Delegations Of Clergy Lead Moral Marches In Over 30 Capital Cities

Crowd holding justice and rights signs at rally

On Monday, September 12, 2016, at 11:00 a.m., delegations of clergy will lead “Higher Ground Moral Day of Action” marches at 30 state capitol buildings and the city hall building in the District of Columbia. Three new states have recently joined the moral march including Delaware, Maryland, and Michigan.   “The Higher Ground Moral Day…

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Believe Out Loud Director James Rowe Says Goodbye

Four people posing for a photo in an office.

I started working at Believe Out Loud almost five years ago. Before that time, I had no idea that there were places to turn to talk about the intersection of being LGBTQ and Christian, other than to talk about it from the harmful narrative that had been forced upon most of us for far too…

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He Didn’t Know The Kind Of Baptists He Called

Yesterday, I received a message from someone at the Massachusetts Family Institute asking for my church’s help in repealing the new transgender public accommodations law that Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed earlier this summer. This law protects transgender people from discrimination in public places, including restrooms. The call followed two days after a letter. The…

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When Revolution Comes

Two people giving each other a high five.

I realized how much I hated myself the day I admitted to myself that I’m trans. I’d never noticed before then the nauseated feeling in my stomach each time I looked in a mirror, or how I never could take compliment without some type of rebuttal, or how much I clamored for attention while looking…

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Queering Iconography: Painting Pauli Murray

Woman painting clutching red heart with handwritten quote

“If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.” LGBTQ persons of faith know well the importance of seeing reflections of ourselves in the pulpit, pew, and podium. There is life-changing power in seeing a person who looks and loves like you affirmed, ordained, degreed. Because not all persons of faith are straight, white, cisgender…

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Am I Black Or Butch Today?

A man blowing bubbles in front of a white background.

“Well—a lot of them would have been safe if they weren’t out all night sinnin’.” It was the morning after the shooting in Orlando and hearing these words on the radio pierced the little bit of joy I had to give for another day of Pride events in the South—particularly on this day in Birmingham,…

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Sr. Jeannine Gramick Decries Catholic Silence After Orlando Massacre

A rosary hanging from a window.

49 people were murdered one month ago at Pulse, a LGBT nightclub in Orlando, and 53 more were wounded. These victims, constituting the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, have stirred conversations about anti-LGBT prejudice and violence and prompted many Catholics to memorialize the victims. Sr. Jeannine Gramick, Co-Founder of New Ways Ministry, says…

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