The Rev. Pamela Lightsey (center) leads advocates from the Black Lives Matter movement as they disrupt the proceedings of the 2016 United Methodist General Conference in Portland, Ore. The demonstrators marched into the plenary session chanting slogans and gathered around the central communion table.
A protest today disrupted business at the General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Portland Ore.
Soon after Bishop Micheal Coyner called this afternoon’s plenary session to order, shouts were heard in one corner of the hall. A few protesters held a banner emblazoned with the with the hashtag all “#BlackLivesMatter,” along with the rainbow flame logo of Reconciling Ministries Network, an organization that lobbies for full inclusion of LGBTQI people in the United Methodist Church.
For 18 minutes, about 150 protesters walked the floor, chanting slogans, including “No more hate,” and
“Hey, hey, ho, ho, homophobia has got to go.” Organizers said it wouldn’t be the last time there was a protest at the 2016 General Conference.
“We are not going to be quiet this General Conference,” said the Rev. Pamela Lightsey, who helped lead the event. “This is about the intersection of oppression.”
She noted that today’s event was a joint effort “This was a coalition of forces,” she said. “LGBTQ people are sometimes also black and brown people, and that matters.” Discrimination, she said, hurts all people on the margins. “This hurts black people, brown people, poor people, and women. We won’t stand for this,” she said.
Lightsey is the associate dean for community life at Boston University’s theological seminary. She also leads lifelong learning and is a clinical assistant professor of contextual theology. She spoke to the media immediately after the protest outside the plenary hall.
Source: United Methodist Reporter | Laura Harbert Allen
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