efforts have been made to pass resolutions to "fully include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the life of the Church" at General Conferences since the introduction of the incompatibility clause in 1972; delegates from annual conferences in the Northeast and on the West Coast typically vote to do so, but are outnumbered by those from Southeast and Africa. Some of these issues have come before the Judicial Council. On 31 October 2005, the Council undertook two measures on this topic. Firstly, the Council upheld the revocation of Irene Elizabeth Stroud's clergy status for disclosing she is openly lesbian. The council also rendered a decision allowing a Virginia pastor to deny church membership to a gay man. The latter decision appeared to UMC LGBT proponents to contradict both the Constitution and membership policies of the United Methodist Church which stipulate that membership shall be open to all persons "without regard to race, color, national origin, status or economic condition." The Judicial Council had previously found that the word "status" applies to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons (See Decision 1020). Decision 1032 created vigorous debate on the level of autonomy individual pastors and congregations have in interpreting and applying Church doctrine. Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain Within the Methodist Church of Great Britain, people have many views about human relationships, sexuality and the nature and purpose of marriage. On Inclusion In 1993, the Methodist Conference passed six resolutions on human sexuality (see below), including a Resolution 6 which “recognized, affirmed and celebrated the participation and ministry of lesbian and gay people in the Methodist Church”. Furthermore, it called on the Methodist people to begin a pilgrimage of faith to combat repression and discrimination, to work for justice and human rights and to give dignity and worth to people whatever their sexual orientation. In passing these resolutions, the Methodist Conference made its opposition to homophobia known. On Marriage In 2014 the Methodist Conference 2014 reaffirmed the current Methodist Standing Orders which state the belief, "that marriage is a gift of God and that it is God's intention that a marriage should be a life-long union in body, mind and spirit of one man and one woman." But, at the same time recognised that since 1993 British Methodists explicitly recognised, affirmed and celebrated the participation and ministry of lesbians and gay men, and been committed