It’s Ash Wednesday: Time to Indulge!

A bowl of black powder on top of a purple cloth.

Today’s Ash Wednesday. Wait! What? Already? I still have to put some boxes of Christmas decorations back in the attic. Lent begins early this year—probably about the earliest that it can be. But, truth be told, Lent always kind of creeps up on me. I never seem ready to begin 40 days of fasting, prayer,…

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New Mormon Policy Puts LGBT Youth At Risk

A chain link fence.

I met up with a friend of mine the other day—I’ll call her Alice. She wanted to talk about Mormon LGBT youth suicide and the new policy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), that many have considered a frontal attack on the LGBT community. It’s a subject and a controversy she…

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Married Gay Catholics Chosen As “Persons of the Year”

Two men standing in front of microphones in front of the supreme court.

Married gay Catholics Greg Bourke and Michael DeLe­on were chosen as Persons of the Year by the National Catholic Reporter for their role in the U.S. Supreme Court case which led to marriage equality’s legalization across the nation last June. Bourke and DeLeon were plaintiffs in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court decided that marriage rights…

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How The Religious Right Is Getting It Wrong

A statue of a woman holding an eagle.

For the past week, my newsfeed on Facebook has been filled with posts and comments about the arrest of Kim Davis, the court clerk from Kentucky who was imprisoned on Thursday for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her county, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling for equality and direct orders from a judge to resume…

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Giving Glory To God And Not Kim Davis

A person holding up a sign that says love.

Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis is in jail. She refused to issue marriage licenses, even after members of her staff offered to do it (she forced them not to), even after the Supreme Court informed her that no exception from the law would be made for her. Stating that she was acting “under God’s authority,” she defied court orders and…

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Mississippi Adoption Ban For Same-Sex Couples Challenged in Court

Three women and a little girl posing for a photo.

A federal lawsuit challenging Mississippi’s ban on adoption by same-sex couples has just been filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Campaign for Southern Equality v. Mississippi Department of Human Services seeks to strike down that ban and to establish that Mississippi same-sex couples have a right to adopt. Mississippi is…

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On Resisting Passivity: A Catholic Call To Renew The Earth

The sun is setting over a sand dune.

The senseless murders at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, startled many because they raised the ongoing issues of racial prejudice, gun violence, and how people from all walks of life become innocent victims of terror, hate, and discrimination. How many tragedies and how many deaths will it take to open our hearts and minds to…

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God Thinks You Are Absolutely Fabulous

A man holding up a sign that says god you are absolutely fabulous.

A little over a year ago, I took part in my first NYC Pride March, having just moved to the city in August 2013. My initial intent was to simply cheer on friends from the sidelines, as I was already exhausted from a weekend packed of Pride activities. But when my close friend, Amanda Hambrick…

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