This badge was produced in 2016 when there was a global meeting of the Anglican Primates – the archbishops, primates and presiding bishops from around the Anglican World.
At this meeting a series of “consequences” were imposed upon the US based Episcopal Church which often goes by the acronym TEC (standing for The Episcopal Church).
The Anglican Communion is connected by may threads and one of the threads that binds us together is the contact that LGBT people have with one another across the Communion. This means weeping when others are persecuted and rejoicing when they have something to celebrate.
In the case of this badge, people in Scotland were expressing their solidarity with the American church, knowing that the Scottish Episcopal Church was considering making the same kind of decision and knowing that the same kind of “consequences” were likely to come our way.
Much newsprint was given to describing the US based church as having been thrown out of the Anglican Communion. In fact, that didn’t happen. People from the US based Episcopal Church and subsequently people from the Scottish Episcopal Church were not allowed to represent the Anglican Communion to others. In almost all cases this was a symbolic wrap of the knuckles. In a few cases though it meant personal snubs of those who had previously served their churches in this way.
LGBT Anglicans remain connected with one another and there are many opportunities to learn from one another. Many in the churches that have embraced the marriage of same-sex couples are in constant touch with those who are fighting similar battles in churches which have not done so yet.