Sexuality and Gender: People of faith respond to new perceptions of what it means to be human

Cllr Father Brian Smith

Secretary of the Derbyshire Network of the University of the Third Age and Deputy Mayor of Matlock

Ozcan is a non-practising Barrister and member of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn. He is the Chairperson of the Dialogue Society since 2008; was the Executive Chairperson of the same organisation between 2008 and 2014; the Executive Editor of the peer-reviewed biannual academic Journal of Dialogue Studies since 2014 and a full-time PhD candidate in the sociology of human rights at the University of Sussex. Between 2006 and 2009 he was a research student with Prof Kevin Boyle at the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex, where he held the Scholarship Award of 2006. Ozcan was called to the Bar in 2005 after successfully completing the Bar course at the Inns of Court School of Law. He obtained his LLM in Human Rights Law from SOAS, University of London, in 2002.

A reflection on the background to religious perceptions of gender and sexuality. How and why changes have happened throughout history. How people of faith might use current thinking to inform their approach to issues around theology and sexuality.