Darkside Rainbow

Sweet honkin’ jeebus, that title is cheesy, isn’t it? Oi. Anyway, on to business.

First: If you’ve been watching the LiveJournal kerfluffle, you may want to know that LJ/Six Apart has finally posted a comprehensible clarification of their policy regarding certain types of art. They’ve also instituted a two-strikes program for violators of that policy, rather than immediate and permanent suspension, and hint that they are in discussion with ponderosa121 and elaboration regarding the previous suspensions.

Second: Do you remember when we briefly touched (in comic form) upon the trials of Reverend Bradley Schmeling? It looks like Schmeling has emerged victorious:

Lutheran Congregation Keeps Gay Pastor - Washington Post

ATLANTA — With hugs and cheers Sunday, members of Atlanta’s oldest Lutheran church celebrated the pastor at the center of a battle over the treatment of gay clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The support for the Rev. Bradley Schmeling at St. John’s Lutheran Church came a day after the national assembly of the ELCA in Chicago urged bishops to refrain from defrocking gay and lesbian ministers who violate a celibacy rule. The assembly’s action fell short of permitting ordained gays churchwide.

Schmeling called the assembly’s vote a “crack in the dam” and told the more than 100 people gathered in the St. John’s sanctuary that the congregation had “given its gift” to the ELCA.

“The hard work, the struggle, has really finally made a difference for years to come,” he said.

That, right there, is enough to lift my usual dour morning mood and make me smile. Might not be enough to make me a man of faith, but trust me, making me smile before noon and before half a pot of coffee is a much more difficult task.

There are some who might say that it’s not enough - that it’s not true, open acceptance, but simply a policy of agreeing to look the other way. True, the measures taken aren’t perfect…but for their purpose, they’re adequate, and they’re a step in the right direction. Schmeling says they’re a crack in the dam; I prefer to use the adage “a foot in the door”, because now that gay rights has a foot in the door of the Lutheran church, soon that door might open to admit us fully. It’ll take hard work, it’ll take a little prying, but that precedent is set.

Really, that’s what advocacy and gay rights are all about: baby steps. We like to make a lot of noise and cry out for radical change, but too often when we leap far forward, we’re shoved even farther back. It’s those baby steps that get us further down the road; they may seem small at the time, but each step is another inch forward and more firm ground gained - and it really starts to add up.

We may not be walking tall with the big boys yet, but we’re getting there. This victory for Schmeling is just another sign of that.

livejournal, blogging, six apart, censorship, strikethrough 07, boldthrough 07, fanart, fanfiction, fandom, ponderosa121, elaboration, lutheran church, gay clergy, reverend bradley schmeling