The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) describes itself as "UK-based international Charity which challenges homophobia and transphobia, especially within the Church and faith based organisations".
The Gay Christian Movement was founded in 1976 with the Revd Richard Kirker as its first General Secretary. In 1977, local chapters were organised, followed in 1978 by the Women's Group, the Evangelical Fellowship in 1979 and Young Lesbian and Gay Christians in 2000. The name was eventually changed to the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement in 1987. The twentieth-anniversary event, held on 16 November 1996 at Southwark Cathedral with John Gladwin, then Bishop of Guildford, as preacher, was the first Anglican cathedral service in Britain held for gay people. Over 2,000 people attended. About 50 local churches held vigils in protest.
The Anglican churches in the British Isles are the main focus of LGCM activity, but its membership and interests are nonetheless entirely ecumenical and international.
The movement has criticised Pope Benedict XVI over his statement that gender theory could lead to the "self-destruction" of humanity. The Reverend Sharon Ferguson, current chief executive of the LGCM, called the statement "totally irresponsible and unacceptable... When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way." When Benedict visited the United Kingdom, the movement criticised secular protesters, urging people to "disagree with respect", calling the protests "unhelpful and counterproductive" and holding a prayer vigil.
Famous quotes containing the words lesbian, gay, christian and/or movement:
“Why is it so difficult to see the lesbian—even when she is there, quite plainly, in front of us? In part because she has been “ghosted”Mor made to seem invisible—by culture itself.... Once the lesbian has been defined as ghostly—the better to drain her of any sensual or moral authority—she can then be exorcised.”
—Terry Castle, U.S. lesbian author. The Apparitional Lesbian, ch. 1 (1993)
“A rich rogue now-a-days is fit company for any gentleman; and the world, my dear, hath not such a contempt for roguery as you imagine.”
—John Gay (1685–1732)
“Is discord going to show itself while we are still fighting, is the Jew once again worth less than another? Oh, it is sad, very sad, that once more, for the umpteenth time, the old truth is confirmed: “What one Christian does is his own responsibility, what one Jew does is thrown back at all Jews.””
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)
“So close is the bond between man and woman that you can not raise one without lifting the other. The world can not move ahead without woman’s sharing in the movement, and to help give a right impetus to that movement is woman’s highest privilege.”
—Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911)