By Bob Allen The city council in Charlotte, N.C., passed an ordinance Feb. 22 to prevent businesses from discriminating against LGBT customers, setting the stage for a battle with the Republican-controlled state legislature. Council members voted 7-4 in favor of…
Government to post names of schools seeking Title IX waivers
By Bob Allen Colleges and universities requesting religious exemptions to federal non-discrimination standards will have their waivers posted online in a searchable database to be developed in coming months by the U.S. Department of Education. Catherine Lhamon, the Education Department’s…
Baptist church votes to OK gay marriage
By Bob Allen A Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregation in Tennessee voted Jan. 10 to marry same-sex couples. First Baptist Church in Memphis capped a three-month discernment process by adopting a policy extending “privileges afforded to any follower of Christ” without…
Baptist schools seek waiver from LBGT discrimination ban
By Bob Allen The federal government has granted waivers to more than two dozen religious institutions of higher learning from Title IX, which protects LGBT students from discrimination. Carson-Newman University, affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, recently received exemption for…
D.C. church postponing vote on gay marriage
By Bob Allen With the anticipated ending of a search for a new pastor, First Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., has postponed a vote scheduled in February about whether to change the congregation’s wedding policy to permit same-sex marriage. An…
Booted pastor defends ‘nuanced’ view of LGBT inclusion
By Bob Allen A South Carolina Baptist pastor whose decision to officiate a same-sex wedding got his church kicked out of its local association and state convention says he is concerned about a culture within the Baptist faith that is…
SBC expert claims boy in Barbie ad bends gender
By Bob Allen Southern Baptists’ go-to authority on “gender issues” is no fan of Mattel’s new Barbie ad challenging the stereotype that boys do not play with dolls. Bob Stith, founder of Family and Gender Issues Ministries in Southlake, Texas,…
Liberty prof says LGBT film fest gives her platform to ‘speak the truth in love’
By Bob Allen Religious arguments against same-sex marriage are weakened in society by the breakup of traditional families, a research fellow with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention said at a recent film festival connecting…
Pew survey shows growing religious acceptance of gays
By Bob Allen Nearly all major religious groups have become significantly more accepting of homosexuality in recent years, even those, like evangelicals and Mormons, traditionally opposed to same-sex relationships, according to a new Pew study of religious belief and practice in…