Photo © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
On Sunday, Dec. 26, South African social justice leader and 1984 Nobel peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu died at age 90. While his legacy is largely recognized in his role as a major predicating force in the struggle to end South Africa’s racist apartheid regime, he also led the world in a campaign for LGBTQ equality. In fact, upon the collapse of apartheid in 1990, he quite clearly and succinctly defined the role of religious institutions in the continued struggle for human rights, stating “if the church, after the victory over apartheid, is looking for a worthy moral crusade, then this is it: the fight against homophobia and heterosexism.”
The Archbishop took his fight forward. In great part due to his efforts, South Africa’s new constitution, adopted in 1996, contains a clause that protects citizens against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The former apartheid state was the first in the world to codify such protections. In 2016 South Africa became the sixth country in the world to legalize same-gender marriage (the United States would take another decade before achieving marriage equality).
There was no question about his dedication to the cause of LGBTQ rights and how he saw the role of religion in that cause. He is famously quoted in a 2007 interview saying, “If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn’t worship that God.” Even in the afterlife, Tutu’s conviction was clearly expressed in another famous quote when he said ,“I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven … I mean I would much rather go to the other place.”
American Homophobia
In this country, if the policies of the major Christian churches (primarily Catholic and Evangelical) are any indication, their God is homophobic. A review of some recent news headlines underscores how diametrically opposed they are to the spiritual worldview of Archbishop Tutu.
Here are just a few examples: “Catholic diocese says gays and trans people can’t be baptized or receive Communion” (NBC), “Most Christian Colleges Will Never Be a Safe Space for LGBTQ Students” (Time), “Supreme Court Lets Catholic Group Exclude LGBTQ Foster Parents”(NPR), and “Texas Ruling Opens Rule for Religious Carveouts to LGBT Rights” (Bloomberg). Locally, Milwaukee’s Archbishop Jerome Listecki made the news back in September, when, as chairman of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, he released a memorandum suggesting “special vigilance” and even DNA. tests for seminarians lest transgender candidates slip through.
Not surprisingly Archbishop Tutu had already spoken out about such discrimination against LGBTQs years ago, saying: “I cannot keep quiet when people are penalized for something about which they can do nothing,” continuing, “I oppose such injustice with the same passion that I opposed apartheid.”
The unfortunate difference between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his American counterparts is Tutu’s moral authority was founded in the Christ-like values that equate human rights with universal equality while the others find theirs in worldlier political priorities.
It should be noted that Pope Francis sent his condolences to Archbishop’s Tutu’s family and the South African Anglican Church. Sadly, I found no mention of Milwaukee church leaders acknowledging the passing of this lion of social justice.
In recognizing Tutu’s great contribution to human rights, we must neither forget this man of faith’s commitment to LGBTQ equality nor allow others to dismiss or ignore it.
