This story has been updated to include comments from Leland Allen, an infectious disease doctor in Birmingham, Ala. In one social media meme, a happy young woman and man are shown walking down a wedding aisle with friends applauding them….
Study finds congregational leaders report LGBTQ conversations are worth the pain
Engaging in transparent discussion about LGBTQ inclusion is a painful process for congregations but almost always worth it in the end, according to one of the most extensive surveys of congregational practices yet undertaken. A research team from Baylor University’s…
Why I’m an LGBTQ ally who won’t boycott Chick-fil-A
There’s a new set of alarming memes going around social media warning of the dangers of eating at Chick-fil-A. According to one, to eat a single golden waffle fry is to betray the entire LGBTQ community. It is a “test”…
How a transgender woman found acceptance in a church shunned by the SBC
When Kim Cornwall moved from Minnesota to Georgia, she reached out to a number of churches to see if they would welcome her. Only one responded. That congregation, Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Ga., is now her church home….
The troubled waters of sexual diversity: Willful blindness
This is the fourth in a series of articles on sexual diversity. C.S. Lewis referred to his atheism prior to his conversion to Christianity as “willful blindness.” This description undoubtedly describes my state of spiritual blindness before I began seeing…
Understanding sexual diversity: Invisible people
Do you remember Pat, the hilariously androgynous character seen on Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s? The humor focused on Pat’s gender ambiguity and the discomfort of others encountering them. The tension never was resolved for the SNL audience,…
American attitudes on transgender persons remain conflicted and highly partisan
Widening acceptance of gay and lesbian people in American life is not as easily translating to understanding of transgender persons, a new national survey by Pew Research shows. Despite the rapid change in American attitudes on same-sex attraction, the fundamental…
The ABCs of LGBTQ
This is the second in a series of articles. Life seemed simpler when we didn’t know so much. The problem is, no matter how much we learn there is always so much more to know. Every solution seems to reveal…
‘If they come for me in the night, they’ll come for you in the morning’
Raise your hand if the Supreme Court had to decide whether or not you could marry. Folks in interracial couples and queer folks, I see you. Now raise your hand if you’re afraid the Supreme Court might take away your…