In the eighth episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Rev. Ecclesia de Lange, director of Inclusive and Affirming Ministries, reflects on her journey of becoming vulnerable and courageous as a lesbian woman of faith.

When she wanted to marry a person of the same sex, she was suspended as a Methodist minister. Ecclesia said, "I came to see that it is better to be rejected for who I am than to be accepted for who I am not."

Ecclesia is reading her essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.

To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.

Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.

For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.

For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.

Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.

*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

Rev. Ecclesia de Lange: “I Lived in Denial of Who I Am and I Settled for a Life of Celibacy and Secrecy”

LGBT & FaithBy Salzburg Global SeminarApr 25, 2022