Posts Tagged ‘Activism’
Gay Passion Of Christ Revealed In New Art Book
Image Detail: “Jesus Goes to His Execution” by Doug Blanchard My long journey with the queer Christ reached a milestone this month with the publication of my new book The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision. The book features paintings of Jesus as a gay man of today in a modern city by New York artist Douglas…
Read MoreGroundbreaking LGBT Christian Journal Now Available Online
The year was 1985. I had graduated college the year before and had just started to come out as a gay man. The son of a Lutheran pastor, the church had made up a big part of my world. However, because of the growing awareness of my own sexual orientation, those years growing up were…
Read MoreGod’s Children Include Our LGBT Sisters & Brothers
We were sitting in Arby’s when it happened—a song played through the speakers that deeply touched my mother. She dropped her fork, closed her eyes, and began to sway back and forth. I had never before seen her behave this way. I dropped my fork and stared. At some point, still rocking in meditation, my…
Read MoreApply Now: 2015 Trans Leadership Exchange
In 2015, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will launch a 6 month leadership development program for 20 Transgender and Genderqueer leaders from across the United States. This group of leaders will participate in a learning community that will offer peer coaching, skill building, opportunities for self-reflection, story sharing, and action! Applications are due…
Read MoreSupporting Trans Youth: Building A More Hopeful Future
As fights for marriage equality have had sweeping victories across the United States, many LGBTQ activists ask, “what now?” Some have answered that advocacy for the transgender community is logically the next step in our quest toward equality. As we work to answer this question, transgender advocates like Laverne Cox and Janet Mock are gaining…
Read MoreEncouraging Gay Men In Their Quest For Authenticity
Why retreats for gay men? My start comes from where I began. My partner and I both identify as gay men and are on a quest to live with authenticity in every area of our lives. Society challenges us at every turn and yet our determination to press forward comes from many in the LGBT…
Read MoreMillennials, The Church, And Global LGBT Social Consciousness
Last spring, I wrote about a young woman named Dannika Nash who quoted the Macklemore song “Same Love” in some frank advice to the institutional church on behalf of millennials. She warned that if the church forced her generation to choose between it and their support of LGBT rights, it was going to be disappointed in the outcome. Her message…
Read MoreWhere We Go Next
Two weeks ago, I was invited to the White House. I received an email asking me to be present for President Obama signing his executive order banning LGBT employment discrimination by federal contractors. It was an incredible honor to be present for a historical event like that. The whole event went by fast, but I…
Read MoreGay Games 2014: Sponsored By Cleveland’s United Church Of Christ
A generation of young Americans is rejecting Christianity because they widely perceive it to be anti-gay and, as such, “shallow,” “anti-intellectual,” “insincere,” and even “hypocritical.” That wasn’t the finding of some ultraliberal gay group, but rather the conclusion reached by conservative Christian pollsters, the Barna Group, who conducted a groundbreaking study in the mid-2000s and found…
Read MoreOperating Like Jesus: Discrimination Is Not A Christian Value
It’s no wonder that my LGBT friends have often questioned my sanity when I have talked about my Christian faith. They were even more surprised when I eventually decided to go to seminary. Why would I want to be part of a religion that has caused LGBT people so much pain, and that has contributed…
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