Who is Rev Canon Erin and what is she fighting for?

Rev. Canon Erin is an Anglican priest at All Saints Anglican Church in King City who advocates for full and explicit LGBTQ+ inclusion in church spaces. With trans nephews, a gay aunt, and gay children of her own, she creates what she calls a bubble of safety where LGBTQ+ people can exist without asterisks attached to their belonging.

Why does Rev Canon Erin say church is not safe for many LGBTQ+ people?

Her position is that the general consensus in most church spaces is not one of acceptance, which means safety cannot be assumed. She insists on explicit inclusion rather than passive tolerance: safe language in services, affirming songs, and a Pride booth that signals clearly rather than hoping people will feel welcome without being told they are.

What does Rev Canon Erin think about Pope Leo XIV and church inclusion?

She expressed disappointment, noting that while the new Pope has shown compassion on issues like immigration and unjust policies, he has not extended that compassion clearly to LGBTQ+ inclusion. She refuses to be satisfied with crumbs of inclusion disguised as a feast, distinguishing between a leader's social compassion and genuine acceptance of LGBTQ+ people.

How does explicit inclusion differ from assumed inclusion in a church setting?

Rev Canon Erin's point is that LGBTQ+ people have been hurt enough by spaces that seemed welcoming until they weren't. Explicit inclusion means stating it outright in language, song selection, programming, and public presence at Pride events. Without that explicitness, the welcome is conditional in ways that accumulate into harm.

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Rev Canon Erin's Fierce Fight for Full Church Inclusion

By Joseph Tito • September 6, 2025

Rev. Canon Erin sits across from me at The Roost Café, her voice carrying both the weight of disappointment and the fire of unwavering hope. She's talking about the new Pope Leo XIV, about broken promises wrapped in progressive packaging, about a church that blesses with one hand while condemning with the other."I'm disappointed," she says with the kind of honesty that cuts through religious platitudes. "These things that I like about him, his compassion for immigrants, his critique of unjust policies, that's where it ends. I did a deep dive, and he hasn't been saying anything else that I love."This is the voice of someone who refuses to settle for crumbs of inclusion disguised as a feast.When Safe Isn't AssumedRev. Canon Erin doesn't have the luxury of assuming church is safe for everyone. With trans nephews, a gay aunt, and gay children of her own, she's intimately familiar with the casualties of conditional love. At All Saints Anglican Church in King City, she's created something radical: a place where LGBTQ+ people can exist without asterisks."Church is not safe for a lot of people," she explains, her voice gaining intensity. "You have to know this. You have to be aware...