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ELIZABETH PERRY
Friday, October 19, 2007
President
Bush’s
nominee
for
surgeon
general
is
facing
new
questions
about
his
stance
on
gay
and
transgender
issues
—
this
time
in
his
role
as
a
high-ranking
official
in
the
United
Methodist
Church.
Three
months
after
questioning
Dr.
James
Holsinger
about
a
paper
he
wrote
for
the
church
in
which
he
condemned
gay
sex,
the
Senate
Health,
Education,
Labor
&
Pensions
Committee,
is
still
waiting
for
him
to
answer
its
follow-up
questions.
Also
waiting
for
answers
are
Rev.
Drew
Phoenix,
a
transgender
United
Methodist
minister
in
Baltimore,
and
gays
who
have
been
kicked
out
of
their
congregations.
They
are
anxious
to
see
how
Holsinger’s
votes
on
gay
issues
will
affect
their
futures.
Holsinger
will
sit
on
the
United
Methodist
Judicial
Council
at
the
church’s
national
meeting
in
San
Francisco
Oct.
24-27.
In
2004,
Holsinger
was
elected
president
of
the
Judicial
Council
of
the
United
Methodist
Church.
Some
of
the
gay
issues
that
will
be
addressed
at
the
conference
include
acceptance
of
gays
in
church
membership,
ordination
of
transgender
individuals,
how
much
United
Methodist
campus
ministries
should
reach
out
to
gay
students
and
domestic
partner
benefits
for
gay
employees
of
United
Methodist
organizations
and
institutions.
The
conference
will
include
three
days
of
witness
by
gays
and
straight
allies
from
Bay
Area
congregations,
starting
with
a
candlelight
march
and
prayer
vigil,
as
well
as
nightly
worship
services
led
by
transgender
clergy
and
seminarians.
Reconciling
Ministries
is
organizing
the
witness
activities
to
call
for
greater
acceptance
of
diversity
in
the
church.
At
the
center
of
debate
will
be
the
reappointment
of
Phoenix
as
pastor
of
St.
John’s
United
Methodist
Church
in
Baltimore
by
Bishop
John
Schol
of
the
denomination’s
Baltimore-Washington
Conference.
Phoenix
was
ordained
in
1989
as
Rev.
Ann
Gordon
and
has
led
the
St.
John’s
congregation
for
five
years.
He
completed
his
physical
transition
in
the
spring
of
2006
and
decided
last
fall
to
change
his
name.
He
said
he
always
knew
he
was
male
on
the
inside.
“I
would
look
in
the
mirror
and
think,
‘this
is
not
what
I
expected.
This
isn’t
the
body
I
was
supposed
to
be
in,’”
he
said.
“I
didn’t
feel
comfortable
with
my
body.
Now
I
feel
very
self-possessed.
I
like
looking
in
the
mirror
and
get
a
feeling
of
great
relief.”
Phoenix
said
his
congregation
has
been
supportive
and
the
experience
of
gender
transition
has
been
one
of
self-discovery,
spiritual
growth
and
physical
integration.
To
those
who
have
a
hard
time
accepting
his
decision,
Phoenix
said
humans
were
given
the
ability
to
reason
and
to
develop
the
science
to
create
procedures
such
as
gender
reassignment.
He
said
discrimination
against
transgender
individuals
is
based
on
fear
and
discomfort
with
ambiguity.
“We
don’t
know
what
God
would
say
is
the
natural
order
of
things,”
he
said.
Troy
Plummer,
executive
director
of
Reconciling
Ministries
Network,
a
group
for
gay
United
Methodists,
said
Holsinger
wields
significant
influence
on
the
nine-member
judicial
council
of
which
he
is
the
leader.
In
a
5-4
majority
decision
two
years
ago,
the
council
voted
to
uphold
a
South
Hill,
Va.,
pastor’s
decision
to
bar
a
man
from
church
membership
because
he
is
gay.
Eventually
the
pastor
transferred
out
of
the
congregation
and
the
man
was
welcomed
into
the
community
by
the
new
pastor,
but
Decision
1032
has
been
used
to
justify
the
refusal
of
membership
to
other
gay
United
Methodists.
Plummer
said
the
church’s
constitution
does
not
mention
barring
gays
from
membership
in
the
church,
nor
does
it
mention
discrimination
on
the
basis
of
gender
identity.
“Since
1032
I
wonder
what
else
they
will
make
up,”
he
said.
“Every
four
years
there
is
an
international
General
Conference.
The
next
one
is
April
23-May
2
in
Fort
Worth,
where
we
will
seek
to
reverse
1032
and
whatever
harmful
thing
they
do
to
Drew
Phoenix.
We
also
want
to
elect
a
progressive
or
moderate
majority
to
the
judicial
council.”
During
his
Senate
confirmation
hearing
in
July,
Holsinger
said
his
1991
paper,
which
described
gay
male
sex
as
unhealthy,
no
longer
reflects
his
views.
“I
am
deeply
troubled
personally
by
these
claims,
which
do
not
reflect
who
I
am,
what
I
believe
or
how
I
have
practiced
medicine
for
the
past
40
years,”
he
told
the
committee.
“I
think
that
I
can
serve
all
Americans,
including
gay
and
lesbian
Americans.
I
can
only
say
I
have
a
deep,
deep
appreciation
of
everybody,
regardless
of
their
personal
circumstance,
including
their
sexual
orientation
or
any
other
personal
characteristic.”
Plummer
said
Holsinger’s
direct
role
in
Decision
1032
has
him
doubting
whether
or
not
his
views
on
homosexuality
have
changed
in
the
past
17
years.
He
said
Holsinger’s
statement
and
his
actions
do
not
match.
“If
that’s
his
statement,
then
why
is
it
OK
to
shut
the
door
in
the
faces
of
gay
people
who
want
to
go
to
church?”
he
said.
“The
crux
for
me
is
that
I
would
welcome
a
change
of
heart,
but
1032
is
still
too
recent.”
The
Washington
Post
reported
this
week
that
Holsinger’s
nomination
“appears
to
be
on
life
support.”
Craig
Orfield,
communications
director
for
the
Health,
Education,
Labor
&
Pensions
Committee,
said
he
does
not
know
of
a
date
for
the
vote.
The
Post
also
reported
that
a
spokesperson
for
the
White
House
confirmed
that
Holsinger
is
working
on
the
committee’s
questions,
but
she
did
not
know
when
he
planned
to
respond.
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