This talk was given by Clare Herbert at Ian Baynham's vigil on 30th October 2009

How my life has been affected by homophobic hate crime.

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered and Intersex people come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and I am one! So it was that I was the Church of England parish priest of Soho when David Copeland dumped his nail bomb filled with human excrement under the counter of the Admiral Duncan Pub and waited around the corner to see if it would go off. It did of course go off, and my life was changed for ever.

April 30th 1999 was one of those Spring days which sees Soho swarming with folk having a good time. I left town mid afternoon, almost sorry to go. At 6.30 that Friday evening, when bodies were writhing in agony on Old Compton Street I was watching rabbits and hares playing in the sun of the Sussex countryside. I had been the Rector of Soho for 6 months and this was my first break away with my partner.

We learned what had happened next morning over breakfast. Utterly devastated we turned the car around and headed back.

When we arrived back we found that Andrea Dykes, John Light and Nick Moore had died in the blast and dozens of others had been seriously injured. Still others would be badly traumatised. But it was in the years to come that we saw played out the full and devastating effect of homophobic hate crime. Those deeply disturbed would lose wellbeing, income , friends , jobs , lose Soho , unable to venture back, while infections caused by the bacteria firmly embedded in the excrement of the nail bomb led to ongoing pain and finally amputations for the worst affected..

The barman in the Duncan that night, David Morley, had been standing over the bomb. Sinders did a remarkable recovery job although those who knew him best knew there would be no complete recovery. He was a much beloved figure - a natural pastor to Old Compton Street. So Soho scarcely knew what to do with itself when he died the victim of yet another homophobic attack some years later on the South Bank. If anything this death hit us even more deeply - had nothing improved?

I realised that on leaving Soho, as I did two years ago, I didn't want to forget. I didn't want to become part of a wider Church which by its silence and lack of protection of gay people institutionalises and fuels homophobia. I had seen enough. I wanted instead to become part of the solution!

I work now for a Charity called Inclusive Church which is dedicated to the eradication of homophobic attitudes within the national and worldwide church and works for the setting aside of all our sexist and racist attitudes too. And I am proud to represent that Charity and St Martin in the Fields where I work as a priest and where the rainbow flag is flying in our support - tonight. It flies because many people there like me are longing and working for change - yet just outside our church's boundary Ian Baynham was brought down. Has nothing changed!

Change, the Change that is going to bring an end to homophobia and to homophobic hate crime begins with me, begins with us - our hearts and minds, our homes, our streets , our schools , our churches , our clubs, our political parties - until those who would commit such crimes have nowhere to hide , no words given them to use , no protectors to support them, no place to go and no reason to go there. We have to learn to be brave enough to stand up and name this hatred for what it is, to take it seriously , to believe we deserve better , to make change happen.

My life has been changed by seeing what has happened to victims of homophobic attack. My eyes have been opened to the full effect of homophobia, in myself, in my church and in society. So I want to invite all of you, whenever you have a moment tonight or in the days to come, to speak to each other about how homophobia has affected you . It does matters that you speak! Speaking out, speaking together, will give us the energy and vision for change and honour Ian and all those who have lost their life in such a senseless way.

Lesbian , gay , bisexual , transgendered and intersex people come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes and I am one! Who are you? Lets share our stories and create the energy and vision for change.

Thank you.

 

People attracted mainly to the same sex have made a major contribution to the life of the church through the ages, and in recent decades have become more visible.  In many countries, including England, there has been growing acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people, and awareness of the damage done by prejudice and discrimination.

Debates around the theology of sexuality have, for the past half-century or so, focused largely on gender and homosexuality.  Numerous scholars have contributed to this.  Church historians, too, have considered the meaning of same-sex intimacy among Christians in mediaeval times and before. 

Scripture, tradition and reason have been crucial in addressing the opportunities and challenges arising from the diversity in creation.

In the past couple of decades, some church leaders have taken up the issue of homosexuality as a test-case for whether their particular view of what the Bible teaches can be imposed, in place of the traditional spiritual and theological diversity of the Anglican Communion.  There has been fierce opposition to appointing senior clergy who are open about being in same-sex partnerships, and calls to expel provinces which are too accepting.  Yet many Anglicans believe that unwillingness to include LGBT people as full members of the church, or even listen seriously to the arguments for inclusion, is contrary to the Gospel.

Through public statements, discussions with church leaders, gatherings and other means, Inclusive Church has been seeking to resist attempts to make the Anglican Communion more narrow and exclusive, and to promote serious study, dialogue and reflection.  Such work will continue and intensify in the run-up to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.