Summary: In Tony Kushner's script and Steven Spielberg's movie, Lincoln, Congressional Representative Thaddeus Stevens, played by Tommy Lee Jones, was part of a concerted radical strategy to get the Thirteenth Amendment passed and thus abolish slavery in the United States in 1865. The radicals of the day were afraid of losing moderate votes, so they strategized to avoid inflammatory questions about complete racial equality (namely the full-enfranchisement of voting rights for African-Americans). To secure those much needed moderate and conservative voters, they withheld that position from the public discussion. With the poetic license of the movie's author and director, they key moment from the Congressional Record was captured on film. Stevens is challenged on the floor of the House of Representatives to answer the accusation of Representative George Pendleton. Pendleton claims that supporters of the Thirteenth Amendment actually believe in equality of African-Americans, slaves and free, in all things, including voting. Stevens responds with sarcastic vigor and thunders at his accuser, "Even you, Mr. Pendleton, deserve quality under the law." And then he turns to the entire House, "Therefore, again, and again, and again I say, 'I do not hold in equality in all things, only equality under the law.'" The House erupts with cheers and jeers. But the betrayal of the compromise was clear. It fell short of equality. Disciples of Jesus in all denominations cheer and jeer as well, when friends and allies stop short of full inclusion and fall short of justice for queer persons, their families, congregations, and pastors. My denomination, The United Methodist Church, is fighting about whether LGBTQ+ people should have full rights, responsibilities and respect in our congregations. As long as homosexuality is defined in our United Methodist Church law as incompatible with Christian teaching, elected church representatives will concoct demeaning definitions of same-gender loving people, establish harmful, unjust policies, and develop practices of enforcement to sustain them. There is no equality as long as it remains.
