Posts Tagged ‘LGBT rights and religion’
Rediscovering My Home In The Catholic Church
When I decided at the beginning of the year to finally return to the Catholic Church, I had no idea what a momentous year it would be—not only for myself but for all Catholics. I had been working for Believe Out Loud for a year and realized it was not only important for me to…
Read MoreWhere Were You? A Call For Accompaniment
This month I released a video of a spoken word poem entitled “Where Were You?” that I wrote and published this past April. I wrote the piece after sitting through a homophobic conference presented by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I wanted to ask those who talk about LGBT folk where they were during different time…
Read MoreAdventist Pastor Forced To Resign Over Step-Daughter’s Wedding
Recently, Brett Hadley, a Bible teacher, pastor and drama coach at Highland View Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Maryland, was forced to resign. The reason: he participated in the wedding of his step-daughter, who entered into a same-sex marriage. When the family planned this event as a family dinner, no one guessed it would result in…
Read MoreLoving Trans People As Ourselves
Debates over California’s AB 1266, which is scheduled to go into effect in California in January 2014, are bringing out troubling arguments against transgender students in California. AB 1266 restates existing state and federal laws that ensure transgender students can fully participate in all school activities, sports teams, programs, and facilities that match their gender identity.…
Read MoreMary Ann Barclay Reinstated In Methodist Ordination Process
Mary Ann (Kaiser) Barclay, a candidate for ordination in the United Methodist Church who was preemptively removed from her ordination process after she married a woman, will have the opportunity to continue pursuing ordination. In June 2013, Barclay as removed from her ordination process by the Southwest Texas Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. Barclay was…
Read MoreThere’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy
In corporate America, particularly Ernst and Young, there is a non-discrimination policy regarding LGBT employees that falls under the corporation slogan: Bring Your Whole Self To Work. It is an incredible supportive statement of the Corporate World towards LGBT people. Bring your complete, whole self to work, as well as your whole and healed self.…
Read MoreEnsuring Decent Care For Transgender People
Our first Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) Ceremony was at a small United Methodist Church in Tacoma, Washington, in 2009. There were 40-45 persons present, most from the local transgender community. Peterson Toscano was performing “Transfigurations: Transgressing Gender in the Bible.” During one segment of the service, the names of reported victims of anti-transgender violence were…
Read MoreOur Lives Are Valuable
The following piece was written for a virtual Transgender Day of Remembrance service that will be held online this Sunday, November 17, at 9pm ET, offered by the new coalition TDOR Unite! and hosted by the Church of the Larger Fellowship, a congregation without walls. This new service makes it possible for all to mourn…
Read More