Freedom fighting South African Archbishop Desmond appeared in San Francisco last night to speak at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commissionâs Celebration of Courage Awards Ceremony. The event was the first time gay champion Tutu has addressed an exclusively queer crowd. From the exuberant press release:
Comparing the importance of speaking up for human rights to the basic act of breathing, Archbishop Desmond Tutu gave an historic speech to the lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex (LGBTI) community at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco last night. A crowd of 500 people heard the Nobel Peace Prize recipient condemn the persecution of LGBTI people, apologize on behalf of his Church for ostracizing gay people, and challenge China to improve its human rights recordâall in the first ever direct address by the Archbishop to a large gathering of the LGBTI community in the United States.
Most miraculously, Tutu hit all those points in a scant thirty minutes. Astounding…
CitizenGeek
Tutu is awesome for so many reasons, his support for gay people around the world being one of the greatest reasons!
I really don’t like how the gays can’t decide on an acronym. It’s ‘LGBT’ – why can’t it stay that way? The HRC has to be stupidly awkward and use ‘GLBT’, others use ‘LGBTI’, then there’s ‘LGBTIQ’ or just ‘LGBTQ’. For crying out loud, stop making things more complicated than they already are!
DanGOP
Ahh, Archbishop Tutu. Now here is an exemplar of what it means to truly be a Christian. This is a man who comes to the table with love for everybody, even those whom he dislikes. He also has a wise way about him in everything he does. In short, like Mother Teresa, this is a true saint on earth. God love him for reaching out to us in the GLBTQ community.
Paul Raposo
What I don’t understand is, why is it so easy for people like Bishop Tutu and Rev. Spong to show compassion and not just tolerance, but acceptance towards LGBTQ’s, while it is so easy for other Christians to show so much hatred towards us? Is it because of upbringinf; their studies; or their life experiences? What is it?
Nitesurf
Tutu is a treasure.
John
Desmond Tutu would’ve made a great Archbishop of Cantebury. Instead, we have the disgraceful Rowan “Sharia” Williams.
Charley
What are I’s in LGBTI. Just curious.
Charley
OK what are intersexed? Sounds Anglican.
Bill Perdue
Tutu should be admired for his courage in opposing South African apartheid when it was hazardous to do so, even for a cleric. And for his vigorous hatred of the homicidal apartheid practiced by zionists against Palestinians, a policy which, after stealing their land is meant to drive them out of the Middle East.
He is the only senior christian cult leader who speaks our for GLBT rights.
CitizenGeek
John, the Archbishop of Canterbury is head of the Protestant church; Tutu is a Catholic cleric đ
mudduck
Citizen Geek needs to geek some more. The Church of England continues the ancient British church. When Henry No. 8 broke with the Pope, the church’s orders and worship continued. (Henry desperately wanted a male heir, which he wasn’t getting from his wife, daughter of the King of Spain, who had the Pope in his pocket. The “divorce” was more political than religious or romantic.) When a 6th century pope sent Augustine to evangelize the Brits, he found the church already thick on the ground. Instead of setting up shop in London as planned, he was forced south into the wilds of Kent, where he became the first Archbishop of Canterbury. So the Church of England is Protestant, in that it protested the foreign rule of Rome, but also catholic in continuing the traditional ministry and liturgies. Tutu was head of the Church of South Africa, a province of the Anglican Communion, a group of churches in communion with Canterbury. (Don’t get me into contemporary Anglican politics — the whole thing is coming unraveled, as also in fact is Rome with its reactionary politics and sexual abuse scandals.)
Bill Perdue
CitizenGeek – he just looks like a member of the roman cult becasue he’s wearing his clerical drag. Actually he’s an archbishop of the anglo catholic cult. The difference between the two is that anglo catholics wouldn’t know what to do with altar boy ass if it was shoved in their faces. Roman priests, on the other handââŹÂŚ