LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A historic vote within the United Methodist Church passed on Wednesday put an end to the ban on LGBTQ clergy.
This vote cancels the rule that forbids people who are gay from being ordained as ministers. It passed 692-51 at the United Methodist Church’s general convention.
United Methodists repeal ban on LGBTQ clergy
The Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas has been an advocate for this passage.
“It’s supposed to be a place for everyone,” Harold Hughes, a member of Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, said.
Hughes said he’s a proud gay man and multiple times in his life he’s thought about disaffiliating with the United Methodist Church because of the LGBTQ ban.
“To feel that you love a church that does not love you back is how it feels,” he said.
But he said, “from the first time I walked in the doors” of the Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, ” I was welcomed.”
United Methodists endorse change that could give regions more say on LGBTQ and other issues