Jean-Michel Dunand serves as a school pastoral assistant in Montpellier, France

Jean-Michel Dunand, a Catholic man in a long-term civil partnership, is the founder of Communion Béthanie, an ecumenical contemplative community serving homosexual and transgender people. He serves as a school pastoral assistant in Montpellier, France.

Dunand has been in a relationship with his partner, Daniel, for 31 years and they have been civilly married for eight years. He describes his experience of balancing his faith and his identity as a constant tension. He draws on the spirituality of the Carmelite order.