Posts Tagged ‘Suicide’
A Christian Response To LGBT Teens & Bullying
MLP News Please pray for the friends and family of 14-year-old Kenneth James Weishuhn of Primghar, Iowa. Kenneth took his life on Saturday after being bullied for coming out as a gay teen a few months ago. Kenneth’s friends and family describe him as a happy young man, handsome and full of life. After coming…
Read MoreThe Way of Liberation
Every person in the United States of America must watch it: The Kalief Browder Story. It’s on Netflix. On May 15, 2010, sixteen-year-old Kalief Browder is arrested for stealing a backpack. He spends the next three years of his life (1,126 days) on Rikers Island with no charge, no trial. On May 29, 2013, Kalief is…
Read MorePainting Grief: Remembering My Fallen Ally
Trigger warning: description of addiction and substance abuse I’ll never forget telling my younger brother that I’m gay. He asked if I was dating anyone. Since he’d recently met the person I was dating, I simply told him who she was. He responded, “Damn, I was planning to ask her out. Well done, Ang.” From…
Read MoreGrowing Up Trans—Without Male Privilege
Trigger warning: discussion of suicide Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s comments about her understanding of what “transness” is set off a firestorm last month. In an interview, she said trans women live in the world with “privileges that the world accords to men” prior to transition. I’m not sure if Ms. Adichie made these statements based on…
Read MorePainting Emily For Transgender Day Of Remembrance
Trigger Warning: description of depression and suicide Her name was Emily. As a pastor, I was always happy to have someone new visit the congregation. So I was particularly thrilled when Emily scheduled a meeting with me after visiting worship for the first time. During our meeting, Emily shared that she identified as transgender woman,…
Read MoreA Christian Mom’s Call To Do The Right Thing
As a mother of a gay son, I don’t think you can really understand where an LGBTQ person is coming from unless you come from a place of intense love. I don’t know that the LGBTQ issue would have registered much on my radar if I didn’t have someone whom I loved intensely struggling with…
Read MoreAn Open Letter To Gay Catholic Priests From A Gay Catholic Priest
Dear Gay Catholic Priests, I know you’re busy, so I will try to make this brief. Many of you have been following the story in the news about a gay catholic priest from Chicago who recently came out. I know you’ve been following his story because I’ve been following his story. And, I know that the thought…
Read MoreMy First Trip Home For The Holidays As Myself
Thanksgiving 2011 was the first time my mother met her eldest son. It was the first holiday I’d spent with my immediate family after coming out as transgender. Earlier that year, I’d written my mom a letter explaining my transition, and my new name and pronouns, telling her how much I loved her and how…
Read MoreHow Queer Evangelicals Brought This Skeptical Journalist Back To Christianity
It happened at the end of recess, after the bell had rung and all the other junior-high kids had gone inside. After beating him in a schoolyard basketball game of “H.O.R.S.E.,” my beefy, mop-topped classmate, whom I’ll call Neil, hurled basketballs at my chest while his friend held my arms back so that I couldn’t…
Read MoreI Will Not Be Bullied By My Church
“F**got!”- the big boys yelled across the school yard. You try to avoid eye contact, mindful that you’re about to burst into tears. You get home and run up to your room to hide your bruises and drown your broken heart with loud music. You shut out your parents, who might not call you names,…
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