Posts Tagged ‘Anti-LGBT Legislation’
Thinking The Unimaginable: Black Same-Gender-Loving Men And Marriage
In the past few weeks and months, it seems as though the campaign for marriage equality in America has hit its stride. Week after week, news has broken that court system after court system has declared same-sex marriage bans in Colorado, Virginia, Utah, and many more states unconstitutional. Day in and day out, I have seen…
Read MoreA Catholic Lesbian Mother’s Reaction To The Discriminatory ‘Inclusion Act’
Sometimes the personal truly is political. Today, I read a letter sent by three Catholic bishops to U.S. lawmakers. The letter endorses a bill that would allow publicly funded child welfare agencies to refuse to place children for foster care and adoption with same-sex couples due to “their religious beliefs or moral convictions.” The letter…
Read MoreI Was Expelled When I Married My Wife
Recently, I was expelled from Southwestern Christian University for marrying my wife, who happens to be of the same sex. When I began my student career at SCU, I signed what Southwestern calls their “Lifestyle Covenant.” In it, “homosexual behavior” is prohibited. Yet because I have a strong love for God and basketball, with an added desire…
Read MoreThe Catholic Case Against Religious Exemptions
In post-Hobby Lobby America, the question of whether religious exemptions should be included in laws prohibiting employment discrimination against LGBT people has increased in complexity. It used to be that religious leaders and lawmakers could strike a comfortable balance of protecting faith groups’ rights to self-determination and LGBT people’s rights to equal opportunity. But the Supreme…
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 MoreHow Employment Discrimination Affects My Life
One of the great joys in my life as executive director of Integrity USA, the national Episcopal LGBTQ organization, is being contacted by transgender and gay people looking for help in meeting their needs. I am always thrilled when I can connect people to new friends, educational materials, or welcoming faith communities. Unfortunately, there’s one…
Read MoreDamages: The Effects Of Spiritual Abuse
Trigger Warning: Discussion of suicide and self-harm There is so much blood on the hands of Christians. From the Crusades to the modern anti-gay laws of Uganda, we are drenched in a legacy of blood. Perhaps it is fitting. After all, Christianity was born out of blood spilled on the cross. I had heard all…
Read More“ADD 4 WORDS”: LGBT Civil Rights Vigil at MLK Jr. Memorial in DC
A new LGBT equality campaign backed by over 245 organizations will officially launch with an LGBT Civil Rights Vigil at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in D.C. on Monday, June 30th, at 8:30pm. The event will have renowned African American faith leaders and LGBT activists, featuring song, prayer, speeches, and the resounding call to the…
Read More“Sorry” Seems To Be The Easiest Word
I live under a pop-culture rock, and it is only because of his inner-orbit position on the Six Degrees of Channing Tatum that I even know Jonah Hill’s name. But his recent run-in with a paparazzo, culminating in him angrily calling the man a derogatory term for a gay man and commanding him to perform…
Read MoreAWAB Joins Federal Lawsuit Challenging North Carolina’s Marriage Laws
The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists (AWAB) joined the General Synod of the United Church of Christ vs. Cooper as a plaintiff in the pending Federal District Court lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s marriage laws, including Amendment One. Among the suit’s charges is that North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage restricts the rights of clergy to…
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