The Welsh Church (Church in Wales) is still homophobic and transphobic: An Essay
The Welsh Church (Church in Wales) is still homophobic and transphobic: An Essay
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The Welsh church has a long history of homophobia and transphobia that is often overlooked when critically examining its power and status in Wales. If we are going to build a fair and free Wales for all, we need to be addressing the latent homophobia and transphobia within what would otherwise be, a fairly decent institution of Welsh culture.
Homophobia and transphobia has permeated much of society ever since strict ecclesiastical gender norms and gender roles came in and were enforced by the populace against anyone who appeared outside of these norms- either by way of their love of the same gender, or by their transgressing of the lines of gender itself and identifying with a gender that they were not assigned at birth.
Famously, the Bible is cited to justify church-based homophobia in Leviticus 18:22, which reads in various modern editions of the bible to the effect of ‘you should not lie with another man as you would with a woman’. Now, this reading is not what the original text was intending to imply. Joosten, 2020 [1] interprets Leviticus 18:22 to be actually referring to adultery between ‘a man and her man’, meaning, men should not sleep with married men. Other interpretations suggest that the mistranslation of one of the Greek editions of the Bible conflated the concept of pederasty (pedophillia practiced in parts of Ancient Greece such as Sparta) with same-gender love, which was very common (especially in the Spartan army) and is documented by Greek bisexual or lesbian writers such as Saphho. Cristina, 2009 [2] interpreted Leviticus 18:22 to be more in line with this view, writing that:
“The loose and inaccurate translation of malakoi and arsenkoitai should not be tolerated in the English Bible, any more than it should be used to persecute adult homosexuals who engage in legal and consenting relationships. Serious damage has been done by the careless interpretation of these words, attempting to inject a distinct social agenda into Paul’s actual message, which was to avoid sexual immorality like pederastic relationships”
This really became a problem in the Welsh Bible, which was translated into Welsh long after this mistranslation or miswording about adultery or pederasty entered it. Meaning, that there has never been an edition of the Welsh Bible that does not include the homophobic lines in full.
The English Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII, which moved England and Wales towards Protestantism and subsequently subjugated Catholicism, meant that Wales had to be Protestantised in order to be in line with England’s new religion. A translation of the Bible into Welsh was commissioned in the Act for the Translation of the Scriptures into Welsh 1563, amongst the finished Bibles are the William Salesbury 1567 edition and the William Morgan 1588 edition [3]. Both contain the homophobic version of Leviticus 18:22 and every edition since has had it too, featuring the terms ‘bwggeryddion’ and ‘sodomiadd ’in other verses[4]. In 1542, laws against sodomy in Wales were passed with the Act of Union [4]. All of this cemented a culture of homophobia into the Welsh Church in the 1560s onwards.
So why is any of this relevant now?
Essentially, it comes down to a saturation of homophobia that really came to a head in the mid-1980s in Wales and continues to simmer under the surface of the institution to this day, especially concerning its treatment of transgender people in the mid-2000s. Around 1985, there was a spate of homophobic remarks coming from those working within the Welsh Church. Incidentally, 1985 was the year that Wales held its first Pride Parade of any kind, the 10th country in the world to do so. This increased visibility of gay people sparked outrage in publications linked to the Anglican or Welsh Churches, such as an issue of Cristion from Summer 1985, which had a letter written into it by one Rodger Dafydd, who, if you’ll pardon my translation, said that “Part of the problem is that there these gay men with AIDS are a big factor: it is not confined to gay people although it must be accepted that gay people have several partners and are more likely to catch the awful illness”. Many more hateful comments were received in English language publications.
In 2004, the Gender Recognition Act was published in England and Wales, which allowed binary transgender people to legally change their gender with a gender recognition certificate. Under the orders and regulations as set out by the GRA, the Welsh powers specifically include:
Any power of the Registrar General for England and Wales to make regulations under the act. These powers and similar are likely to be drawn upon by the Welsh Government in its 2021 plan to devolve additional powers for gender recognition.
In section 12 (grounds on which a marriage celebrated after 31st July 1971 is voidable) it is decreed that an interim gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 issued after the aforementioned date can void a marriage in which transgender people are involved. This power of the act has been greatly criticised since its enforcement and has since been annulled by the introduction of the Same Sex Couples Act.
A clerk in Holy Orders of the Church in Wales is not obliged to permit the marriage of a person to be solemnised in the church or chapel of which the clerk is the minister if the clerk reasonably believes that the person’s gender has become the acquired gender under the act. This allows the Church in Wales to refuse service to transgender people who wish to get married in one of its institutions
This allows the Welsh Church to freely discriminate against those who wish to get married in one of its institutions. While trans people could simply avoid a Welsh church institution, it is not a matter of equality for all people until trans people are permitted to marry in whichever institution they like- especially if they are religious trans people. Straight and cis people aren’t prevented from marrying in a Welsh Church institution, so why should trans people be? It is also impossible to avoid Welsh Church buildings in general, especially if you live in a place with few or no registry offices and your only options are places of worship. Additionally, the Church in Wales is often host to local community building programs, such as twmpathau (dances) held inside their churches and chapels or other church buildings which are dual use as a community centre and place of worship. If a trans person is made known to a Church in Wales church (such as attempting to marry there) and being turned away, they might also face additional social repercussions by being excluded or shunned from community and friends at community centres and twmpathau.
In 2017, Jeffrey John was denied bishophood [7] after his sexuality was raised. He was aiming to become bishop of Llandaff, which covers the Cardiff area.
While these conditions still remain inside the Church in Wales, Wales cannot call itself a world leader in LGBTQ rights. There is hope however, as the Church in Wales recently moved to bless same-gender marriages. A small step, but a long way from undoing the harm already done.
Sources and Further Reading:
Jan Joosten, A New Interpretation of Leviticus 18:22 (Par. 20:13) and its Ethical Implications, The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume 71, Issue 1, April 2020, Pages 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/flaa002
Richie, Cristina. (2009). An argument against the use of the word 'homosexual' in english translations of the bible. The Heythrop Journal. 51. 723 - 729. 10.1111/j.1468-2265.2009.00496.x.
1588 Welsh Bible, 1588, National Library of Wales, page 110 of the e-reader
Leeworthy, Daryl, 2019, A Little Gay History of Wales, University of Wales Press
Cristion, Issue 14, 2Annwyl Cristion” October 1985, Journals held in the National Library of Wales
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/08/26/church-in-wales-same-sex-blessing/
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