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Bingo Allison, thought to be the Church of England’s first openly non-binary priest, has opened up on the struggles they faced reconciling their gender identity with their religious calling during an interview on This Morning.
The 36-year-old, who defines as gender-queer, works as a vicar in Liverpool.
Chatting to presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, Bingo revealed that they had been confronted by what they thought would be ‘a choice’ between their calling and their identity during vicar training seven years ago.
The vicar explained on Thursday’s edition of the show that they had had ‘an epiphany’ while reading Genesis 1-3 in the Old Testament of the Bible, after worrying that their faith and identity couldn’t be compatible.
Bingo explained that they had been brought up in a strict religious household.
‘I was at vicar training college at the time and so I was choosing between my calling and this identity – everything about how I’d been brought up so far had said that this is a choice that you have to make.’
Bingo revealed they were writing a ‘very boring essay’ when they had their epiphany (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
The vicar is believed to be the Church of England’s first openly non-binary priest (Picture: ITV)
They then explained that it was during work for a ‘very boring essay’ that they studied the beginning part of the Bible about how the world was made.
‘It has this verse that says, “male and female, God created them” and I just kept coming back to this verse and thinking, “Well, there it is, there’s my decision – I have to choose between this God that crated just male and just female, or my identity that doesn’t feel male or female.”’
However, Bingo – who has a wife and three children – said it was then that they ‘felt the presence and love of God’, which helped them accept themselves and realise a decision wasn’t necessary.
‘In this very fry and dusty academic essay, I felt the presence and love of God – and I had to stop, I had to pray, I had to sing a bit.’
They then finished off the essay, due the next day, and explained: ‘I just really felt that God affirmed me in who I was and that I didn’t have to make this choice.’
A pal who had tuned in to Bingo’s chat with Phillip and Holly tweeted: ‘My friend is on #ThisMorning today with Phil and Holly speaking about being the UK’s first non-binary priest.
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‘I am so proud of them, and for their progress on the journey that they have been on across the five years that I have known them, and beyond that.’
‘What a beautiful person,’ commented another viewer.
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
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Bingo Allison has reconciled their faith with their identity.
