The World's First Lesbian Bishop

categories: International Gay Rights, Religion and LGBT Rights

Published November 10, 2009 @ 12:11PM PT

Eva Brunne is 55 years old, the mother of a three-year-old, and armed with a pastoral smile that could probably melt that hardest of hearts. Oh, and she's got one other title she can now hang under her hat: she's the world's first openly lesbian bishop.

Bishop Brunne became, well, "Bishop" Brunne this past weekend during a ceremony in Sweden. Her consecration as Bishop comes just two weeks after the Lutheran Church of Sweden, of which Brunne is a member, said that they would approve recognizing same-sex marriages.

Even more significant? Brunne is part of a Communion of Lutherans that spans 6.9 million members worldwide, making it the largest Lutheran Church in the world.

Woot for Bishop Brunne! Although if you ask her, which the Metro newspaper had the opportunity to do, she's not too fixated on the fact that she's the world's first lesbian that can put the word "bishop" in front of their name.

"I don’t think a heterosexual bishop would ever be asked about his wife or marriage, but I am happy if I, to some degree, can be a symbolic figure. Of course there are other things in my life that qualify me as a bishop," Bishop Brunne said.

(Photo by Isabel Svensson, courtesy of metro.us)

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Comments (4)

Wonderful! My congratulations to the new bishop. She does indeed have a lovely smile. My best to her. It's so nice seeing not only women, but lesbians as well, sharing fully in the life of the Church.

Posted by Ioan Lightoller on 11/10/2009 @ 12:54PM PT
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It's good that Eva Brunne has become the first lesbian Bishop, demonstrating that the Lutheran church is much more tolerant than most of the Catholic church. It's also good that the Lutheran church will perform same-sex marriages, which is very important because the Lutheran church is the largest in Scandinavia. There is unfortunately intolerance against LGBT people, but advances for LGBT people will come to conquer oppression against the LGBT rights movement.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 11/10/2009 @ 05:07PM PT
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Freedom will come, regardless of what the opposition believes.

Posted by Fred Frankenberg on 11/11/2009 @ 06:59AM PT
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:) thank goodness, a church that finally realizes that maybe there's something wrong with all the other churches around the world....

Posted by Lance Prescot on 11/29/2009 @ 12:35AM PT
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Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He is the former Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, as well as the former Director of Communications for Pax Christi USA, a national Catholic peace and justice organization. Mike is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and he is also a proud sketch comedy writer.