“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is on the radar screen again. The phrase reflects a military policy that may have been appropriate in another time; however, it has now outlasted its usefulness. The president has asked the chiefs of staff and other senior military leaders to provide a plan to move us to the next level — that of giving GLBTs full rights and opportunities to serve our country. I support that.

We all know how difficult it is to change. I recall when African-Americans could not serve in the Navy. There were “good and arguable” reasons to support the policy. In 1946, President Truman disagreed and African-Americans were invited to full service.

Recently, one of my acquaintances said, “I do not understand why one man would want to be with another man.” I suggested we are not asked to understand. We are asked to accept them as people, responding to their deepest desires, their choice to be intimate with persons of the same sex. We can celebrate that choice, particularly, when we see it played out in a mutually affirming, loving relationship.

What of the biblical rejection of homosexual practice? There is great danger in applying mores in biblical times to our lives. Polygamy was the norm, slavery was never condemned, many wars were genocidal and women were deemed chattel, the property of their father or their husband. Most of us have moved beyond those assumptions; this should now be true of same-sex practices.

The position of the Presbyterian Church, USA is that “unmarried sexually active persons” are barred from ordination or installation as elders or deacons (ministers or lay members of Sessions, i.e. governing boards). It is a strange rule because it allows celibate GLBTs to be ordained and serve while co-habiting heterosexual couples cannot! Of course, the second half of this rule has never been the basis of judicial action within the church. It has solely been used against practicing homosexuals.

Recently a woman pastor in a Presbyterian church in the Carolinas who had served in that particular congregation for more than five years told her Session she had recently gone to Massachusetts and been married. The Session affirmed her new relationship and action. Later she shared her good news with the congregation and the Presbytery. In each case she was congratulated amidst applause. When she arrived in that congregation, one man said, “We have a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ mood here.” When she came out, he expressed his surprise. Another woman said she knew the pastor was gay. At that time she was celibate, but later found a partner and was married. I tell that story to remind us there was no change in the quality of her ministry, only her marital status.

I recently had a funeral for a woman married many, many years. One of the children recalled, “Since her father was Philipino and the mother was Hispanic, her parents had to go to Arizona to be married.” Fortunately, those laws have been stricken from the books. Through the years, we have moved to strike down many barriers designed to deny rights and privileges to a group of people. It is time to invite GLBTs into the service of our country without prejudice. We will all be better for it.

•••

George V. Erickson is a Presbyterian minister at large and a resident of Watsonville. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent those of the Register-Pajaronian.



Share on Facebook