Posts Tagged ‘LGBT rights and religion’
Why I Might Not Get Confirmed In The Catholic Church
I have not yet gone through confirmation in the Catholic Church. There is a high chance that I will eventually, but I haven’t right now. In the Catholic Church, it is around this time that kids around my age get confirmed through their own free will or with their parents dangling college tuition money over…
Read MoreRev. David Weekley Honored By GLBT Hall Of Fame
Congratulations to Rev. David Weekley for being one of the six recent inductees into the GLBT Hall of Fame. Weekley has been an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church since 1984 and quietly served his congregations for twenty-eight years before sharing his story and spiritual journey as a transgender man with his congregation, denomination, and…
Read MoreTwo Films Inspiring Social Change Toward LGBT Equality
During the 2013 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, I caught two films that highlight the impact religious bigotry plays in the actual lives of LGBT individuals. In the film Bridegroom, Designing Women creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason crafted a full-length documentary out of Shane Bitney Crone’s viral video “It Could Happen to You.” Recorded on the…
Read MoreSochi Olympics: Spiritual Art Supports Russia’s LGBT Rights Struggle
Image Detail: “De Profundis” by Tony O’Connell Artists are using spiritual imagery to draw attention to LGBT rights in Russia as the Olympics begins in Sochi today. The holiness of the Russian struggle for LGBT equality is emphasized in two new artworks. These pieces are “De Profundis” by queer British artist Tony O’Connell and “Postcard to Putin”…
Read MoreA Journey Towards Wholeness And Reconciliation
From January 18th through February 16th, people are reflecting, contemplating, writing and harnessing passion to bring about peace, justice, and reconciliation by mobilizing the tremendous power of love as part of Standing on the Side of Love’s 30 Days of Love campaign. As I reflect on this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday—a day when…
Read MoreBuilding Safer Spaces For Our Transgender Youth
When I was in high school in rural North Carolina, I wasn’t very out. It was the early days of what you might call online social connection. I set up dummy email addresses to create secret identities on usenet forums where I tried to figure out what it meant to be transgender. I had friends…
Read MoreHolocaust Remembrance Day: We All Wear The Triangle
1945: Upon liberation of Nazi concentration camps by Allied forces, some interned for homosexuality are not freed, but required to serve out the full term of their sentences under Paragraph 175. Click here to see the full image. International Holocaust Remembrance Day honors the victims of the Nazi era, including the estimated 5,000 to 60,000…
Read MoreAwakening Christian LGBTQ Advocacy In Nashville
“So…do people from Kentucky wear shoes?” I sat there, slack-jawed, trying to comprehend the words that had just come out of her mouth. I had recently moved to Nashville for college, and this was a big change for a girl from rural Kentucky. My new classmate was obviously curious. “I mean, I know your own…
Read MoreGlobal Church Protests Arrests in Nigeria, Advocates for LGBT People
The global leader of the world’s largest church that affirms lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people condemned the mass arrests and torture of LGBTQ people in Nigeria. The Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson, the global moderator of Metropolitan Community churches, announced a call for all faith leaders and persons of good will to speak out…
Read MoreFather Robert Nugent Passes Into Eternal Life
When few priests would do more than whisper about homosexuality, Father Nugent was meeting with people who identified as LGBTQ and encouraging them to claim their rightful place in the Catholic Church. During a time of intense homophobia in both church and society, he exhibited uncommon courage and foresight in welcoming and affirming the goodness…
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