BREAKING NEWS: UMC General Convention delegates remove ban on LGBTQ clergy
Delegates to the United Methodist Church’s General Conference today (Wednesday, May 1) voted overwhelmingly to repeal the denomination’s ban on LGBTQ people serving as clergy, according to CBS News.
The 692-51 vote to remove the rule prohibiting “self-avowed practicing homosexuals from being ordained or appointed as ministers happened with no debate.
This was the UMC’s first General Conference in five years. As CBS News notes, “Past General Conferences … had steadily reinforced the ban and related penalties amid debate and protests, but many of the conservatives who had previously upheld the ban have left the denomination in recent years, and this General Conference has moved in a solidly progressive direction.
The vote was met with widespread applause and even some tears from LGBTQ folks in the convention hall, CBS noted, adding that the change takes effect immediately upon the conclusion of General Conference, scheduled for Friday, May 3.
