Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Reverend Canon Mpho Tutu van Furth is 60 years old. She is an Episcopal priest. She reads, writes, paints and draws. Her father is Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She and her wife Marceline married in 2015 and live in Amstelveen, The Netherlands.
KB: Where were you born and how was it growing up?
I was born in London in the UK. I grew up in the UK, South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. I had a happy family life amidst the stress of apartheid South Africa.
KB: How old were you when you realized you were gay and what made you realize it?
I would rather be classified as bi-sexual or queer than gay. And I realized I was bi-sexual when I fell in love with my wife.
KB: When did you come out as bi-sexual?
I “came out” as bi-sexual when I announced my relationship with my wife.
KB: How did your family react with your father being Archbishop Desmond Tutu?
My parents and family were concerned about the reactions I may have from other people in my environment but as a family they welcomed my wife and our relationship.
KB: When did you decided you want to be a priest?
I decided to enter the discernment process when I was in my thirties. Before that in South Africa priesthood wasn’t open to women and so it only became a possibility when I was living in the USA.
KB: How did the community reacted to a bi-sexual priest?
By the time Marceline and I married it was well after the ordination of Gene Robinson and the Episcopal church had voted to affirm LGBTQ clergy. In South Africa, where I was living at the time (though still canonically resident in the US) it was a different story. The South African Bishop who had granted me permission to officiate (a license) was required to revoke that permission. The South African Anglican church is still wrestling with the issue of human sexuality.
KB: What do you think of all the religions out there who still see being gay as a sin?
Most religions claim to teach their followers the path to peace, love, justice and the good life; most religions easily countenance or justify inequality based on gender, wealth, or clerical status. I think that if we all busied ourselves with those things that are the core of religion we would live in a better world.
KB: Did you ever have any anti-gay experiences or incidents?
I have had my priestly identity challenged in South Africa with the revocation of my PTO and upon the death of my godfather with the refusal of the local Bishop to allow me to have any role in my godfather’s funeral.
KB: Being gay is still a crime in many countries around the world. How do you feel about this?
Being gay is a crime against the state. That legislation is a crime against humanity and, indeed, a crime against the God of love who calls us into loving relationships.
KB: What would you like to say to all the anti-gay people out there?
I wonder what impact it has on your life that I am in a same sex marriage. What has happened to you as a result of the love I express and experience?
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