In a basement room of Marsh Chapel, Liz Douglass pins a rainbow-striped ribbon under her Boston University nametag and motions for the six students hovering by the door to sit in a semicircle of chairs.
Most of the students already met over dinner together last week, but this is the first discussion-style meeting of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Ministry. Students are still getting acquainted with each other and with their own beliefs. In her poised and even voice, Douglass delivers a short prayer, then she leans back in her chair and listens to the rest of the group make announcements.
Douglass founded the ministry two years ago to provide the gay community at BU with something she didn’t have as an undergraduate: a safe place to talk about religion and homosexuality. Beyond completing that goal, she has also become a role model and the humble leader of a small group of students.
“She’s the person who’s past our stage and has already resolved her sexuality and her beliefs,” said Brent Sugay, a junior who joined at the ministry’s start. “It’s nice to have a mentor figure at the meetings.”
Sugay says he is an atheist and joined the group to support a friend. The alternating weeks of dinner and discussion, however, have shown him the importance of resolving sexuality and religion for some of his peers.
Douglass begins the dialogue every year by sharing her own story, but her listening skills and humility, rather than her words, cultivates the group’s strong support system, Sugay said.
Instead, Sugay’s friend Tyler Sit does most of the talking. Sit runs the group alongside Douglass as the Marsh Associate for LGBTQ Students and a member of Spectrum, BU’s LGBTQ social group.
“She’s not like a lot of other people who enter the leadership of the church. She’s not charismatic or bubbly; she’s really grounded,” Sit said. “Liz listening as much as she does allows people to realize that this isn’t a place where you have to have all the answers.”
Douglass has found peace with her identity, but she doesn’t try to persuade students to accept or adapt her lifestyle, Sit said. When, for example, the group analyzes Bible passages that many Christians use to condemn gays, she appears to value all opinions the same, despite her own firm interpretation, Sit said.
Only recently has Douglass found such confidence in her views on religion. She came out when she was a senior at Kent State University, involved with a Christian student organization and hoping to work at a campus ministry. The Ohio native’s post-graduation plans came to an abrupt halt as she began grappling with her conservative Protestant upbringing, disapproval from her classmates and, most of all, her faith.
“They were just like, ‘You’re wrong, this is bad, get out,’” Douglass said. “I didn’t know anything, only a few passages in the Bible people liked to throw in my face, but how could I argue with that? That’s what the Bible said, and that’s all I knew at the time.”
After graduation, Douglass began questioning all she had been taught. She Googled her options and found a church in Ohio with a strong gay congregation. There, she met a gay pastor, something she never even knew existed.
Her soul searching took her to Boston, where she met a lesbian pastor at United Parish in Brookline, who encouraged her to enroll at the Boston University School of Theology. She started the LGBTQ Ministry at Marsh for a field education requirement, earned her Masters in Divinity Studies last year and now works at Marsh as a Chapel Associate.
“I just wanted to be around people like me, Christian and gay, where it was okay,” she said. “I was so sheltered, I had no idea there were people like that. Not all Christians think the same.”
With ambitions to become a pastor herself, Douglass has learned to stand up for herself but also to respect others’ beliefs, regardless of what they think of homosexuality. Despite her example, some students in the ministry still decide being gay is against their religion. All Douglass can do is offer them an ear and hope for their happiness, she said.
A new member this year, Kate Rogers, said she is unsure of her sexuality but loves analyzing Biblical references on the subject. Though she recently transferred to BU from University of New Hampshire, Rogers has already met with Douglass twice to chat about the Bible over coffee.
“I don’t think there’s a question yet that I’ve asked her that she doesn’t have the answer to,” Rogers said. “It’s opened my eyes to different ideas, but it’s more me asking questions and her being, ‘Here’s my experience.’”
Brother Lawrence Whitney, the University Chaplain for Community Life, said controversies about homosexuality at the School of Theology kept him from hiring anyone to head an LGBTQ Ministry for years. When Douglass came to him with the idea, Whitney knew she was the right person to lead the group.
“Liz has a very pastoral presence. She has a very calm demeanor and is very welcoming to people and able to engage.” Whitney said. “A really good example is Angelo. Liz’s ability to work with him empowered him put [a lecture series] together successfully.”
Angelo Cella, a junior in his second year with the group, organized a lecture series this fall sponsored by the ministry. Titled “OUTlook,” the series features talks about homosexuality from several BU professors in their respective disciplines. Watching Douglass and Tyler create a close group of students out of nothing inspired Cella to suggest his own vision, he said.
“It’s the idea you can start a group just from people who want to be together,” Cella said about Douglass’ influence. “If someone didn’t speak up, we’d all be eating dinner alone.”
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