Joe, Southward Cathedral is rather a special place because of the Dean, The Very Rev Colin Slee, who died very recently. His Guardian obituary states: '(He) was one of the most courageously outspoken liberals in the Church of England - almost alone among senior churchmen; a close friend of Desmond Tutu; a doughty defender of another friend Jeffrey John, the theologian who was denied a bishopric in the Church of England in 2003 when conservative evangelicals launched a campaign against his appointment on discovering he was gay; (His) combativeness cost him a bishopric himself...inside the Church of England, where safer candidates less likely to rock the boat by speaking out against the church's prejudices against women and gays were prefered; (Somewhat paradoxically, some might say, he was very much) an orthodox priest in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, insistent on following the proper form in prayer and dress.' (quoting Stephen Bates).
The Very Rev Jeffrey John, by the way, is now Dean of St Albans, and a very popular and well respected man too.
For those not familiar with the C of E's complex structure, the Dean only rules the cathedral so that 'undesirables', such as women and gays, can be safely promoted to the post of dean. The bishop rules the diocese and most of the clergy in it: some diocese are 'minority' friendly while others are not. Mind you, you have to pick your minority carefully!
Ring, ring... this is the Church of England. Press 1 for woman and gays in all posts; press 2 for women and gays in all posts except bishops; press 3 for women in all posts but not gay.....etc. Well not quite yet but we're getting there.