I’ve often paused when reflecting on Jesus’ enigmatic words in Matthew’s Gospel: “While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were standing outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, ‘Look, your mother and…
Who taught us to march?
Today, under a North Carolina sun pushing well past 90 degrees, hundreds gathered in downtown Chapel Hill for Pride. We assembled outside the town’s historic post office. Under tents, information about local LGBTQ organizations and resources was offered. Vendors handed…
Tennessee will recognize ‘Nuclear Family Month’
Tennessee now will recognize June as “Nuclear Family Month” instead of following the national trend of recognizing Pride Month for the LGBTQ community. Gov. Bill Lee signed House Joint Resolution 182 making the change April 9, two days after the…
If evangelicals had a pride parade
Over the last decade, advances in social justice have been rolled back by a renewed sense of evangelical pride. Donovan O. Schaefer in Whiteness and Civilization: Shame, Race, and the Rhetoric of Donald Trump, argues: “The success of Trump’s rhetoric…
Evangelical certainty and the God gap
“There are a lot of angry homosexuals out here today,” the man holding the megaphone barked. He had come to Fort Worth’s Trinity Pride Day to speak for God. Much to my wife’s chagrin, I couldn’t let his crude comment…
‘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….
Yes, Baptist polity makes room for queer Christians
On May 6, my husband and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Something we both like to do is give one another a gift and then go out to eat. For a while I have been thinking about what to…
Thanks to the college student who prescribed me an anti-pride-essant
Thoughts of suicide hounded me even though I was preaching every Sunday about abundant life. I had suffered from depression and anxiety long before the stress of Ph.D. work. Now the pain was compounded by taking a double full-time course…
Coalition offers training for churches and faith leaders in how to interact with angry protesters during Pride events
Against the backdrop of rising anti-LGBTQ violence, Interfaith Alliance and its partners will provide training for faith leaders and congregations to serve as buffers between hate groups and those attending Pride month events in June. “While this year it is…
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…
2023 was the year the evangelical obsession with Pride month turned violent
I toted my brood of children through Target, as Kevin DeYoung suggested, when suddenly I noticed the display of Pride T-shirts. At first, I thought it was nice that my LGBTQ neighbors would receive kind messages like “Free Mom Hugs” and “You…
Banning books, bathrooms and medical care in the name of Jesus is a sin
Recently, when I went to my local grocery store outside Houston, I was greeted by rainbow-colored cups and recyclable grocery bags emblazoned with the message “Y’all Means All” on the front of a Texas-shaped rainbow. “Woohoo!” I exclaimed when I…