Third Episcopal diocese
splits from national church

NEW YORK, NY (AP) - A third theologically conservative diocese has broken away from the liberal Episcopal Church in a long-running dispute over the Bible, gay relationships and other issues. The Diocese of Quincy, Illinois, took the vote at its annual meeting.

Two other dioceses - San Joaquin, based in Fresno, California, and Pittsburgh - have already split off. The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, will vote whether to follow suit.

The three breakaway dioceses are aligning with the like-minded Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina, to try to keep their place in the world Anglican Communion. The 77-million-member Anglican fellowship, which includes the U.S. Episcopal Church, has roots in the missionary work of the Church of England.

Meanwhile, National Episcopal leaders are reorganizing the seceding dioceses with local parishioners who want to stay in the church. Complex legal fights have already started in San Joaquin over control of millions of dollars in diocesan property and assets.

The head of the New York-based denomination, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, said in a recent statement: “We lament the departure” in Quincy.

The Quincy diocese, based in Peoria, has 24 churches and missions and about 1,800 members. Clergy and lay delegates approved withdrawal with a 95 to 26 vote.

Episcopalians and their fellow Anglicans have been debating for decades how they should interpret what Scripture says on issues ranging from salvation to sexuality.

Tensions erupted in 2003 when the denomination consecrated its first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, pushing the Anglican family toward the brink of schism. Most overseas Anglicans hold traditional views of Scripture and believe the Bible bars gay relationships. Many have pushed for the ouster of the Episcopal Church from the communion.

Within the U.S. church, the outlook is different. Most of the 2.2 million Episcopalians don’t consider their theological differences cause to leave the denomination.

Still, several Episcopal conservative leaders have concluded they could no longer remain and have begun building direct links with sympathetic Anglicans in other countries.

The Anglican Church of Nigeria has formed a Virginia-based network of Episcopal breakaway parishes, called the Convocation of Anglicans in North America. Some individual Episcopal parishes have separately aligned with Anglican provinces in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

Bishop Robert Duncan, head of the breakaway Diocese of Pittsburgh, is among leaders trying to form a North American province for Episcopal traditionalists that would rival the U.S. church.

Small US city elects
transgender mayor

SILVERTON, OR (AP) - Plenty of politicians reinvent themselves, but few do it quite like Mayor-elect Stu Rasmussen.

Rasmussen has been a fixture in Silverton politics for more than 20 years, and had twice before been mayor of the small city 45 miles south of Portland. Those terms, however, were before his breast implants and before the once-discreet cross-dresser started wearing dresses and three-inch heels in public.

Silverton has made Rasmussen the country’s first openly transgender mayor, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a group that works to help openly lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people win elected office.

Rasmussen, 60, unseated incumbent mayor Ken Hector, with whom he had long clashed, by 1,988 votes to 1,512.

Because Rasmussen’s appearance was no secret, the campaign was dominated by policy issues.

“I’ve blackmail-proofed myself,” Rasmussen said.

The story of Rasmussen’s election was first reported by JustOut, a bimonthly publication for Portland’s LGBT communities.

“Stu never sought this recognition out,” said JustOut reporter Stephen Marc Beaudoin. “He’s interested in doing a great job for the community that he loves. The gender identity thing is just a total backseat thing.”

That comes across when Rasmussen speaks in his decidedly masculine voice.

“I am a dude,” he said. “I am a heterosexual male who appears to be a female.”

His longtime live-in girlfriend, Victoria Sage, told The Oregonian newspaper that she and Rasmussen have been an item for almost 35 years.

Gay-rights protests
continued across California

LOS ANGELES, CA (AP) - Backlash to the passage of an anti-gay-marriage law continued to sweep across California, with hundreds of protesters rallying outside an Orange County megachurch whose popular pastor brought Barack Obama and John McCain together last summer for a “faith forum.”

In Sacramento, about 2,500 protesters gathered on the steps of the state Capitol to vent their opposition to the same-sex marriage ban. In Oakland, a large anti-Proposition 8 protest at the city’s Mormon Temple led the California Highway Patrol to close two nearby highway ramps to ensure pedestrian safety.

In Orange County, police officials and protest organizers estimated that about 250 to 300 gay-rights advocates fanned out along sidewalks leading to Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. The protesters were angered by the megachurch’s support of Proposition 8. Human Rights Campaign volunteer Ed Todeschini accused the church of helping propagate what he called misinformation about the Supreme Court ruling, including that gay marriage would have to be taught to kindergartners.

“They told such obvious lies, they used their lies to deceive the public,” Todeschini said of the church, which gained national attention in August when its pastor, Rick Warren, brought Obama and McCain together to discuss their religious faith. The two candidates embraced during what was otherwise an often-contentious presidential campaign.

Todeschini said the recent rally was peaceful, with demonstrators waving placards with slogans including “Equality for all” and “Shame on you.”

A spokesman for the Oakland temple said Mormons were being unfairly singled out, noting that the ban was backed by a variety of religious groups.

Not all churches favor Proposition 8. In Pasadena, the All Saints Church announced that while it could legally no longer marry same-sex couples, it would continue blessings of gay civil unions.

“It’s very unfortunate and embarrassing that the (Christian religion) is in large part responsible for this act of bigotry,” the Rev. Ed Bacon said following his Sunday sermon.

Idaho donated $400K
to pass gay marriage ban

IDAHO FALLS, ID (AP) - Campaign finance reports show Idaho residents contributed more than $400,000 to a website-based campaign in support of banning gay marriage in California.

California Secretary of State records show dozens of Idaho residents sent $10,000, $5,000 and $1,000 donations to ProtectMarriage.com, an online-based campaign in support of the ban.

Voters in California narrowly passed Proposition 8 in the Nov. 4 election. The ballot proposition amends the California constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman.

The ProtectMarriage.com campaign collected a total of about $40 million for its Yes on Proposition 8 campaign, according to a statement posted on its website.

The Idaho donations were collected in a span of less than two weeks, beginning on Oct. 27 and ending on Election Day, and a bulk of the money came from the eastern region of the state.

The wife of Frank VanderSloot, president and CEO the Melaleuca Inc. healthcare products company, donated $100,000 and Idaho Falls businessman Kreg Davis donated $15,000 to the ProtectMarriage.com campaign.

Davis said his uncle is gay and lives in California with a partner.

“I want them to be treated with respect and dignity,” Davis told the Post Register. “I want them to have equal rights and equal pay. At the same time, I believe children should be raised by a mom and a dad.”

Brigham Young University-Idaho President Kim Clark put $5,000 toward efforts to pass the ban. The university is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which played a vigorous role in the campaign to pass Proposition 8.

At the behest of church leaders, thousands of Mormons worked as grassroots volunteers and gave tens of millions of dollars to the campaign. Like many other religious groups, Mormons consider traditional marriage a sacred institution ordained by God.