Posts Tagged ‘LGBT rights and religion’
Remembering Mario Cooper
The email took me by surprise. Sean Strub, the founder of POZ magazine, asked if I would write a few words about our friend Mario Cooper. “What happened to Mario?” I wrote back obliviously. Before Sean had time to respond, I called my friends Maurice Franklin and Phill Wilson and found out for myself. Our…
Read MoreThe Price Of Authenticity
They say freedom isn’t free. This is something I know very well. Authenticity is also not free. Lack of authenticity has its cost, as well. The price of authenticity is often added to the cost of living inauthentically and the burden is carried by everyone whose life touches any human being for whom the struggle…
Read MoreIreland Agrees to Self-Declaration for Gender Recognition Bill
Yesterday (Wednesday 3rd June), the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, T.D. announced that, following the agreement of Cabinet, the application process under the Gender Recognition Bill will, for people aged 18 years or more, be based on the person’s self-declaration by way of a statutory declaration. The Bill will also no longer contain the controversial…
Read MoreLiberating Religious Liberty
When I went to work in West Hollywood in the mid-1990s, one of my new co-workers took me on a tour of the neighborhood at lunchtime. A long-time gay activist, he knew the local history well. He pointed out a building down the street and told me about the removal of a sign that read,…
Read MoreWhen Is “Enough” Enough?
Recently, some African American pastors who came to “heckle” me changed their minds and instead asked me what they could do to move the conversation about moral equality for LGBT people in the Black church forward. I appreciate their honesty regarding the difficulty of this justice shift and the courage of those who will embark…
Read MoreA Prayer Upon the Adoption of “Marriage Between Two People”
Loving God of all, I confess I hardly know what to pray today. But I’ll take a deep breath, trust in Your guidance, and find out. Last week my church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), adopted by a majority vote (87) among our 172 regions, this statement on marriage: “Marriage involves a unique commitment between two…
Read MoreHistoric Day For LGBT Elders? We’ll See!
Walking into the Eisenhower Office Building in the White House complex on February 10, I realized that I was crossing what has the potential to be a historic threshold for the LGBT community. I was entering a full day meeting with Obama administration officials around the issue of LGBT aging and, more specifically, affordable housing…
Read MoreWhat Happened When My Son Came Out As Gay
When my husband and I became parents for the first time, we knew this new role would change our lives forever. Our Catholic faith told us that we had been given the opportunity to become co-creators with God. Gazing into that innocent face helped us to realize that the unconditional love that we felt for…
Read MoreLeading By Example
It took me a while to get here. Not to the point of LGBT acceptance but to the point of not worrying about what other folks may think of me as the pastor of Exodus Missionary Outreach Church in Hickory, North Carolina. I never had a problem affirming LGBT people. When I was a kid,…
Read MoreComing Out! From The Closet To The White House
“…Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost For over 30 years of going to my workplace and being fearful that my sexual orientation would be found out; I never dreamed I would be standing in the Oval Office…
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