Posts Tagged ‘LGBT equality and inclusion’
5 Messages Of Hope For Bisexual Christians
When I first came out as bisexual, I had no idea how to be both bisexual and Christian at the same time. I didn’t even know that bisexual Christians existed. I had a vague notion of how some lesbian and gay Christians had reconciled their sexuality and their faith, but their stories never completely spoke…
Read MoreA Journey To Find LGBT Christians
Three years ago I was living out of my car. Toothbrush drying in the passenger seat, food stored on the back floor, and all my life’s belongings crammed in the trunk. Having just graduated from college, it seemed like the only thing to do. But I wasn’t parked under a bridge or based out of…
Read MoreHow One Pastor Moved From Silence To Advocacy For LGBT Equality
“The things which are most important don’t always scream the loudest.” Bob Hawke Religious voices that use holy scripture to demean our neighbors will not continue to be the loudest voices in our city. Chattanooga will know that all persons of faith are not like that. I commit today to make my voice louder. This spring,…
Read More5 Ways Churches Can Care For Homeless LGBTQ Youth
For progressive churches in the U.S., there is a “sweet spot” of meaningful engagement in LGBTQ justice that many congregations are missing. While we’re celebrating gains in marriage equality and legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and (sometimes, though not as often) transgender people, we often overlook the most pressing need affecting the well-being and…
Read MoreBecause You Are, Therefore I Am
“Because you are, therefore I am,” was the greeting that Dr. Ezra Chitando from Zimbabwe expressed to our amazing group of African scholars, theologians, faith leaders, activists and students at the Thorn Tree Lodge, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Dr. Chitando’s words to us were more than a greeting as they are often spoken in the context…
Read MoreBoston’s Cardinal O’Malley: LGBT Church Worker Firings “Need to be Rectified”
In a one-to-one conversation following a public speaking engagement, Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley said that the firing of church workers because of LGBT issues is a situation that “needs to be rectified,” becoming the first prelate to speak against this trend. Earlier in the evening, the cardinal publicly spoke positively of the need to include and minister to the…
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 MoreDignityUSA Shows Another Side Of Catholicism
Whenever the media uses the phrase “Catholic Church” when they reference statements made by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) or by individual church leaders, Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA, stands up to correct them. “The bishops try to discredit DignityUSA by saying we’re not authorized to use the word Catholic,” she says.…
Read MoreSilencing The Metronome: Living My Truth As A Trans Woman
The first words I spoke in the documentary I am making were that I always felt like I was different. In retrospect, those were the wrong words to say. What I should have said was, “Since I was little, I always knew I was a girl who was presenting as a boy.” We never expect…
Read MoreA Catholic Nun Devotes Her Life To LGBT Rights
How could Sister Jeannine Gramick have known that meeting a handsome gay stranger named Dominic at a house party on Spruce Street in West Philadelphia would completely change the course of her life? Dominic strode up to her. He was a baptized gay man who had left the Catholic Church because a priest told him…
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