Another Chapter — UM Forward

As a gay man and ordained clergy (retired) in the United Methodist Church, it’s not been my experience that many straight folks have much understanding of LGBTQIA+ History. I have been surprised and saddened this week at how few of them knew that this Sunday, June 28, 2020 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first Pride march. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

A year ago this month was the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. When I asked a progressive, well-educated friend of mine then if he knew anything about the Riots, he said, “I sort of know that it’s something to do with you guys, right?” Then he laughed and said, “No offense, but you’ll have to educate me, again.” “Did you know that this week is the 50th Anniversary of the Riots?” I inquired. He had the grace to blush, slightly. “No, I didn’t. It hasn’t really come up on my radar.”

“Something to do with you guys?” Therein lay my hurt and anger during that conversation. Stonewall was on the periphery of his memory but not established well enough to be recalled with any depth or accuracy. Then he obliquely referred to my siblings and me as “you guys” (sort of like “those people”). I’ve learned that I don’t trust straight people to know our history. In similar ways, I am sure that people of color are well acquainted with the fact that we, whites, in general, do not know much about their fight for justice and equality. And I’m sure that women know with certainty that we, men in general, do not know much about that fight for women’s equality.

I’ve been trying to deal honorably with my faith, my history, my identity, and our fight for equality throughout my whole career. While a member of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, my clergy colleagues elected me as a delegate to six Northeast Jurisdictional Conferences and four General Conferences (1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004). Though I couldn’t acknowledge my sexual orientation and gender identity on the conference floor, I had made sure that enough people knew that I was not hiding it. They knowingly elected a gay man to represent them at GC.

During each of those General Conferences, the framing of homosexuality (as the identity of queer people has been defined by the UMC) as an issue came to the floor in some manner. On several occasions, I was fortunate to be recognized by the presiding bishop to speak. What was so disheartening then and now was the fact that very few of my straight, progressive friends would seek to join me in asking GC to support gay concerns in the church. The only straight person whom I knew to consistently do so was the Rev. Dr. J. Philip Wogaman. He even chaired a significant General Conference Task Force on the matter that brought a proposal to the next GC saying that we, United Methodists, disagree on “homosexuality.” The vote was not close. Now at the age of 88, Phil is still equally committed to working for the wholeness of our church through his books, sermons, and lectures.

we need another chapter of being apart before we can come together again.

What always surprised me at each GC was the amount and degree of hatred and anger that some delegates expressed during those debates. In a way, my years of being a delegate were a blessing but I cannot remember those times without also being in touch, again and again, with the pain of hearing those dehumanizing words condemning to hell people like me.

If the 2021 GC again reaches a stalemate over this subject, I won’t be surprised. I don’t trust the UMC as it’s currently configured to resolve the conflict. To be truthful, I nurture a hope that the denomination might agree to an amicable separation. We were separated from 1844 – 1939 over slavery and perhaps we need another chapter of being apart before we can come together again.

There will be no grand marches today to celebrate this 50th Anniversary. But there may be those who hear God’s call to march and protest again and again until there is justice and equality for all of God’s children. Thank you.

Rev. Dr. Frank Trotter

image: “Album di Famiglia” by Rev. Alex da Silva Souto, Roma, Italia.

Among the churches that I served, Bishop Felton Edwin May appointed me as Senior Pastor to Metropolitan Memorial UMC in Washington, DC (now known as National UMC) and Bishop Mary Ann Swenson appointed me as Senior Pastor to First UMC in Pasadena, California.