The 2009 triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church delivered some good news to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Episcopalians, which everyone committed to the extravagant welcome of the Gospel can celebrate. A strong majority voted to overturn the 2006 moratorium on electing lesbian and gay bishops, keeping the ordination process open to all, and recognized a local option for developing liturgical rites to bless same-sex unions.

This is good news indeed, but not terribly surprising. The 2006 moratorium was a temporary stop-gap measure, a way to avoid schism in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Very few could imagine that ban becoming permanent or that we would turn back the clock on our history. After all, the Episcopal Church has been ordaining openly lesbian and gay people as deacons and priests in many locales for many years (I’m one of them, ordained back in 1988).

Today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Attorney General Martha Coakley upheld the Commonwealth’s long tradition as a national civil rights leader and took a major step towards ensuring that all its citizens are treated equally by the federal government. The Commonwealth moved to protect legally married same-sex couples from the harms caused by federal discrimination.