“At least 510 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced in state legislatures across the United States last year — a new record, according to American Civil Liberties Union data as of Dec. 21. That’s nearly three times the number of such bills introduced in…
Three educators push back against Florida law targeting trans and nonbinary teachers
Three educators have filed suit against Florida over a 2023 law permitting the decertification and termination of nonbinary and transgender teachers who use preferred pronouns and titles in the performance of their jobs. The Southern Poverty Law Center and its…
Making sense of the senseless death of an Alabama pastor
I did not know F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, but I probably have more insights into his tragic story than most Baptist pastors. Copeland, mayor of Smiths Station, Ala., and pastor of First Baptist Church in nearby Phenix City, took his own…
SBC ethics agency opposes EEOC guidance on what constitutes workplace harassment
The Southern Baptist Convention wants to allow workplace discrimination related to abortion, sexual orientation and gender identity views. The convention’s Ethics and Religious Commission has written the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to object to proposed new guidance on workplace harassment that…
American belief in fixed binary gender is growing
The percentage of Americans who believe only two fixed genders exist is steadily increasing, and more than a quarter claim young people are being coerced into being transgender, according to new polling data from Public Religion Research Institute. Faced with…
Transgender community living in fear, two trans pastors testify
The American transgender community is becoming increasingly panic-stricken by the surge in anti-trans legislation and rhetoric sweeping the nation, a trans minister said during a webinar hosted by the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists. “All the trans folks I…
It’s not like there’s trans surgery happening everywhere, doctor explains
Trans medical expert Fan Liang said there are way too many misconceptions about gender-affirming health care to share during a single panel discussion about the mistreatment of transgender people in the United States. “So, I’m just going to hit on…
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…
The transgender obsession
A large segment of American Christianity is obsessed with transgender people. Anti-trans sermons, articles, videos, study guides, billboards, podcasts and social media messages, along with massive political efforts to harass transgender people, are rampant. For example, more than 700 legislative…