The Mission of Bridges-Across

Our Mission Statement

"Bridges-Across the Divide  provides models and resources for building respectful relationships among those who disagree about  moral issues surrounding  homosexuality, bisexuality and gender variance. "

What does that mean?

"provides models and resources":

In our webforums, we provide a training ground for cross-divide interaction, and a place to connect people with similar interests in bridging the divide. On our website, we offer writings on various aspects of bridging the divide by those who have been involved with B-A, as well as links to other sources of information and places to dialogue.

"for building respectful relationships":

Our aim here is not agreement or conversion, though many of us have found much that we agree on, and some have changed their minds on certain issues through dialogue. Our aim is not for everyone to become best buddies, although good friendships have been formed. Our aim is not to provide a support group of any sort, although some people have found support and encouragement in their relationships here. If you come to B-A expecting these things, you will most likely be disappointed.

Rather, our goal is to promote the building of respectful relationships, which include among other qualities honesty, trust, willingness to listen, and a desire to understand.

" among those who disagree" :

We acknowledge our disagreement--we don't try to sweep it under the rug, and we accept that it is going to persist for quite a while. However, we also do not devote a great deal of time to debating who's right and who's wrong on these issues. There are plenty of other sites where you can do that. In a sense we "agree to disagree". This does not mean that we think our disagreement is unimportant, it means that we set aside debating about it in order to pursue the goal of building respectful relationships. We do not think debating these matters is wrong, it's just not what we're doing here.

"about moral issues surrounding homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender variance":

While the issue that has traditionally been the focus of the most attention has been the moral permissibility of homosexual sex, our disagreements span much more broadly than that. Most moral issues in the general vicinity of this debate are up for discussion. For example, some of our gay/sideA particpants challenge the morality of the Church's response to homosexuality, or ask whether a sideB view is tantamount to racism.