methodist Church. In response to God’s call, Reverend Weekley has effectively served his congregations for 27 years. He is choosing now to share this earlier part of his life journey honestly and openly. This decision does not, in any way, change his faith or his commitment to the ministry to which he was ordained, nor does it change his status as an elder in good standing… I prayerfully ask that his congregation, his colleagues and The United Methodist Church continue to uphold him and his family at this time.
Congregation leaders were well prepared. Ruth Ann Tsukuda, a member of Epworth for 26 years said in The Oregonian article, that she was among those who had been briefed on the topic of Rev. Weekley’s sermon and had intended to observe the response of other members, “But I was fixated on David and how powerful his statement was. I couldn’t stop crying, thinking of him maintaining his faith through all of that. That’s when people usually lose their faith.”
In a few days, Rev. Weekley will travel to Denver as a finalist for the ‘Voice in the Wilderness Award’ from the Reconciling Ministry Network for his column on their website, which he had been writing anonymously as “Transgender Clergy Person.” And, whether the official recipient or not, his future columns will carry his by-line.
Weekly and the other 400+ participants are part of the movement described in The Portland Tribune that is moving the United Methodist church toward full inclusion of LGBT members. Two waves of legislation in 2004 and 2008 to pass prohibitions against transgender clergy failed but there is much need for education on the topic. Gay and lesbian members still face barriers to ordination and even to membership.
Reverend Weekley said to an Examiner.com commentator:
I am very positive about sharing my story, because I believe it is the best way to help educate our society about transgender persons; there is so much misinformation out there, and fear, that it seems imperative to become active. Because some segments of the Church are responsible for a portion of this misinformation and fear, it seems even more critical for others to hear a positive and personal faith story from a transgender person.
Weekley’s sermon comes almost two years after the Reverend Drew Phoenix became the first United Methodist Minister to openly identify himself as transgender. Phoenix’s transition drew immediate national attention and legal challenges by conservatives in the denomination. But, as a clergy person in good standing, and with no prohibitions on the books, the high court of the United Methodist Church threw the charges out.
Transgender people of all faiths have been rallying together in recent years to combat the transphobia they commonly encounter in their respective denominations. Online resources, such as the Trans Faith on Line and Trans Episcopal are expanding this effort.
Weekley closed his sermon by reflecting, “I am a man in some ways different from other men,” he said. “But most people are different from other people in some way. And God still loves us.”
GLAAD will continue to assist Rev. Weekley as media covers his story and the United Methodist Church responds. We will keep you informed of any new developments.
Related Posts:Welton Gaddy Calls for a New National Discussion on Marriage
July 31, 2009
The Rev. Dr. Welton Gaddy, president of Interfaith Alliance, set off a firestorm of commentary in the Newsweek-Washington Post, “On Religion” blog, after putting out a call for a new kind of national discussion on extending marriage protections to same-sex couples. The blog post introduces the newly released paper “Same Gender Marriage & Religious Freedom,” wherein Gaddy lays out perspectives on marriage and recommends direction for the future. His first suggestion: leave religion out of it.
Dialogues about religion will not forge national consensus on any sociopolitical issue or serve as a source of national unity. The population of our nation is too diverse and the religions in our nation are too different for that to happen. Individual religious traditions are divided from each other externally and, internally, adherents within each of these traditions are divided from each other.
Citing recent studies that show a range of opinions among clergy and members of evangelical and mainstream churches, Dr. Gaddy suggests that law and not religious views (SHOULD)_be the starting point for any discussion on the government’s regulation of marriage:
Law, not scripture, is the foundation of government regulations related to marriage in our nation. Presently, the United States government recognizes marriage on the basis of a properly authorized, government-issued marriage license.
This Interfaith Alliance paper by Dr Gaddy invites a national conversation on the marriage. He cites Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, Evan Wolfson’s stance that marriage inequality results in second-class citizenship, but is clear that the country should protect the right of religious groups to define marriage for their own members:
All citizens should have equal access to civil marriage and to the benefits of marriage provided for citizens in this government. Couples who desire religious marriage can seek a house of worship in which to receive that blessing. But, as is the case now, no house of worship would be legally obligated to provide marriage for a couple whom it does not want to bless. All houses of worship should be free to advocate for, defend and perpetuate the view of marriage that is consistent with their religious traditions and convictions.
While wanting to sort out religion from government, Dr. Gaddy disagrees with Jonathan Turley in his USAToday op-ed which recommends that all couples have state-sanctioned “civil unions” while religious groups do “marriages.” Gaddy writes, “Civil marriages and religious marriages have existed side by side for an untold number of years. Both…have been respected and treated equally in our society. I see no reason for that situation to change.”
In this effort to invite more conversation Gaddy is hoping for a civil and respectful dialogue. “The subject of marriage equality merits our best thoughts and influential actions as United States citizens, whether or not we are religious people or individuals who adhere to no religion.”
As part of our overall work with communities of faith, GLAAD will continue to stay in regular contact with the Interfaith Alliance to lift up progressive faith voices that promote LGBT equality.
Related Posts:UPDATE: Fresno Rebuffs Anti-Gay Informercial with LGBT Faith Documentary
July 3, 2009
For the past several months, my colleagues and I have been responding to the anti-gay infomercial Speechless: Silencing Christians. Our work with community partners in responding to the deceptive infomercial paid for by the American Family Association (AFA) has led us to organize in Kansas, California, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan and several other states.
Because of our collaborative efforts with community leaders, I have a wonderful update to share with our readers. And our latest development to debunk the myths associated with the infomercial hails from Fresno, California.
On June 22, local grassroots organizers alerted us that KMPH FOX-26 aired the AFA infomercial. I specifically received urgent tweets from Gayrainarmy, k8cch14 and jace78. After conducting some initial research, GLAAD blogged about the incident and provided contact information for local community members to share their concerns with the station. You can find that here.
One Fresno community member even contacted two other local ABC and CBS affiliates and asked them to share their perspectives on the local FOX affiliate airing the infomercial.
ABC 30 said:
We will never show anything like that and I can’t believe Fox would do something like that. We have gone through great lengths to make sure stuff like that never goes out on the air, and we will continue to.
CBS 47 also stated:
We would never do anything like that, and I’m going to have my assistant check to just to be sure that is not going on here.
KMPH station management was quick to replied to the concerns expressed by community members. I was forwarded a statement from the Senior Vice President and Director of Programming Debbie Sweeney.
Debbie Sweeney wrote:
I want to thank you for your very well thought out response to the paid program KMPH aired last night at 11:00 p.m.
Please know that the program was a paid infomercial and based on the amount of response the station has received, I guarantee you it will not air again.
Again, thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns we truly appreciate hearing from you.
The local FOX affiliate wanted to make amends and agreed to air For The Bible Tells Me So, a LGBT faith documentary exploring Christian traditions and their intersection with sexual orientation. The affiliate also agreed to air the film at no charge.
GLAAD immediately contacted Daniel Karslake who produced and directed the documentary to request permission for it to be aired on FOX-26. Daniel then spoke to The Sundance Channel that owns exclusive rights to air the documentary on television.
After some discussions with the network, Sundance granted permission to allow For the Bible Tells Me So to air on FOX-26. Now, Fresno viewers will be able to tune in this Sunday, July 5 at 11:00pm PST to watch the LGBT faith documentary. **PLEASE SEE NOTE BELOW**
GLAAD will continue to follow this story. Please check back with us for updates.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send me a tweet on Twitter at @Andy_Marra
*Note – We are also receiving reports about the anti-gay infomercial airing on WGRZ NBC 2-TV in Buffalo, NY. GLAAD constituents have reported it being aired on June 27 from 7:00-8:00pm EST. We will be looking into this further and update our readers after the July 4 holiday.
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**UPDATE: I just exchanged tweets and emails with @GayRainArmy and @jace78. KMPH will not be able to air For the Bible Tells Me So this Sunday, July 5 at 11pm PST. The station is editing out language and gestures to make it ready for Fresno viewers. KMPH is working with the documentary’s producer and director Daniel Karslake to air an edited version very soon. I’ll keep you posted on when they’re ready to air this amazing documentary.**
Presbyterians Move Closer to Accepting Openly Lesbian, Gay & Bi Clergy
March 23, 2009
Over half of the 173 regional presbytery votes of the national Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) have been tallied on a constitutional amendment that would open the door to gay clergy. Since the last time the presbyteries of PCUSA voted on a similar amendment, more than two dozen presbyteries, flipped their vote from “no” to “yes”. Even among those presbyteries that continued to vote “no” on gay clergy, a larger proportion within each presbytery voted to support greater inclusion of LGBT spiritual leaders.
In 2001, PCUSA voted down a similar constitutional amendment by a vote of 127 to 46 – 73.4% of the vote. The current vote stands at 51 congregations in favor of the amendment and 79 against. The “yes” votes already exceed the previous number of presbyteries that supported inclusion of gay clergy. Conservative areas such as North Carolina, Alabama, rural Illinois, southwest Texas and Arkansas are among those who flipped their votes to support the inclusive reforms.
This move toward acceptance is the result of the hard work of groups like Presbyterian Welcome That All May Freely Serve, Covenant Network of Presbyterians, and More Light Presbyterians. Their decades of educating the denomination on gay or lesbian concerns paved the way for the June 2008 General Assembly vote of the PCUSA to amend the constitution. The amendment asks the church to replace the requirement of “chastity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman” with a traditional pledge “to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church.”
Eighty-seven presbyteries, a simple majority, are needed to determine the fate of the amendment. Many people expected to have the results by the end of March. However, due to the narrow vote, the results may not be finalized until late May 2009.
Oprah Show: “Being gay is a gift from God”
January 14, 2009
Oprah invited three spiritual leaders onto her January 9 show to respond to the concerns of real people as they struggled with life’s challenges. One such person was Sedrick, a gay man, who was struggling with his finances. Rev. Ed Bacon, an Episcopal priest and one of the spiritual advisors, addressed the young man’s lack of self worth by saying that, ”being gay is a gift from God,” Minister Bernard Beckwith, another advisor, assured Sedrick that “…he is the image and likeness of God just the as he is.”
Oprah asked Sedrick if he believed being gay is a gift from God. Sedrick said that he hadn’t thought that way before but that after talking with the spiritual leaders on the program, “I think I’m going to leave here with a renewed vision. So I’m getting it.” Unfortunately, the Oprah show website left out this important personal revelation out of the episode recap on the website.
Rev. Ed Bacon
Rev. Bacon is rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, where the Rev. Susan Russell serves as senior associate rector and is the president of Integrity, the national Episcopal LGBT advocacy group. Take a look at her blog to read moving letters from people who saw the Oprah show. Dr. Beckwith is the founder and spiritual director of Agape International Spiritual Center in Los Angeles which is an LGBT-affirming congregation.
The response was so massive that Oprah did a follow-up segment with Rev. Bacon on January 12. Oprah asked Rev. Bacon, “So do people call you or were they only just calling me?”
Rev. Bacon said, “Oh no my friend. My email was full of content and from what I gather, it simply unleashed a flood of healing throughout the country, and Australia, and Great Britain across the continent. It was amazing that people were talking about their hearts being healed and their hearts leaping. Two or three people said ‘I am weeping while I am writing you this email.’ It was amazing and most of the email and voice mail—like 30 to one—was appreciative that being gay is a gift from God.”
Take action! Please write to Oprah and thank her for including LGBT-inclusive faith voices on her show. Share your story about how Rev. Bacon’s comments affected you, both in your email and in the comments below.
Statement by GLAAD President on the Rev. Robinson’s Participation in Inauguration
January 13, 2009
GLAAD’s President, Neil G. Giuliano, made a statement about the selection of the Rt. Reverend V. Gene Robinson to deliver the invocation at the opening celebration of the Presidential Inauguration:
President-elect Obama has made an excellent choice with the selection of Rev. Gene Robinson, and the broadcast will allow millions of people worldwide to participate in this historic event.
Rev. Robinson represents an incredible voice who has made great strides toward encouraging LGBT inclusion in faith communities. By featuring an openly gay faith leader, Obama is sending a strong message about the importance of truly inclusive faith voices that can move us away from exclusion and division and toward the common ground we share.
You can read the entire release here.
Newsweek Examines the Bible and Marriage for Gay and Lesbian Couples
December 8, 2008
The December 15th edition of Newsweek, released to newsstands this past weekend, features a cover story examining the relationship between marriage for gay and lesbian couples and the Bible. 
Written by Lisa Miller, the article deconstructs interpretations of religious positions and Bible passages on marriage, revealing a clear detachment from the present-day idea of “traditional marriage” used by some anti-gay movements.
A key tactic in the campaign for the passage of Proposition 8 in California last month, which took away the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry, was to advocate for the protection of a religiously based institution of marriage, therefore wrongfully positing the gay community against the religious community. The Newsweek article debunks this present-day interpretation of marriage, explaining that oftentimes the original context or meaning of passages has become convoluted and misconstrued with the passage of time.
The article concludes by suggesting that the larger ideas promoted in the Bible, such as love and acceptance, be given higher regard than stand-alone passages. The author states that this would prove to promote an acceptance of marriage for gay and lesbian couples:
The practice of inclusion, even in defiance of social convention, the reaching out to outcasts, the emphasis on togetherness and community over and against chaos, depravity, indifference-all these biblical values argue for gay marriage.
Most importantly, the article is demonstrative of the growing support for the LGBT community coming from religious institutions.
For example, it was recently announced by the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles that church leaders can bless the unions of gay and lesbian couples. While many Episcopal churches in Southern California have been blessing the unions of gay and lesbian couples for years, such blessing will now be officially recognized by the diocese.
This Weekend – Our Family Matters Affirming Faith Conference in Nashville
October 24, 2008
This weekend, folks in Nashville, Tennessee are in for a one-of-a-kind faith conference that helps LGBT participants to affirm their spiritual worth: Our Family Matters.
This unique event, launched by Kim Clark, is based off her partner Luane Beck’s acclaimed documentary God and Gays: Bridging the Gap. The documentary takes the viewer through firsthand experiences of those wanting a relationship with the religious traditions that have rejected them.
The conference, like the documentary, provides a safe space where attendees can reconcile their sexual orientation with their faith.
Our Family Matters Conference -- October 22-25, 2008 -- from OFM Website
The four-day event began Wednesday, offering a contemporary Christian perspective on being gay and Christian and acting as an affirming alternative to the so-called “ex-gay” ministries that have tried to monopolize the Christian response to gay and lesbian church members in Tennessee.
The full schedule includes three days of workshops, a film festival, live concerts including Dove Award winner and “Thank You” recording artist Ray Boltz. His performance at Our Family Matters will actually be his first time performing in Nashville, the homeland of Christian Contemporary Music (CCM), since coming out publicly last month in the Washington Blade.
Other national keynote speakers will be Rev. Deborah L. Johnson, founder of Inner Light Ministries, Dr. Jack Rogers, author of Jesus, the Bible, And Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church, and Peterson Toscano, a GLAAD-trained spokesperson and brave “ex-gay” survivor who actually attended the so-called “ex-gay” Love In Action program in Tennessee.
Kim Clark also organized the event to raise awareness about the LGBT inclusive congregations in Tennessee, especially in light of the tragic church shooting in Knoxville earlier this summer. Our Family Matters offers healing and support for communities of faith affected by this tragedy.
“We’re revealing the enormous support for God ‘and’ gays, it’s no longer ‘or.’ In Christ’s love, orientation and faith are already reconciled,” says Kim. 
Media Balances Portrayals of Faith-Based Acceptance, Discrimination
September 30, 2008
As I mentioned previously, GLAAD’s Religion, Faith & Values team is now producing a weekly “Faith News Summary.” The summary aims to bring readers a snapshot of recent stories impacting LGBT people of faith.
As we monitor the media and come across these stories, we continue to find that the national and regional press are publishing a wide range of coverage that delves into both the ongoing discrimination and growing acceptance happening in churches across the United States.
Last week, for instance, in newspapers across the nation, thousands of people read stories about families with gay parents being denied admittance to churches, churches being rejected by their denominations (such as the Southern Baptist Convention), but also about churches seeking formal recognition to prove their openness to gay members.
We are encouraged by the media’s openness to show both the tremendous progress LGBT people of faith have made while also highlighting the challenges we still have yet to overcome.
The complexity and diversity of stories about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in faith communities will hopefully continue to garner coverage in regional and national publications. GLAAD will continue to advocate for fair, accurate and inclusive stories that portray the complexity of spirituality in the LGBT community as churches continue working toward inclusion.
