The man behind the priest : being married to gay Anglican clergy

Abstract

In this narrative inquiry & arts-based research project, five male spouses of gay Anglican clergy were interviewed regarding their lived experience within the Anglican Church of Canada. It is important to note that at the time that this research was conducted, the Anglican Church of Canada is a denomination currently in the midst of heated debate regarding changing their Marriage Canon to allow same-sex marriage. The research project explores the participants’ relationships to their spouses, the parishes that their spouses serve and the national church, as well as the impact that this has had on their own faith. While the narrative inquiry portion of the interviews allowed the participants to share their stories, the arts-based research allowed these stories to be accessed from a different lens with meaningful results. The major themes that were discovered were relationships, identity and acceptance. In addition to this a sub-theme of faith appeared in the interviews. Overall, it was found that the participants’ lives were comprised of wonderful supportive relationships coupled with anxieties regarding identity, often producing a state of hyper-vigilance and hyper-sensitivity regarding their surroundings.