Lesbian Singer to be Keynote Speaker at United Methodist's Women's Conference

Indigo Girls Singer Invitation Draws Fire
By Nate Herpich
Religion News Service

May 4 - The choice of lesbian singer Emily Saliers of the music duo Indigo Girls has as a keynote speaker at the United Methodist Women's Assembly in Anaheim, Calif. has created controversy.

Saliers will speak Saturday (May 6) at the conference along with her father, the Rev. Don E. Saliers of Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. They will address an estimated 8,000 women on their new co-written book entitled "A Song to Sing, A Life to Live."

Saliers' sexual orientation has been the topic of controversy for some conservatives, but event organizers instead have cited her "spiritual and theological understandings and (her) commitment to justice for women and children" as reasons for the invitation.

The Indigo Girls have devoted much of their 14 records spanning 18 years to themes of social justice and environmental awareness. The elder Saliers is the author of a dozen books and is president of the North American Academy of Liturgy and the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality.

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