The Northeast Ohio Synod of the ELCA meets in assembly this weekend for it’s annual conference. One of the business items is to elect local representatives to the 2007 biannual ELCA Assembly in Chicago. I decided to run this year as lay representative for the Akron-Wooster Conference. I also felt it important to run as an openly gay candidate. Several other GLBT candidates are on the ballot as what I call “stealth” candidates. They have chosen to hide their orientation in order to be elected. I feel this is so wrong. To advance inclusiveness in the Church, we must be open and visible. I will most likely not be elected, but people will know that there are GLBT people in the ELCA in NE Ohio.