Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves delivers apology to LGBTIQA+ community

In a landmark move, the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane has delivered a heartfelt message to Queensland’s LGBTIQA+ community. WATCH THE VIDEO

In a landmark move, the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane has delivered a heartfelt apology to LGBTIQA+ people in Queensland for hurt caused to them and their loved ones by the church.

The Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves understands the heartfelt apology to LGBTIQA+ people is the first such apology by an Anglican church in Queensland.

“The apology in Brisbane is unique because it came at the end of a really long and careful process of listening to LGBTIQA + people to get a sense from them of what would be the right words to include,” he told The Courier-Mail.

“My hope is that we can look forward to a different future where we work together so that everyone can feel safe and included in the church.”

The Anglican Church Southern Queensland began a listening process to find the right words to use in an apology to LGBTIQA+ people, at the request of the synod, in 2022.

A working group was formed to complete the task, with the group hearing stories from many different people, with the experiences shared forming the basis of the apology.

Archbishop Greaves delivered the apology via video at the end of July after it was “overwhelmingly endorsed” by the synod in June.

“We acknowledge the pain felt by sexually diverse and gender diverse people who feel like second class citizens, because they cannot marry in the Anglican Church of Australia,” Archbishop Greaves said.

“We apologise to sexually diverse and gender diverse people, for the times when we have not accepted that you are who you are. We have denigrated you, we have excluded you from Baptism, Holy Communion, Holy Unction, and the community of the Anglican Church.

“The times when we’ve supported the criminalisation of your sexuality, we’ve advocated for and or condoned the practices known as conversion therapy. We have isolated you and subjected you to mistreatment and when we have not spoken up to protect you from violence and exclusion.”

The Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves at his installation at St John's Cathedral. Picture: John Gass

While acknowledging the apology to the LGBTIQA+ community as a step in the right direction, with plans also underway to deliver the apology to coincide with Pride Week in Brisbane in September, Archbishop Greaves told The Courier-Mail it is not the end of the conversation.

While the current view of the Anglican Church of Australia is that marriage is between a man and a woman, Archbishop Greaves said the conversation about marriage is one that’s happening more broadly in the Anglican Church around the world. “What the apology does say is that we’re deeply mindful that the stance of the church causes pain for some people and we are sorry for that,” he said.

Archbishop of Brisbane, and Metropolitan of the Province of Queensland Jeremy Greaves at St John's Cathedral. Picture: Glenn Hunt/The Australian

Prior to commencing his tenure as the 10th Archbishop of Brisbane on December 16 last year, Archbishop Greaves said that members of the LGBTQI community should be welcomed into churches because “all people should be loved”.

On the day he was installed at St John’s Cathedral, Archbishop Greaves revealed in an interview that he was sexually abused as a teenager.