Libby's Story

My first husband was the late Rev Peter D. Fraser. We were in pastoral charges in Saskatchewan and Halifax before moving to Pictou Presbytery in 1986. We had discussions on "the issue" in both congregations of our pastoral charge, and, to tell you the truth, I don't really recall how each of the congregations voted. But I am still, painfully, very aware of the effect on my husband - not the congregational discussions, which were civil, but the negative attitude of Presbytery. Peter felt as if he was the only one to speak in favour of the ordination of what we were then calling "self-declared" homosexuals. He received phone calls and letters that made him feel under attack for his views.

Peter was not a robust man and the on-set of heart trouble in 1990 may have been inevitable; but the strain of "going to the wall", as he would put it, took its toll. He went on a disability pension in 1994 and died in 2003.