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Kim Byham
(1948 - living) U.S.A.

Kim Byham

Integrity activist

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Kim Byham, long-time Integrity (Episcopal) leader, was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, where he grew up as an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church. After college (Marietta College) and law school (New York University School of Law), Kim began practicing law in New York City and at age 23 was elected to his parish's vestry. That same year Kim was married and from that ten-year marriage has come two children and two granddaughters. Kim was active in his profession and in the Episcopal Church, both at the parish and diocesan levels.

In 1978, Kim began finally coming to grips with his sexuality and by 1981 his marriage had ended and he started a new life. However, his involvement with the Episcopal Church remained constant and he became a member of a predominately African-American and Afro-Caribbean parish in Manhattan, which he served as Vestry member and Warden.

In 1981, he became a member of Integrity, the then seven-year-old lesbian, gay (and later bisexual and transgendered) ministry of and to the Episcopal Church. He immediately became involved in leadership of the New York chapter. His first national responsibility was to organize a national convention held in August 1984 at the General Theological Seminary in New York City. That work was more than amply compensated by meeting at that convention a young man from Michigan who was attending the conference. Scott Helsel and Kim have been together since.

Kim was made chief fund raiser of Integrity and a member of the Board in the fall of 1984 and served on the Board, with a minor interruption, in various roles through 1997. He was elected President of Integrity in 1987. After stepping down as President in 1990, Kim became Director of Communication. He was part of the four-person Integrity presence at the Lambeth Conference of worldwide Bishops of the Anglican Communion in 1998. He was awarded the second Louie Crew Award for Significant Service to Integrity, following Dr. Crew himself.

After moving to New Jersey in 1988, and changing parishes/dioceses in 1990, Kim became Warden of his new parish and was elected to Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Newark (1992), Alternate or Deputy from the Diocese of Newark to General Conventions (1994, 1997 and 2000), the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Newark (1999 and 2003), the Nominating Committee for Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese (1997).

At the Episcopal General Convention, Kim has been the most prolific author of lesbian and gay focused legislation, authoring over twenty successful resolutions, including calling for equal treatment for same-sex partners by the Church Pension Fund, amending the canons of the Church to prohibit discrimination in membership or access to ordination because of sexual orientation, and an apology to the LGBT community for the history of oppression by the Episcopal Church.

Kim has served on the Steering Committee of Claiming the Blessing, the coalition which put forward the successful resolution supporting the blessing of same-sex relationships by the Church in 2003.

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Source: The LGBT Religious Archives Network -http://www.lgbtran.org/Pioneers.asp

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