October 26 is Intersex Awareness Day. In a time where gender identity and expression are under social, legal and religious scrutiny, understanding the biological basis for sex differences never has been more urgent. “Intersex” is a general term used for…
At the Dove Awards, Section 103 marched to a different beat
As ticket holders began filing into Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena for the 54th annual GMA Dove Award ceremony last week in Nashville, a small crowd gathered by a clock tower near the entrance to the auditorium. They came from all…
Why will Semler and Flamy Grant attend the Dove Awards, where neither is accepted?
Although recording artists Flamy Grant and Semler both had No. 1 songs on the Christian music charts in 2023, neither artist was asked to participate in the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Awards, Contemporary Christian Music’s premier event recognizing achievement within…
Why the Haitian shoe seller can’t sell shoes
Last month, controversy around the true nature of former NFL football player Michael Oher’s relationship with his adoptive family, depicted in the 2009 movie The Blind Side, reignited a conversation around “white saviorism” — the tendency for privileged white Westerners…
Tennessee DA threatens Blount County Pride Festival if Flamy Grant performs
Organizers of Tennessee’s Blount Pride Festival have been warned by a district attorney they could be charged with “criminal conduct” if Christian artist Flamy Grant performs at the festival Saturday, Sept. 2, as planned. The singer’s appearance could violate Tennessee’s…
Drag is not what’s feared; it’s the people underneath the makeup whom we fear
From drag show bans to outcries over public schools and libraries hosting queens for reading programs and allegations of grooming, drag is in the conservative bullseye. Last month, drag queen Flamy Grant’s meteoric rise to the apex of the Christian…
What Sean Feucht meant for evil, Flamy Grant experienced as good
Sean Feucht, former worship leader at Bethel Church, founder of the pandemic-era Let Us Worship movement and unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate, didn’t intend to send a drag queen to the top of the Contemporary Christian Music charts. But when Feucht…
Why it’s not enough to make an exception for intersex people amid your exclusion of trans people
Intersex people always have lived among us, but shame and societal expectations have kept them living largely in the shadows. The June 30 nationwide release of the documentary Every Body, available in theaters and for streaming, is just the latest…