Conversations on Holy Ground

A black and white photo of a woman looking out a window.

I know a lot of Rob Portmans. In my time on staff with the national Log Cabin Republicans, it wasn’t uncommon for me to field quiet, hesitant questions from people who found themselves grappling with an issue that they never thought would touch them so deeply. The Southern chairman of a county GOP with a…

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A Baptist Case For The Freedom To Marry

A group of people holding signs that say god has a baptist name for you.

I know, I know. You hear the word Baptist and you think of exclusionary televangelists or some tiny church in Kansas with colorful signs. I am constantly telling people I’m not THAT kind of Baptist.  I am the kind of Baptist who loves freedom, even the freedom of our Baptist forbearers.  I also believe that granting…

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Love Will Make A Way: Interracial & Same-Sex Marriage

My parents wrestled with the idea of me marrying my partner. The sanctuary was packed but my father didn’t come. Dad was brought up in the Deep South and my husband looked like the people who had practiced the nauseating hatred of Jim Crow in my father’s hometown. News of the support of our union,…

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The Episcopal Church’s Gay Rights Pilgrimage

A group of people holding a banner that says integrity the episcopal church welcomes you.

[Last month,] the U.S. Supreme Court received friend-of-the-court briefs arguing in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples in two historic cases challenging California’s Proposition 8 and the federal “Defense of Marriage Act” or DOMA. As the Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of California I signed on to briefs for religious organizations and leaders opposing both Proposition…

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Anniversary Reflections On Marriage Equality

Okay, here’s the overly-cute truth of it: I love being married. Now, I don’t think marriage is for everybody. I don’t think it’s part of God’s plan for all of us to be cutely married to some cute person and have a bunch of cute kids. As you can probably tell, that’s all a little…

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Marriage Equality Is A Conservative Cause

A bride and groom standing at the altar in a church.

The party of Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan has now lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections. The marketplace of ideas will render us irrelevant, and soon, if we are not honest about our time and place in history. Unfortunately, much of the discussion has focused on cosmetic solutions to,…

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Methodist Bishop Supports Marriage Equality in Illinois

A woman is holding up a bunch of bread in front of a table.

United Methodist Bishop Sally Dyck chimed in today to support the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, a same-sex marriage bill moving through the Illinois legislature. Bishop Dyck’s statement, published by the Reconciling Ministries Network, affirms marriage as a religious institution that enriches the lives of couples, their children, and their communities: I believe in the…

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Will SCOTUS Tie The Knot?

A statue of an angel in front of the supreme court.

When the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decided to review two lower court cases focusing on the legal definition of marriage, the nation’s highest court thrust itself into the center of a national debate. How exactly does the U.S. law define “marriage?” More to the point, should same-sex couples have the same federal…

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Mexico Moves Toward Marriage Equality

A mexican flag flying in the wind.

The Supreme Court of Mexico ruled in favor of marriage equality on Wednesday. This decision overturns the southern state of Oaxaca’s ban on gay marriage and puts the country on track to legalize same-sex marriage before the United States. This is not the first time the Supreme Court of Mexico has ruled in favor of…

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Social Issues Not A Focus For Young Republicans

A stop sign with an elephant on it.

Heated discussions may be right around the corner for the GOP as they begin to clean the wounds from the early November elections. And it all has to do with social issues. The Republican Party is currently divided on where their focus should be when talking about issues such as gay marriage, LGBTQ equality, and…

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