Norm Kansfield: # 4 Of Top 10 Straight Advocates For Gay Rights

This is the fourth of a series of bois that I will be posting over the next few days on the people that The Human Rights Campaign picked as the Top 10 Advocates For The Gay And Transgender Rights.

Norm Kansfield: (Minister who married his lesbian daughter and her partner)

On June 17 th , 2005 , The Reverend Doctor Norm Kansfield became the first minister in one hundred years to be put on trial by the Reformed Church of America, and the delegates at that trial voted to suspend him and revoke his status as a Professor of Theology. He was also asked to resign his post as the President of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, whose student enrollment has more than doubled in the eleven years since he's held that post. His crime? Officiating at the wedding of his daughter, Ann, to her partner, Jennifer. Rather than allow this to slow him down, Dr. Kansfield instead has sought to convert more people to his belief that his faith is one of love and inclusion, and that his daughter deserves the same rights as all other sons and daughters. “This issue defines the church and whether the church is going to be more concerned about purity or sharing the gospel. You can't do both of those at once,” he said. He stands by his decision to wed his daughter to her partner, and he's refused to compromise his views on inclusion, even at the cost of his suspension. His daughter, Ann, sees him as a wonderful role-model: She's currently studying to be a minister herself.
from Human Rights Campaign