In the run up to the start of the Lambeth Conference, our LGBT+ Staff Network have organised a special event exploring the intersection between sexuality and religion on Wednesday 27 July. 

The Lambeth Conference will see senior figures from across the worldwide Anglican Communion coming together for prayer, reflection, fellowship and dialogue. The Church has attracted criticism ahead of the Conference over the place of LGBT+ people within it and we are clear that their views on equal marriage in particular do not fit with our own values as a University. However, our aim throughout the conference is to facilitate debate and discussion where we can in the interest of positive progress. 

Speakers at the Staff Network event include UoW Trinity St David lecturer Dr Angus M Slater, who will discuss LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the Church in Wales, and General Synod Member Jayne Ozanne, a former member of the UK Government LGBT Advisory Panel and Director of the Ozanne Foundation which works with religious organisations around the world to eliminate discrimination based on sexuality or gender. 

Following the talks, there will be a panel discussion including staff and students from the University, followed by a networking and social event. Rainbows in Religion takes place from 2 – 5pm at Marlowe Lecture Theatre. Spaces for the Symposium are limited to please register via EventBrite if you want to attend! 

All staff and students are also invited to walk with their LGBT+ colleagues at the Lambeth Walk ahead of the event, which is a chance to tell the world that people of all gender identities and sexualities are welcome and part of the Kent community. Meet at the Registry Lawns (by the Gulbenkian Theatre on the Canterbury campus) from 1pm. 

Did you know? The LGBTQ+ Staff Network recently launched our Researching the Rainbow podcast, which explores LGBTQIA+ research taking place across the University and beyond.