Meet our Patrons - Pádraig Ó Tuama intro
Channel: Open Table Network
Date: 2021-01-28

UPDATE: Pádraig Ó Tuama stepped down as a Patron of OTN in February 2022 to focus on new opportunities in the USA.

What would you ask Pádraig Ó Tuama, poet & reconciler, on conflict & faith, LGBT inclusion & ‘reparative therapy’?
In our fourth Q&A webinar with our new Patrons, Pádraig was speaking with Kieran Bohan, Open Table Network Co-ordinator, Wednesday 17th February 7-8pm. WATCH HERE: https://youtu.be/ELMr5NvKTy4 [1 hour]

Here is Pádraig Ó Tuama's message for the Open Table Network:

Hi, my name is Pádraig Ó Tuama and I am thrilled to endorse and to be part of and encourage the work of Open Table. There are so few places for many of us who are LGBTQ to be able to explore questions of belonging and togetherness and faith and story and doubt and belief. So many people know that before you even walk in the door, you have to ask a question: Will I be welcome here? Will I be treated strangely? Will people want to change me? Will people have a story about how I'm a sinner? Will people, et cetera, project all their anxieties onto me saying that it's my fault that they have the anxieties. So the Open Table Network is so important because to have a situation where you can walk in knowing that you'll be met in the fullness of yourself - in the fullness of your sexuality, in the fullness of your story, in the fullness of life, in the fullness of your curiosity about faith, and in the fullness of your interest in being part of a community - all of these things are irreplaceable and vital. And for those of us, for whom we have grown used to having to ask questions of caution, before we move into those places, it is such a balm to know that there are places of belonging that are fully empowering and fully welcoming of folks who are LGBTQ. Thanks very much for all the work, and I'm looking forward to continuing to support this work over the years.