Hosting drag shows in a church. Board members posting incendiary statements about political violence. Dismissing or scolding dissenting LGBTQ voices. Sometimes it’s “inclusive” churches that can do lasting damage to the cause of LGBTQ inclusion. I was reminded of this…
Group behind state trans laws celebrates court wins
The Family Policy Alliance is celebrating recent Supreme Court victories for state laws it promoted that halt transgender medical treatments for minors and restrict online porn to viewers who can prove they’re 18 years old. The court also has agreed…
Crossing that Good Ol’ Baylor Line
Monday, I shared the news with my classmates at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology, where I am pursuing a master of divinity degree, that Baylor University had received a grant from the Baugh Foundation to “foster LGBTQ inclusion in churches,”…
Baylor rejects grant to study LGBTQ exclusion in the church
The president of Baylor University appears to have burned a final bridge with a Texas-based foundation that once was a critical funder of its Baptist identity. President Linda Livingstone has rescinded a $643,000 grant awarded to the Diana Garland School…
‘We’ve seen an explosion in state-level anti-LGBTQ laws’
The June Supreme Court ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is a signal that more anti-LGBTQ legislation is on the way, said Orion Rummler, reporter for The 19th, an independent nonprofit news organization. “We’ve seen an explosion…
Politicized pastor seeks library limits to ‘protect children’
Bill Bolin, the Michigan pastor who politicized his pulpit and was profiled by author Tim Alberta, now leads a local library board and is intent on “changing the sexual tone and nature of some library policies and practices.” Bolin was…
Supreme Court sides with parents who object to LGBTQ-themed books
Parents have the right to keep their children from any instruction on LGBTQ themes in public schools, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 27. The 6-3 decision found the constitutional right to free exercise of religion was violated by a…
Courage and dignity needed in fight for equality, Raushenbush says
The church must demonstrate courage, demand dignity and fight for equality as attacks against religious freedom and LGBTQ people spread throughout the nation, Interfaith Alliance President Paul Raushenbush said. “The root of the word ‘courage’ is ‘cor,’ or heart,” he…
‘Here we are’
Twenty-one years ago this month, I attended my first ever Pride Festival. I was living in Chicago at the time, and many of my new friends in our master of music program at Northwestern were going and invited me along….
Supreme Court ruling on transgender care called partisan and flawed
The U.S. Supreme Court abandoned science, fairness and common sense in its June 18 decision upholding a state’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, civil rights and legal experts said. The 6-3 ruling in U.S. v. Skrmetti found Tennessee’s…
The girl at the edge of belonging
She was 15, and she believed. She hadn’t been raised in church exactly. But somewhere along the way, she found her way in — drawn by something tender and true, something that stirred in the songs and the stories, the…
Partisan gap widens on support for same-sex marriage
As LGBTQ Americans and their allies begin Pride month celebrations, there’s further evidence of a disconnect with conservative voters, no doubt driven by the evangelical base of the Republican Party. While overall support for same-sex marriage remains steady, support is…