Gay Priest Talks Of Support, Vitriol For Decision To Marry

A marriage between two women is hardly news these days in Massachusetts, the first state in the country to legalize same sex marriage.

But it's a different story when those two women are high-ranking priests in the state's Episcopal diocese.

"I think, in Massachusetts, it doesn't feel so groundbreaking. But I think nationwide, and Episcopal church-wide, it is," said the Rev. Mally Lloyd, a former pastor at Christ Church in Plymouth, who is now an official in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. She recently married the Rev. Katharine Ragsdale, dean and president of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge.

Their marriage comes as the Episcopal Church has been rocked in recent years by the issue of gay marriage. In 2003, a conservative faction within the church — including several small congregations in Massachusetts — broke away after the New Hampshire diocese elected Gene Robinson as the church's firstly openly gay bishop.

Lloyd joined WBUR's Bob Oakes recently in the studio and said that while she and her wife have received a great deal of encouragement and support from within their own diocese, but, "If you read the blogosphere, not so much," she said. "There's also a lot of support, but there's also a lot of question and vitriol."