Posts by Believe Out Loud
How Shall We Be Seen?
How does one enter into this conversation regarding issues of racial justice, sexual identity and religious belief? I mean, seriously? Over the course of roughly a year, I have found myself having this conversation internally. Events like Jason Collins’ “coming out,” the Supreme Court’s ruling for marriage equality the day after deciding a section…
Read MoreIntercollegiate Adventist GSA Coalition Announces New Scholarship
The Intercollegiate Adventist GSA Coalition (IAGC) is proud to announce a brand new Leaders for Equality Scholarship. The scholarship was created to support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) student leaders who work toward constructive dialogue and equality on Seventh-day Adventist college campuses across North America. IAGC recognizes the strength, dedication and commitment required…
Read MoreHow Can Our Churches be Safe Havens for Transgender People?
Image via Mary Button’s Stations of the Cross—outdated terminology reflects a banner from a 1998 vigil for Rita Hester, a transgender woman murdered in Allston, MA. The outpouring of grief and anger over Hester’s death inspired the founding of the International Transgender Day of Rememberance. “I stood in a crowd with you last night as we cried…
Read MoreSacred Solidarity: Do Not Squander the Precious Moments
In the immediate aftermath of the September 11th tragedy, there were amazing moments for solidarity between groups and communities rarely experienced. The solidarity was among U.S. citizens across the racial, religious, political, sexual, and economic spectrums. And solidarity within the global community as many nations and peoples were filled with genuine care and compassion for…
Read MoreThis Is Not The Progress We Deserve
The LGBT movement has made a strong case that gays are just the same as everyone else, and furthermore, our same love deserves equal rights. In the meantime, we are watching the clock unwind on racial justice. The same week the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, they struck down Section 4 of…
Read MoreBayard Rustin Speaks
My post today is unique because today is unique: the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. Bayard Rustin, an unsung organizer of the march and the movement, was interviewed by my friend Mark Bowman for the quarterly publication Open Hands in 1987, the year of Rustin’s death. As subsequent editor of the magazine, I republished the…
Read MoreChristian Compassion For Chelsea Manning & The Iraqi People: A Trans Veteran’s Perspective
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger…
Read MoreLove Makes A Marriage Holy
I spent last year teaching ethics at a community college in rural East Tennessee. I divided the semester not chronologically, but philosophically. The first half of the class posed the question, “How should I act?” The second half asked, “How should I be?” The division is one between ethics of conduct and ethics of virtue.…
Read MoreOn Chelsea Manning’s Coming Out: A Christian Response
On August 22, Private First Class Manning, the U.S. soldier sentenced to thirty-five years in prison on charges of leaking classified government documents, came out publicaly as a transgender woman. Rev. Allyson Robinson, former executive director of OutServe-SLDN, offers her thoughts below on Chelsea’s announcement. What is your reaction to Chelsea Manning’s coming out as a transgender…
Read MoreWhat Transgender People Teach Us About God, And Our Humanity
“Ultimately, the transgender question is about more than just sex. It’s about what it means to be human.” – Russell D. Moore, On Faith, Aug. 15 There are certainly more egregious quotes from Moore’s recent essay, but to focus on them would miss the larger point—that there is no “transgender question.” The question is about how people…
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