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Anglican Church abandons gays
Rowan Williams
Protests held at Lambeth Conference as Anglican Church is accused of abandoning gays
"Members of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and Outrage! picketed at the conference, with placards reading Anglicans! Repent your homophobia"
The Anglican Church has today been accused of abandoning gay people around the world.
In their once-a-decade meeting at the Lambeth Conference yesterday, 40 senior church leaders discussed homosexuality, but there was no criticism of some bishops who are openly homophobic and there was no formal proposal on how to progress in the future.
Members of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and Outrage! picketed at the conference, with placards reading "Anglicans! Repent your homophobia," "Defend gays, fight Christian bigots" and "Anglicans preach sexual apartheid" and erected a giant banner reading “Stop Crucifying Queers."
Brett Lock of Outrage! said:
"The Lambeth Conference has failed to defend lesbian and gay human rights
"Its fence-sitting attempts to reconcile the opponents and defenders of homosexual human rights are doomed to failure. There can be no reconciliation with bishops who want to deny gay people dignity, respect and human rights.
"Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria has backed legislation to outlaw gay churches, gay organisations, gay HIV prevention programmes and gay human rights advocacy.
"Archbishop Rowan Williams and the Lambeth Conference have not shown moral leadership. Their unwillingness to challenge homophobes within their own church is a major moral shortcoming and a tragic betrayal of the LGBT community."
Archbishop Orombi, who boycotted the conference, wrote in The Times today:
"Even the Pope is elected by his peers. But what the Anglicans have is a man appointed by a secular government... Over the past five years we have come to see this as a remnant of British colonialism, and it is not serving us well."
The Lambeth Conference, which is held every ten years, ends on Sunday.
