Posts by Believe Out Loud
LGBTQ Faith Leaders Travel To Cuba To Meet Faith & Government Leaders
President Obama and Cuban leader, Raul Castro, made history in April of 2015 with a handshake. On April 28, leaders of Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) will make history by traveling to Cuba at the invitation of leaders of the Baptist LGBTQ group, Abriendo Brechas de Colores, from the Federación de Iglesias Bastistas de Cuba. Leaders…
Read MoreConversion Therapy’s Deadly Outcomes
Trigger warning: discussions of suicide I wish Leelah Alcorn was alive today. She would know how a petition on the White House website with 120,000 plus signatures calling for the enactment of “Leelah’s Law to Ban All LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapy” not only went viral across mainstream and social media internationally, but how the petition was also…
Read MoreIs The Apology From Bob Jones, III Enough?
Just before Easter, I learned that some of Bob Jones University’s loyal supporters have received a letter containing a very different message from the publicly posted apology that Bob Jones University released prior to BJUnity’s book discussion with author Matthew Vines in downtown Greenville on March 23. The letter says: Dear _______, What kind and encouraging friends you are.…
Read MoreA Crowd Of Witnesses
From the outside, and our need to simplify, especially in the media, key figures seem to be responsible for movements. Sometimes they are suffering scapegoats and sacrificial lambs, sometimes charismatic leaders and compassionate saints. But from my vantage perspective of more than four decades devoted to the LGBT movement, I repeatedly realized that our movement…
Read MoreTransfaith Memorial Garden Provides Space To Grieve Loss
An interview with Chris Paige about Transfaith’s newest resource, the Transfaith Memorial Garden. What is the Transfaith Memorial Garden? There are many memorials in November (around Transgender Day of Remembrance) for transgender and gender non-conforming people who die violent deaths. However, the losses of transgender communities come by many means—and grief shapes our lives all…
Read MoreDisciples of Christ’s 2017 Assembly Will Return To Indianapolis
The past couple of weeks have been quite a roller coaster, especially for Disciples and especially for Indiana, the state where our church has maintained our denominational offices since long before we called ourselves a denomination. Certainly you know the basics of the story. The state legislature passed and on March 26 the governor of…
Read MoreCatholic High School Wrestler Builds Bridges By Coming Out As Gay
Cole Fox is a senior at Don Bosco Catholic High School in Gilbertville, Iowa, where until recently he wrestled successfully for one of the state’s top programs. He is also an openly gay Catholic whose coming out and commitment to building bridges are inspirations for all who seek to advance LGBT justice. Until last year,…
Read MoreTennessee March Builds Pride, Visibility, Faith
Starting at 10am on March 22, 2015, history took place in the state of Tennessee. The first March for Transgender Visibility and Rights took place in Nashville, Tennessee. The march was organized by TNTJ (Tennessee Transgender Journey Project). The Executive Director of TNTJ, LaSaia Wade, along with several other key individuals, helped to put this march…
Read MoreThe Florida House Passed An Adoption Discrimination Bill That Could Have Denied Me My Perfect Family
My name is Anthony. I’m 16 and I live in Clearwater, Florida, with my moms and three siblings. I was adopted by my parents when I was 13 years old after having spent four years in foster care. I heard about the bill that the Florida legislature is now considering that would allow child placing…
Read MoreThe Life & Times Of The ‘Gayest Catholic Parish’ In The United States
The National Catholic Reporter’s Tom Fox greatly helped the burgeoning movement of gay-friendly Catholic parishes in the U.S. by publishing a five-part series examining the life of one such parish, Most Holy Redeemer (MHR), San Francisco, which he notes is often referred to as “the gayest Catholic parish in the nation.” Fox’s series on this parish should be read by…
Read More