Reports are coming in from all around the web that the Episcopalian Church (the United States' equivalent of England's Anglican Church) has elected its first openly lesbian (and partnered) bishop.
Ms Mary Glasspool, currently a canon in the church's Maryland diocese, has been elected assistant bishop for the diocese of Los Angeles.
Regrettably, but predictably, criticism from the usual suspects was immediate, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, saying that the move raised "very serious questions" for the position of the Episcopal Church inside the Anglican Communion.
Ms Glasspool's election is only the first step on her rise to See-level. According to long-standing rules her election must now be confirmed by the other 108 dioceses of the Episcopal Church, though supporters fear an attempt by conservatives to sabotage the process.
Those conservative objections in full
According to Christian conservatives, a person cannot sit on a bishopric if he:
- is a woman;
- is a homosexual or lesbian;
- has a life-partner who is also a lesbian; or
- is in any other way not a conservative.
Naughty Swedes do things differently
Compare and contrast the bunching of ecclesiastical panties in the Anglican Communion with the matter-of-fact ordination of Eva Brunne, the first openly lesbian (and partnered) bishop in Sweden's Lutheran church, just two weeks after it had given its clergy the right to wed same-sex couples.
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