The second group includes The Rt. Rev. Adam Halkett, (Saskatchewan), The Rt. Rev. Mark MacDonald, (Bishop for Indigenous Peoples for the ACoC), The Rt. Rev. Lydia Mamakwa, (Diocese of Rupert's Land) and The Rt. Rev. Tom Corston, (Bishop of Moosonee, Ret.). They titled their paper a "Statement of the Anglican Indigenous Bishops to the Commission on the Marriage Canon."

Here is how the LGBT2+ positioned their argument. "Those of us in the LGBT2+ community are also acutely aware of our own social context and history. This history is one of alienation from our families and communities, of loneliness, of suicide, of having our relationships criminalized, of having our history erased, of being condemned by the Church, of being taught that our sexuality is intrinsically sinful, of the constant threat of verbal abuse and physical violence, of secrecy, of shame, of homelessness. Most of this history is still very present to us as well as to our community in other parts of the world. This is the context in which our advocacy for change takes place. We want others to understand that these concrete injustices that we have historically suffered and are continuing to suffer are what motivate our struggle for equality. Some people have accused us of being motivated by individualistic ideologies, but that is not true."

The indigenous group of bishops wrote saying, "It is not forgotten by our elders and peoples that a great deal of this history was activated by attempts to destroy our families by the government and church. This leads to our primary position in this discussion. It is no longer acceptable to impose Western cultural questions and approaches on our societies, as if they were another segment or faction of a Euro-North American whole, either needing to be updated, tolerated, or assimilated in to the larger body. We absolutely reserve the right to make these choices and decisions, now and forever, on our own terms and in our own way. At present, we do not hear our concerns and approach in either side of this very strained discussion. Our approach is not understood by either, and so we must, as far apart from that conflict as is possible, express our position with as much clarity as we are able."

The bishops went on to say that their understanding of marriage appeared to be quite different from the dominating society and both sides of this discussion within it. "For the rest of Canadian society, marriage appears to be a social contract between two people, who have the right, under law and as a human right, to form their family life in any way they see fit. (We can understand this point of view, since we are--sometimes by choice and 2 happily, sometimes with no choice and unhappily--compelled to be a part of the larger whole. We understand the Canadian society and its norms much better than it understands us.) In the understanding of the larger society, the focus of marriage is the individual choice, well-being, and happiness of the couple."

The indigenous bishops went onto underscore their claims saying, that the well-being and happiness of couples is essential. "For our elders, marriage is a ceremony of the community and the primary place where we enact our understanding of Creation and the relationship of God to the universe. It is a ceremonial act that portrays our world view; it is our cosmology. What the ceremony says to the community is every bit as important as what is says to the couple. Many of our communities connect this ceremony to our experience of acceptance, salvation, and freedom in Christ. Marriage has become, for them, a picture of this mutual acceptance. Today, this is, in many communities, an affirmation of our Indigenous life and, though it may seem to be strange to many, an affirmation of our life before the arrival of Westerners and their missionaries. Marriage is, in Indigenous understanding, an act in the spiritual realm, activated by ceremony and the commitment and love of the couples and their families. Encouraged by Christian theology and the reading of Scripture, many Indigenous Peoples enthusiastically held on to a view of marriage that saw the ceremony as activating a number of hidden but healing present rivers of spirit within the larger community. It is not that this is the only place in Creation where this happens."

While the indigenous bishops recognized that there was disagreement among their elders about what their response should be if the Anglican Church of Canada changes its teachings and laws about marriage, "We, as the Indigenous bishops of Indigenous communities, declare our commitment to what we understand to be the traditional, spiritual, and Indigenous understanding of marriage."

It is still unclear how this will play out. The pansexual crowd are positioning themselves, like the indigenous peoples, as a minority, persecuted and hated for just being homosexual; but the indigenous bishops are clear that marriage is a cosmological and ontological issue and cannot be changed because a handful of Western pro-gay activists, including Anglicans, say so. Both said they felt the pain of not being heard.

The Anglican Church of Canada is in for a rocky convention this summer when they meet in July. Even as I write, the blessing of same sex unions is going on in Anglican churches across the country.

A draft resolution will be presented to General Synod this summer changing the Anglican Church of Canada's marriage canon to allow same-sex marriage, but it is "not likely" to get the number of votes it needs from bishops, according to a statement sent by the House of Bishops to Council of General Synod (CoGS) sent out earlier this year.

However, there is a desire among us to explore other options for honoring and fully embracing committed, faithful same-sex relationships, the statement said.

END