We, participants of the 5th Forum of Eastern Europe and Central Asia LGBT-Christians, which was held on 4-7 October 2012 in Moscow, Russia and brought together LGBT-Christians from Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Poland, Estonia, Armenia, Uzbekistan as well as the Netherlands, Germany, Malta and the USA make an appeal,
with reference to the apostle Paul’s letter to Galatians (5:6), For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
and with reference to the 4th International LGBT-Christian Forum Resolution of 18 September 2011 (St. Petersburg, Russia).
The appeal
1. To Christian denominations and other religious communities
1.1. Acknowledge rather than hush up the presence of LGBT-people in your community;
1.2. Acknowledge the insights of theological scholars concerning the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity;
1.3. Dare to look for new ways of pastoral ministry to LGBT-people in the community, with respect to their lifestyles and their self-determination;
1.4. Reject homophobia, transphobia and any other varieties of hatred as something incompatible with Christian values; and let not these be manifested in your midst.
2. To LGBT-believers
2.1. Beware of giving way to fundamentalist ideas or intolerance of all kinds;
2.2. Identify yourself as belonging to the LGBT-community without condescending or talking down to LGBT-non-believers, but rather respecting one another’s convictions since we belong to one humanity;
2.3. Strive for peace between LGBT-believers of different Christian denominations and other religious communities, accepting that we all belong to the same family;
2.4. Acknowledge and appreciate the diversity of decisions, strategies and lifestyles without attempting to set uniform standards for everyone;
2.5. Take on responsibility for promoting change in your own midst as a result of acknowledging that even a small step towards transparency may strengthen and benefit the whole community.
3. To LGBT-community at large
3.1. Do not blame LGBT-believers for the pain and suffering inflicted on members of the LGBT-community by the actions and claims of churches (and other religious communities);
3.2. Acknowledge LGBT-believers as an inseparable part of the LGBT-community;
3.3. Co-operate with LGBT-believers for the sake of achieving common goals regardless of personal views and attitudes to religion.
Signed by:
Light Of The World LGBT Open Group (Moscow, Russia)
LGBT ministry Nuntiare et Recreare (St Petersburg, Russia)
Association of gay Christians of Estonia
Queer credo, LGBT Christians of Ukraine
LGBT group Avers (Samara, Russia)
LKP – umbrella organization of the Dutch Christian LGBT Movement in The Netherlands (on behalf of the LCC Plus organizations)
Bishop of Pereyaslavl and Boguslav of Ukraine inclusive Bysantium Local Church (Kiyv. Ukraine)
and other participants.