Rev. Gary Hall: Church Must Come To Its Senses on Sexuality, Just As It Did On Racism And Women’s Equality

The Very Reverend Gary Hall, Dean of the  National Cathedral in Washington, DC, delivered this message in a recent sermon, commemorating the fifteenth anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s death:

The Very Rev. Gary Hall, chief ecclesiastical leader and executive officer of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., said in a sermon on Sunday that “homophobia” and “heterosexism” are sins.

“In its wisdom, the church came to its senses and labeled both racism and sexism as sinful,” Hall said. “And now we find ourselves at the last barrier—call that barrier homophobia, call it heterosexism.

“We must now have the courage to take the final step and call homophobia and heterosexism what they are,” Hall said. “They are sin.

“Homophobia is a sin,” Hall said. “Heterosexism is a sin.

“Shaming people for whom they love is a sin,” Hall said. “Shaming people because their gender identity doesn’t fit neatly into your sense of what it should be is a sin.”

Watch it:

Rev. Hall is preaching the same message that Christians from all over are delivering with their videos for the NALT Christians Project. Voices like these are truly changing the conversation about what it means to be Christian, and it seems that, slowly but surely, the “talking stick” is being handed to those who support equality, inclusion and love rather than divisiveness, exclusion and hate.