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LGBTQ Religious Concerns

Two people in love is not a sin...

your judgment of them is

“If you want to be authentically Christian, you have to be open and affirming, for Jesus said, Whosoever will, let them come. We welcome all, regardless of your color or creed, your gender or sexuality.”
-Rev. William Barber, Greenleaf Christian Church
 

"Where did religion go wrong when gay kids grow up fearing god's wrath but racists don't?"
-Danny James, Facebook

"Gay people are not causing a problem for the church. Instead, it is the church that is causing a problem for gay people."

-Queer Cafe

"Being LGBTQ isn't a sin. Blindly hating people for who they love is. Homophobic and transphobic Christians, you need to repent of your sinful lifestyle choices and pray that hate away. It is an abomination."
-John Pavlovitz

"My sexual orientation is not a sickness to be healed or a sin to be forgiven. My sexual orientation is a gift from my Creator to be accepted, celebrated, and lived with integrity."
-ChristianGay.Com

"It is never legitimate to use the words of scripture to promote a loveless agenda."
-Right Rev. Dr. Peter Short, Moderator of United Church of Canada

"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision."
-Lynn Lavner
 

People should never be the collateral damage of your theology.
-Sarah Bessey

"It's funny, isn't it?  You can preach a judgmental, vengeful, angry god, and nobody will mind. But, if you start preaching a god that is too accepting, too loving, too forgiving, too merciful, too kind, then you're in trouble."

-Bishop Gene Robinson

“Is being gay a sin? No. Sins are acts that separate us from God and keep us from loving our neighbors as ourselves. Being gay is not a sin. Bullying is a sin. Being hateful to other people is a sin. Putting yourself in the place of God to judge others is a sin. Being gay is not.”

-Rev. Susan Russell, Episcopalian Minister

Far Right Christian Nationalist Theocracy

Bishop Gene Robinson: God Called Me Out of the Closet

Pope Approves Blessings for Same-Sex Couples That Must Not Resemble Marriage

Pat Robertson, Preacher Who Dedicated His Life to Promoting Anti-LGBTQ Hate, Dies During Pride Month
First Congregation to Split From Methodist Church Over LGBTQ Rights

Pope Francis Praises Sister Jeannine Gramick for 50 Years of LGBTQ Ministry

Catholic Diocese Says LGBTQ People Are Not Allowed Sacraments

Prayer for the Queer Kids

Tennessee Gay Couple Rejected by Wedding Venue Due to Owner’s Religious Beliefs

Religious Trauma Still Haunts Millions of LGBTQ Americans

Gospel Music Would Be Nothing Without Black Queer and Trans Artists
 

You are not a failure as a parent if you have gay kids...

You are a failure as a parent if you don't love and accept them

"It took the Catholic Church 359 years to admit that they were wrong when they accused Galileo of heresy and condemned him to death, unless he recanted that the earth rotates around the sun. Since he wanted to live, he was forced to deny the truth and agree with the Church that the sun rotates around the earth, but he was still placed under house arrest until his death. The Church is powerful and has a history of pressuring society and individuals to say and believe what the Church thinks is right. They were wrong then and they are wrong now regarding homosexuality. Let's hope it doesn't take them that long this time to discover and admit their error."
-ChristianGay.Com

"The Scriptures have been misused to defend bloody crusades and inquisitions; to support slavery, apartheid, and segregation; to sanction the physical and emotional abuse of women and children; to persecute Jews and other non-Christian people of faith; to support the holocaust of Hitler's Third Reich; to oppose medical science; to condemn inter-racial marriage; to execute women as witches; to excuse the violent racism of the Ku Klux Klan; to mobilize militias, white supremacy and neo-nazi movements; and to condone intolerance and discrimination against sexual minorities. "
-Mel White, Letter to Jerry Falwell

Christian Pastor Told Grandmother to Go to Her Grandson’s Gay Wedding... He Got Fired

Pat Robertson's Lies About the LGBTQ Community Helped Shape Today's Republican Party
John Pavlovitz: The Sin of Homophobic and Transphobic Christians
United Methodist Church Remains Fractured Over Ordaining LGBTQ Clergy

Church of England Apologizes for Shameful Treatment of LGBTQ People
Bishop of Oxford Breaks Ranks: Calls on Church of England to Allow Same-Sex Marriage
Historic Raleigh Church Has Been Supporting LGBTQ Equality Since the 1950s

LGBTQ Faith Leaders to Watch
 

"Speaking of preferred pronouns... If god in Hebrew is elohim, that's a plural noun. And, if you also believe that god is a trinity, then they/them would be your god's preferred personal pronouns."
-Bob Minor

"Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born. Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all his teachings about multiple things, Jesus never said that gay people should be condemned."
-President Jimmy Carter

"There is nothing in the Bible or in my own theology that would lead me to believe that God regards homosexuality as sin. God is interested in our relationships with ourselves, others, the things in our lives, and with God. There is nothing in the mind of God that could be against a loving, sexual relationship, freely entered into, without coercion, among sincere adults whether gay, bisexual or straight."
-Dr. Slayton, Baptist Minister

"Some argue that since homosexual behavior is unnatural, it is contrary to the order of creation. Behind this pronouncement are stereotypic definitions of masculinity and femininity that reflect the rigid gender categories of patriarchal society. There is nothing unnatural about any shared love, even between two of the same gender, if that experience calls both partners into a fuller state of being. Contemporary research is uncovering new facts that are producing a rising conviction that homosexuality, far from being a sickness, sin, perversion or unnatural act, is a healthy natural, and affirming of human sexuality for some people. Findings indicate that homosexuality is a given fact in the nature of a significant portion of people, and that it is unchangeable."
-Bishop John Shelby Spong, Episcopalian

"Our sexual orientation is a given, something we discover about ourselves. Some might say it is a gift from God. How one relates to others (caring or exploiting) is the source of sin."
-Bishop Wood, Episcopalian

"If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise."
-Johann von Goethe

Religious Trauma Still Haunts Millions of LGBTQ Americans

Today’s White Christian Nationalists are Looking More and More like Nazis

1 in 5 United Methodist Congregations in the US Have Left Over LGBTQ Conflicts
What Does the Bible Say About Transgender People?
Supporters Push for Gay Priest Who Died on 9-11 to Be Made a Saint
Megan Rohrer Elected As 1st Openly Transgender Bishop In US Lutheran Church
Unity Village: Experience the Spiritual Side of LGBTQ Pride
Guilty as Charged: Southern Baptist Pastor Welcomes LGBTQ Members
Vatican Says Catholic Church Won't Bless Same Sex Unions

Evangelicals Made a Bad Bargain With Trump

CNN: Why Evangelicals Should Care About Trump's Lies (And Other Sins)

First Out Bishop Gene Robinson Opens Up About Coming Out

God called me out of the closet

Gene Robinson is known as the first bishop in the Christian Church to ever come out as gay, which he decided to do back in 1986.

At the time, the Kentucky native had been an ordained priest for 13 years, and he noted that God was the one who “called him out of the closet.” In 2003, he was then elected as a bishop to serve for the Episcopal Church’s New Hampshire Diocese.

First Out Bishop Gene Robinson Opens Up About Coming Out

Bishop Gene Robinson: God Called Me Out of the Closet

Robinson has since made it his life goal to open the Church to the LGBTQ community and vice versa. In fact, he jokingly refers to the five out gay bishops in the Church as his “legacy.” In a recent interview with CBS News, the 76-year-old retired bishop clarified that he is not the only gay priest or bishop in the history of the Christian Church.

“There have been a lot of us, let’s just be clear. I’m just the first openly gay one,” he pointed out.

Robinson further opened up about coming out, expressing: “It’s an awful thing to stand in a pulpit and encourage people to live authentic lives when you know you’re not being authentic. It’s why I felt God called me out of the closet.”

Moreover, he has been honored for his work dedicated to the LGBTQ community and the Church by having a small chapel at St. Thomas Episcopal Church established under his name.

[Source: Quimberly Anne, Instinct, Feb 2024]

Today’s White Christian Nationalists are More and More like Nazis

Pope Approves Blessings for Same-Sex Couples, But NotMarriage
Drag Queen Flamy Grant Tops Christian Music Chart
Pat Robertson, Conservative Anti-LGBTQ Televangelist, Dies at 93

Most Americans Say Religion Is No Excuse for Anti-LGBTQ Discrimination

Pope Francis Says Homosexuality is Not a Crime

Spirituality Has A New Face — And It’s Queer As Hell
Amy Grant Hosts Lesbian Niece’s Wedding Because She’s a Loving Christian

LGBTQ Catholics Recall Damage  by Pope Benedict XVI During His Reign
 

Pope Approves Blessings for Same-Sex Couples That Must Not Resemble Marriage

The Vatican issued a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy by insisting that people seeking God’s love and mercy shouldn’t be subject to “an exhaustive moral analysis.”

Pope Francis formally approved letting Catholic priests bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced in Dec 2023, a radical shift in policy that aimed at making the church more inclusive while maintaining its strict ban on gay marriage.

But while the Vatican statement was heralded by some as a step toward breaking down discrimination in the Catholic Church, some LGBTQ advocates warned it underscored the church’s idea that gay couples remain inferior to heterosexual partnerships.

Pope Endorses LGBTQ Civil Unions and LGBTQ Families

Pope Approves Blessings for Same-Sex Couples That Must Not Resemble Marriage

Pope Approves Blessings for Same-Sex Couples
Pope Says Homosexuality is a Sin But Not a Crime and Criticizes Unjust Anti-Gay Laws

The document from the Vatican’s doctrine office elaborates on a letter Francis sent to conservative cardinals that was published in Oct 2023. In that preliminary response, Francis suggested such blessings could be offered under some circumstances if the blessings weren’t confused with the ritual of marriage.

The new document repeats that condition and elaborates on it, reaffirming that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman. And it stresses that blessings in question must not be tied to any specific Catholic celebration or religious service and should not be conferred at the same time as a civil union ceremony. Moreover, the blessings cannot use set rituals or even involve the clothing and gestures that belong in a wedding.

Far Right Christian Nationalist Theocracy

Brandon Kneefel: Being Gay is Not a Sin

Dissecting the Catholic Church's Disrespect of LGBTQ People

Soul Force: Sabotage Christian Supremacy

Openly Gay Black Bishop Ordained by Episcopal Church

TED Talk: Christian Musician Jennifer Knapp

How Practicing Spirituality Can Enrich Your Queer Life

John Pavlovitz: Open Letter to a Transgender Young Person

The Republican Party Becomes the Christian Nationalist Party
 

"Put on the full armor of God and stand firm against the Left’s schemes."

-Gov. Ron DeSantis
 

Another important aspect of the anti-democracy movement in America deserves attention. The wall separating church and state is getting hit with a Republican battering ram.

The Texas Senate just approved about a half-dozen religion bills, including a requirement that the Ten Commandments be posted in every classroom in the state, allowing chaplains to replace counselors in the schools, and letting school districts set time for staff and students to pray and read religious texts.

Idaho and Kentucky have signed into law measures allowing teachers and public school employees to pray in front of and with students while on duty.

Ron DeSantis’s Campaign Christianity
Ron DeSantis' Campaign Ad Says He Was Sent by God to Take the Arrows
Incompatible with the Gospel: Religious Leaders Condemn DeSantis' Immigration Stance

Today’s White Christian Nationalists are Looking More and More like Nazis

NPR: More Than Half of Republicans Support Christian Nationalism, According to Survey

Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers are falling over themselves to pass book bans, abortion prohibitions, and anti-trans laws — and justify them with scripture.

“Put on the full armor of God. Stand firm against the left’s schemes,” Florida governor (and Republican presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis said at the Christian Hillsdale College — substituting “left’s schemes” for the “devil’s schemes” of Ephesians 6:11.

And it’s not just any religion. It’s Christianity. As former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn (whom Trump has promised to bring back for a second Trump term) put it at a recent ReAwaken America event, “If we are going to have one nation under God, which we must, we have to have one religion.”

Republican lawmakers say the Supreme Court will back them in their attempts to make Christian nationalism the center of American life, referring to a US Supreme Court decision last June that allowed a public high school football coach to pray on the field after games, arguing his actions were protected by the Constitution.

[Source: Robert Reich, May 2023]

John Pavlovitz: Being Gay Lesbian Bisexual or Transgender is Not a Sin

God Loves Me Too by Brian Falduto

How I Celebrate Pride When My Religious Parents Taught Me that Pride is a Sin
Massachusetts School Can’t Call Itself Catholic for Flying Pride and BLM Flags

Queer Theology: The Clobber Passages

Religious Universities Living Up to LGBTQ Values of Inclusion

Methodist Conservatives Detail Breakaway Plans Over LGBTQ Inclusion

Coming Out to My Conservative Christian Family

Pope Francis Criticizes Unjust Anti-Gay Laws
 

"Being Homosexual Isn't A Crime, But It's Still A Sin"

-Pope Francis
 

Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust,” saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. “Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said during an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in January 2023.

Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and he himself referred to the issue in terms of “sin.” But he attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone. “These bishops have to have a process of conversion,” he said, adding that they should apply “tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.”

Pope Francis Approves Blessings for Same-Sex Couples That Must Not Resemble Marriage

Pope Francis Says Homosexuality is a Sin But Not a Crime and Criticizes Unjust Anti-Gay Laws
Pope Francis: Being Homosexual Isn't A Crime, But It's Still A Sin

Pope Francis Says Criminalizing Homosexuality Is Wrong
 

Francis’ comments are the first uttered by a pope about such laws, but they are consistent with his overall approach to the LGBTQ community and belief that the Catholic Church should welcome everyone and not discriminate.

Some 67 countries or jurisdictions worldwide criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity, 11 of which can or do impose the death penalty, according to The Human Dignity Trust, which works to end such laws. Experts say even where the laws are not enforced, they contribute to harassment, stigmatization and violence against LGBTQ people.

In the US, more than a dozen states still have anti-sodomy laws on the books, despite a 2003 Supreme Court ruling declaring them unconstitutional. Gay rights advocates say the antiquated laws are used to harass homosexuals, and point to new legislation, such as the “Don’t say gay” law in Florida, which forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, as evidence of continued efforts to marginalize LGBTQ people.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for an end to laws criminalizing homosexuality outright, saying they violate rights to privacy and freedom from discrimination and are a breach of countries’ obligations under international law to protect the human rights of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  Declaring such laws “unjust,” Francis said the Catholic Church can and should work to put an end to them. “It must do this. It must do this,” he said.

Francis quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying gay people must be welcomed and respected, and should not be marginalized or discriminated against. “We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity,” Francis said.

He said there needed to be a distinction between a crime and a sin with regard to homosexuality. “It’s not a crime. Yes, but it’s a sin,” he said. “Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime.”  He added, “It’s also a sin to lack charity with one another."

Catholic teaching holds that while gay people must be treated with respect, homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.” Francis has not changed that teaching, but he has made reaching out to the LGBTQ community a hallmark of his papacy.

Starting with his famous 2013 declaration, “Who am I to judge?” (when he was asked about a purportedly gay priest) Francis has gone on to minister repeatedly and publicly to the gay and trans community. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he favored granting legal protections to same-sex couples as an alternative to endorsing gay marriage, which Catholic doctrine forbids.

[Source: Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, Jan 2023]
 

US Catholic Bishops: People of Goodwill Should Support LGBTQ Youth

Bishop Gene Robinson: God Called Me Out of the Closet

Reverend Valerie Spencer Sees The Divinity of Transness

33 Moments in 2016 That Proved Religion Can Be a Force for Good

Queer Sex and Spirituality Can Coexist: LGBTQ People of Faith Tell All

Amy Grant Hosts Lesbian Niece’s Wedding Because She’s a Good, Loving Christian

Her message of love for all is currently breaking the Christian internet

It’s the queer Hallmark movie we’d pay money to see. A sweet, engaged lesbian couple, dreaming of their big day, receive the gift of a lifetime when a beloved aunt steps in and offers to host the couple at her country estate. Nevermind that the aunt, one Amy Grant, has been a mainstay in the gospel community and a household name in Christian homes for decades. Love, after all, is love.

Grant told the Washington Post that she and husband Vince Gill planned to host her niece’s wedding (their “first bride and bride wedding,” she called it) at their Hidden Trace Farm in Franklin, Tennessee, just outside Nashville.

The singer-songwriter said when she learned that her niece is a lesbian, her reaction was, “What a gift to our whole family, to just widen the experience of our whole family,” adding, “Honestly, from a faith perspective, I do always say, ‘Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: love God and love each other. I mean, hey — that’s pretty simple.”

Grant recently made headlines when she was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors as the first contemporary Christian musician to receive the award. When queer country music star Brandi Carlile presented Grant and the band U2 with the honors, Carlile said, “They walk through the world with love and justice on their sleeve. They operate from a basis of their faith, and as a person sort of marginalized by major world religions and faith structures, the way that they’ve embraced LGBTQ publicly I think does a lot for my people and for the trauma that we have experienced at the hands of the faith and organized religion.”

[Source: PrideSource, Sarah Bricker Hunt, December 2022]

Amy Grant Announces She Will Host Lesbian Niece’s Wedding Because She’s a Good, Loving Christian
John Pavlovitz: If God is Love, God is For Same-Sex Marriage
Spirituality Has A New Face — And It’s Queer As Hell
John Pavlovitz: No, Being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender is Not a Sin
Unity Village: Experience the Spiritual Side of LGBTQ Pride
Guilty as Charged: Southern Baptist Pastor Welcomes LGBTQ Members
John Pavlovitz: Open Letter to a Transgender Young Person

Historic Raleigh Church Has Been Supporting LGBTQ Equality Since the 1950s

Religious Trauma Still Haunts Millions of LGBTQ Americans

Far Right Christian Nationalist Theocracy

Find Another God
 

I saw the following question on the blogsite Quora...

"Homosexuality is forbidden in my religion. I don't hate anyone who identifies as gay. But I don't support it because of my religion. Does that make me homophobic?"

Here's how I answered it...

"Religion means nothing. Human beings mean everything. Being gay is natural, normal and healthy. If one's religion is against being gay, it stands against human beings. And at the very least those parts of the religion have to go, and be repudiated by anyone with a functioning heart. Otherwise you are supporting the persecution of your fellow human beings. If your God stands against people, find another one or a better version."

[Source: Brielle Love Eden, We Are LGBT For Life, January 2024]

Street Preachers at Pride Events

Two Millennia of Discrimination Against LGBTQ Community is Enough

The latest attack on gay and lesbian Americans — this time in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the home of a number of high profile, so-called evangelical Christian national organizations — is one bridge too far, causing sensitive persons to conclude that two millennia of discrimination against the LGBTQ community is enough. More than enough.

"Conservative Christians" have given cover for 2,000 years to those who have attacked gay and transgender persons — our brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors today — by using the purported authority of the Bible to justify Christian church's long history of discrimination against them. That then gave "permission" to the haters among us to attack them verbally and physically — permission once enshrined in state and federal law and policy, which has only recently caught up with the changed attitudes of our country.

Religious Trauma Still Haunts Millions of LGBTQ Americans

Why Miley Cyrus Quit Church: Non-Acceptance of Her LGBTQ Friends

Cardinal Burke: Don't Invite Gay Couples to Family Gatherings if Children are Present

John Pavlovitz: If God is Love, God is For Same-Sex Marriage

Pro-LGBTQ Congregation Breaks Away From Methodist Church

Christian Pastor Told Grandmother to Go to Her Grandson’s Gay Wedding... He Got Fired

Hope, Wish, Prayer for 2020: Protection for LGBTQ Americans

Tony Campolo: Why I Support Gay Marriage

Such discrimination was never justified, Biblically or otherwise, unless one believes, unreasonably, in my judgment, that scripture was literally dictated by God to men of old. If so, it can't be defended even then as inerrant, for there are so many demonstrable errors in it. The very few verses in the Christian and Hebrew bibles purportedly "damning" LGBTQ-identified men and women can be explained away. The verses are cultural artifacts, garbled by textual ambiguities, reflecting their times and places rather than moral universalities. (That's why we ignore so much of the Old Testament and some of the New Testament such as "Revelation," today.)

During the ongoing debate over these matters in my own Protestant denomination, the United Methodist Church — one of more than 5,000 such denominations in modern Protestant Christendom — I have studied each verse and have become convinced that there is no more Bible-based justification for discrimination against homosexuals than there is discrimination against people of color, who were once kept out of white Christian churches by "good Church people" citing verses about "slaves." The latter battle was fought and won back in the '60s and '70s. Those who fought church racial integration and who are still alive today are now embarrassed that they did so — or ought to be. They don't want to be reminded of it at any rate.

Now, here we are with another generation of church men and women fighting a similar battle over "sexual orientation." Sixty or fewer years from now, those still living then will be as much embarrassed, I predict, for, as before, they are trying to stand in the face of cultural, legal, and political change.

With Anti-LGBTQ Hate From The Right On The Rise, Violence Was Sure To Follow
After the Colorado Springs Attack, LGBTQ People are Furious at the Rhetoric Targeting Them

Two Millennia of Discrimination Against LGBTQ Community is Enough
When Republicans Lament the Hate Crimes They Help Create

Faith Positions: Which Groups are LGBTQ Friendly?

Dear Phobic Christians: Leave LGBTQ People Alone

Why do we learn so little from history? Why are some politicians now trying to "protect" our children from even learning in school the facts about racial and sexual history in Alabama and in America?

The present policy of my church is so misguided on this subject that it is contradictory. On the one hand, it welcomes and affirms the inherent worth of members of the LGBTQ community, while, on the other, it denies them full participation in the life of local congregations. It is attempts to reconcile these purposes by welcoming them into full participation in the UMC that has caused the disharmony in recent years in our denomination, as it did earlier in the Episcopal and Presbyterian denominations, and caused my local church to "disaffiliate" from the UMC, although its members cite other reasons, even before the contradiction has been finally resolved. So my wife and I have opted to disaffiliate out of it.

The tragedy in all of this is that such unloving conflict in the church over an unjustified, contradictory set of policies is that it continues to provide "cover" for those willing to attack and beat and murder members of the 1.5 percent of our population who do not express the "sexual orientation" of the majority of Americans. After all, God made us all "in his image" and the way we are, we say. So if anyone has a bone to pick with anyone about homosexuality, it's not with homosexuals; it's with the God who said the ultimate commandments are but two: Love God with all you are and love others at least as much as yourself.

[Source: Dr. Jim Vickrey; Retired Lawyer, College Professor, University President; Montgomery, Alabama; Dec 2022]
 

Young LGBTQ People Share Personal Stories of Faith

Reverend Valerie Spencer: The Divinity of Transness

Queer Sex and Spirituality Can Coexist: LGBTQ People of Faith Tell All

What the Bible Says About Homosexuality

Bible Verses Homophobes Disregard

PBS Video: Religion and Sexuality

Bishop Gene Robinson: God Called Me Out of the Closet

Gay Couples in the Bible

How Practicing Spirituality Can Enrich Your Queer Life

LGBTQ Faith Leaders to Watch
God Loves Me Too by Brian Falduto
 

Methodist Church Splits Over LGBTQ Issues

The two different factions of the United Methodist Church agreed to divorce.

A group of leaders of the United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, announced a plan that would formally split the church, citing “fundamental differences” over same-sex marriage after years of division.

The plan would sunder a denomination with 13 million members globally (roughly half of them in the United States) and create at least one new “traditionalist Methodist” denomination that would continue to ban same-sex marriage as well as the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy.

The United Methodist Church claims 6.3 million members in the US and 6.5 million overseas.

United Methodist Church Looks to Split Over LGBTQ Issues

The Sad, Necessary Division of the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church Split in its Acceptance of LGBTQ Rights

Differences over same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy have simmered for years in the UMC, and came to a head in 2019 at a conference in St. Louis where delegates voted 438-384 to strengthen bans on LGBTQ-inclusive practices. Most US-based delegates opposed that plan and favored LGBTQ-friendly options; they were outvoted by US conservatives teamed with most of the delegates from Methodist strongholds in Africa and the Philippines.

In the aftermath of that meeting, many moderate and liberal clergy made clear they would not abide by the bans, and various groups worked on proposals to let the UMC split along theological lines.

The breakaway denomination, called the Global Methodist Church, will now officially exist. Its leaders have been exasperated by liberal churches’ continued defiance of UMC bans on same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy.

United Methodists’ LGBTQ Vote Will Reshape the Denomination
Global Methodist Church Announces Split from United Methodist Church Over LGBTQ Rights

United Methodist Division Declares Itself a Safe Harbor for LGBTQ Clergy

Bishop Thomas Bickerton, who became the Council of Bishops’ new president, described the launch of the new movement as a “sad and sobering reality.” Bickerton said he regrets any departure from the UMC and values the denomination’s diversity of thought.

“There is no perfect church,” he said. “The constant fighting, the vitriolic rhetoric, the punitive behaviors have no place in how we preserve and promote our witness as Christian believers.”

He said he prays the infighting will stop and the UMC will rediscover its mission to make disciples for Christ. “We are the United Methodist Church not interested in continuing sexism, racism, homophobia, irrelevancy and decline,” he said. “What we are interested in is a discovery of what God has in mind for us on the horizon as the next expression of who we are as United Methodists.”
 

Far Right Christian Nationalist Theocracy

Franklin Graham: Gay Christians are the Enemy

Why Miley Cyrus Quit Church: Non-Acceptance of Her LGBTQ Friends

Tony Campolo: Why I Support Gay Marriage

Transgender Priest Selina McMahon’s Journey with the Church

Believers: Dan Reynolds & LoveLoud Festival

Atlanta Queer-Friendly Black Church is Source of Solace for LGBTQ Youths

Coming Out as a Christian

Q Spirit: Queer Spirituality

Gospel Music Would Be Nothing Without Black Queer and Trans Artists

I Am a Muslim Who Happens to Be Gay

God Updates Mankind on Pronoun Usage

Video Documentary: Journey of a Gay Christian

Love Worthy

Nun Reveals Secret: She Blessed Same-Sex Couples

Nun reveals she secretly blessed same-sex couple 15 years ago...

"And I would do it again," she said

A Catholic nun has revealed that she secretly blessed a same-sex couple 15 years ago, long before the Pope Francis indicated that same-sex couples could receive blessings. Roman Catholic Sister Anna Koop blessed the couple, one of whom was a personal friend, 15 years ago because they were in love and “Jesus did not say love was confined.” The 85-year-old said that she was aware she might face consequences from the Church, but went ahead with with the private blessing anyway. In her own words, she “blessed the love they celebrate”.
 

Nun Reveals Secret: She Blessed Same-Sex Couples

In early October 2023, LGBTQ groups praised Pope Francis for saying that same-sex couples could have their unions blessed. Sister Koop, who became a nun in the late 1960s and has spent her career mainly in Denver, focussing on homelessness and poverty, said the Pope’s support of same-sex couple blessings made her feel that her blessing 15 years ago has been supported. She said she never experienced consequences over the secret blessing and still keeps in touch with the couple. They are still together and have two children. Sister Koop doesn’t regret her actions. “I did it once and I would do it again,” she said.

In the Church of England, however, blessing services for same-sex couples may be a considerable way off. The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, has said it’s unlikely that such services will take place before 2025. The delay comes amid what Mullally called a “time of uncertainty” for the Church due to division over the General Synod – the Church of England’s decision-making body – announcing in February 2023 it would continue to prevent priests ordaining same-sex marriages, but blessings would be offered instead. In a move towards increased inclusivity, in January 2023 the Church of England formally apologized for its historically “hostile” treatment of LGBTQ people.

[Source: Chantelle Billson, Pink News, Oct 2023]

Dear Phobic Christians: Leave LGBTQ People Alone

Christian Mom and Her Queer Daughter Reflect On Coming Out Experience
Methodist Church Splits Over LGBTQ Inclusion

Franklin Graham: Gay Christians are the Enemy

Church of England's First Nonbinary Priest Says Queer People Are a “Blessing to the Church"
Pope Francis Tells Parents to Support Their Queer Children
First Out Trans Bishop Installed by Lutheran Denomination
Global Methodist Church Announces Split from United Methodist Church Over LGBTQ Rights
Young LGBTQ People Share Personal Stories of Faith

What Does the Bible Say About Transgender People?

John Pavlovitz: The Sin of Homophobic and Transphobic Christians

How I Celebrate Pride When My Religious Parents Taught Me that Pride is a Sin

Pope Supports LGBTQ Ministry

In another sign of support for LGBTQ Catholics and those who advocate on their behalf, Pope Francis sent a handwritten letter in December 2021 to Jeannine Gramick, the co-founder of the Catholic apostolate New Ways Ministry.

Sister Gramick is celebrating 50 years of working with and advocating for LGBTQ people. Noting her anniversary as the reason for his letter, the pope congratulated her in Spanish on “50 years of closeness, of compassion and of tenderness” in a ministry that he described as being in “‘the style’ of God.”

Pope Francis’ letter to Sister Gramick is the latest in a series of letters from the pope written to gay Catholics and others who are serving and advocating for LGBTQ people. In his letter, the pope praised Sister Gramick for her willingness to suffer for love’s sake. “You have not been afraid of ‘closeness,’” he wrote, “and in getting close you did it ‘feeling the pain’ and without condemning anyone, but with the ‘tenderness’ of a sister and a mother.”

[Source: Jim McDermott, America Magazine: The Jesuit Review, January 2022]

Pope Francis Praises Sister Jeannine Gramick’s 50 Years of LGBTQ Ministry
Vatican Says Catholic Church Won't Bless Same Sex Unions

US Catholic Bishops: People of Goodwill Should Support LGBTQ Youth

Catholic Diocese Says LGBTQ People Are Not Allowed Sacraments
Pope Endorses LGBTQ Civil Unions and LGBTQ Families

Monks Cut Ties With Catholic School after Lesbian Lacrosse Coach's Hiring
 

Praying While Gay

Those struggling with one of life’s challenges often ask clergy and friends for prayers. A relative may be sick; confidence in a job interview is needed, or spiritual support for partners struggling with chemical addiction are among the requests I’ve received.

Prayer can come with a negative connotation because of the “pray away the gay” crusade. Prayer has taken another hit because of the systemic discrimination of LGBTQ folks by organized religion. Yet, prayer and religion remain, for most of the LGBTQ community, a great comfort.

Religious Trauma Still Haunts Millions of LGBTQ Americans

Living as an Openly Gay Christian

In October 2020, the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law released a survey on the “religiosity” of LGBTQ persons. According to the survey, “Nearly half of LGBTQ adults in the US are religious.” This turns out to be about 5.3 million people in the country. Religious LGBTQ folks include Jews, Muslims, Mormons, and Christians of different denominations. Although not a religion, there are many LGBTQ Buddhists. Even though they weren’t a part of the survey, you can also include Wiccans, Pagans, and other religious and spiritual groups.

In one way, prayer doesn’t have anything to do with organized religion. The empowerment of prayer supersedes religion and can be a personal, transcendental experience. Before the establishment of Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity, among others, humankind had always sought to understand themselves and the world around them in context of the cosmos. Prayer, ritual, and ceremony emerged from ancient times and were codified and formalized by religion.

Religion, as it often does, both facilitated and obstructed one’s relationship with God, Goddess, Creator, Eternal Life, Divine Breath, Giver of Life, or however one attempts to “quantify” and “understand” Infinite Mystery.

Unfortunately, prayer, a gift to connect with the Divine Order, became a type of self-flagellation. “Lord, have mercy, I’m an unworthy sinner. Forgive me.” If you pray negative thoughts, you get a negative result. Prayer became a means of control by re-enforcing how awful you are, and salvation could only be earned by putting your trust in a church or religious official. This is not prayer. This is control using faith and religion.
 

So, what is prayer? It doesn’t belong to any one religion. It predates them all. Prayer is not begging or repentance. You are both part of the Cosmos, Created by the Creator, and yet you go to the Universe as part of its Creation because it is greater than you. Yet, you have the answers and the power within.
 

Reverend Valerie Spencer: The Divinity of Transness

Prayer is like exercise or healthy eating. You get out of it what you put into it. It requires focus, discipline, and constant attention. It’s not only an opportunity to pray for others, yourself, or a better world, but a time of self-discovery.

Prayer is a tool available to any spiritual being whether atheist, humanist, or persons believing in a higher power. Done in a certain way it helps to rid your mind of negativity. Prayer, however, requires clarity and faith. Be specific about what you want and believe. Ask for what is in harmony with the universe and the Holy Author’s will. Use it for good.

In driving away negativity using prayer whether, by your own making, the social climate, or those around you saying something can’t be done, prayer is empowerment. For millions of religious LGBTQ people, prayer reinforces in a positive way that they belong.

Prayer, among many things, is a means of gratitude and positive re-enforcement, which should be practiced every day. “Thank you, Divine Creator, you made me who I am. You have made me holy. I am blessed to be who I am. I am grateful to be a blessing to others.”

[Source: Paul P. Jesep, Priest, The Rainbow Times, September 2021]

John Pavlovitz: I'm Really Tired of Hatred
Being Gay is a Gift From God

Nun Reveals Secret: She Blessed Same-Sex Couples

Gen Z-ers Believe Religious Groups Don't Genuinely Support The LGBTQ Community

A recent report by Springtide Research Institute found that many Gen Z-ers still feel religious communities aren't genuinely interested in supporting the LGBTQ community. Specifically, In Springtide's study, The State of Religion & Young People 2021, 56% of Gen Z participants expressed that they didn't believe faith groups cared about LGBTQ rights.

In the grand scope of the fight for LGBTQ rights, religious groups don't necessarily have the best history with the community. However, there has been an overall surge in support for the LGBTQ community in recent years, including many religious individuals and organizations.

Young LGBTQ People Share Personal Stories of Faith

Religious Trauma Still Haunts Millions of LGBTQ Americans

Bishop Gene Robinson: God Called Me Out of the Closet

Christian Parents, If Your Child Comes Out to You Here Are 5 Ways to Blow it
PBS Interview: Religion and Sexuality

How Can You be Gay and Jewish?

John Pavlovitz: If God is Love, God is For Same-Sex Marriage

Tony Campolo: Why I Support Gay Marriage

Queer Sex and Spirituality Can Coexist: LGBTQ People of Faith Tell All

Transgender Priest Selina McMahon’s Journey with the Church

In Feb 2021, over 100 religious groups expressed their support for the Equality Act, which would provide the LGBTQ community with additional legal protections from discrimination. It's also fairly common to see churches openly market themselves as LGBTQ-affirming.

This development comes at a time when about 1 in 6 Gen Z adults identify as LGBTQ, showing that the community is continuing to grow as young Americans become more in touch with their sexuality and gender identity.

"There is a refusal to engage fully. There is superficial acceptance of LGBTQ identities, but the language regarding LGBTQ acceptance in churches is often full of qualifiers — still regarding us as an 'other,'" Matthew Blasio, a 22-year-old who identifies as spiritual, said.

"Sometimes religious leaders act with forced love, pretending to lower themselves to our level just to seem like heroes," he continued. "It's more of a selfish love, riddled with misunderstandings."

As a result of many religious groups perceive a "superficial acceptance" and have been turned off from seeking community in these settings.

"I have no interest in uprooting my beliefs and values for the benefit of someone else feeling that they're saving me," Blasio added. "If someone is less than or has less rights, just because of how they were born, yet their god is supposed to love everyone equally, then their god must not be the one for me or my friends."

Far Right Christian Nationalist Theocracy

Christians Must Stop Disguising LGBTQ Exclusion as Religious Freedom

Bible Verses Homophobes Disregard

Gay Couples in the Bible

How Practicing Spirituality Can Enrich Your Queer Life

God Updates Mankind on Pronoun Usage

Gospel Music Would Be Nothing Without Black Queer and Trans Artists

Faryn, a 16-year-old who actively identifies as Catholic, shared similar sentiments. "Many people believe that associating with a faith that is anti-LGBTQ makes them just as immoral as homophobic and transphobic religious leaders," they explained.

These findings suggest that religious groups are primarily losing touch with Gen Zers by not actively fighting against the discriminatory practices, beliefs, and micro-aggressions that target the LGBTQ community.

All hope may not be lost, though, as more and more people (including religious leaders) become more affirming of LGBTQ identities with time. Presently, many Gen Z-ERs feel alienated by the overall religious community's stance on the subject.

[Source: Nick Fenley, Blavity, Jan 2022]

Meet the Dragon Dads: The Mormon Fathers Fighting for Their LGBTQ Kids
Same-Sex Unions: A Question Fracturing Major Christian Denominations
Christian Dad Says He Loves Jesus More Than His Trans Daughter
Dear Phobic Christians: Leave LGBTQ People Alone
Pope Taps Priest Who Runs LGBTQ Catholic Outreach for Major Vatican Meeting
Caricature of the Angry Bigoted Christian: Televangelist Pat Robertson Dies

One-Fifth of United Methodist US Congregations Leaving Over LGBTQ Issues
NPR: More Than Half of Republicans Support Christian Nationalism
How US Evangelicals Helped Homophobia Flourish in Africa
Atlanta Queer-Friendly Black Church is Source of Solace for LGBTQ Youths

Anti-LGBTQ Groups Have Ties to International Religious Freedom Summit

Florida Church Forcing Members To Sign Anti-LGBTQ Oath

Southern Baptist Convention Expels Two Churches Over LGBTQ Inclusion

The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee voted in Feb 2021 to oust two of its churches over policies deemed to be too inclusive of LGBTQ people. The churches expelled for LGBTQ inclusion were St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and Towne View Baptist Church, in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The SBC decision to disaffiliate with the two churches was based on their "affirmation of homosexuality," said Albert Mohler, member of Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee. "Anyone who argues that the Bible is not clear about the sinfulness of homosexuality is either very confused or deliberately dishonest about the structure of biblical theology and the clear meaning of the texts."

The pastor of St. Matthews Baptist Church stated, "Nothing in the Southern Baptist Convention's decision changes St. Matthews Baptist Church's deep commitment to carrying out what God calls us to do in our worship and spiritual growth, as well as in ministries to those in need and fellowship within our Church family."

Towne View’s pastor, Jim Conrad, announced that he would not appeal the ouster and plans to affiliate his church, at least temporarily, with The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which lets churches set their own LGBTQ policies. Towne View began admitting LGBTQ worshippers as members in October 2019 after a same-sex couple with three adopted children asked Conrad if they could attend, a decision he defends as the right thing to do.
 

ABC News: Southern Baptists Oust Two Churches Over LGBTQ Inclusion

SBC Expels Louisville Church for Openness to LGBTQ Members

Southern Baptist Convention Ousts Kentucky Church Over LGBTQ Inclusion

Guilty as Charged: Southern Baptist Pastor Welcomes LGBTQ Members

LGBTQ Religious Leaders

Gene Robinson - Episcopal Bishop
Mel White - President, Founder of SoulForce

Goddess Kennedy - Activist Minister, Stonewall Vets Chaplain

Denise Eger - Reformed Jewish Rabbi

James Cleveland - Minister, Gospel Singer

Troy Perry - Founder of Metropolitan Community Church

Elizabeth Edman - Episcopal Priest

Horace Griffin - Episcopal Priest, Theologian

Megan Rohrer - Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church

Deon Kevin Johnson - Episcopal Bishop

Father Mychal Judge - Catholic Priest

Selina McMahon - Anglican Priest, Australia

Peter J Gomes - Theologian

Bingo Allison - Church of England Priest

Dwayne Johnson - Metropolitan Community Church, Wash DC

Valerie Spencer - Unity Fellowship

Zachary Jones - Bishop
Carl Bean - Archbishop

Religious Trauma Still Haunts Millions of LGBTQ Americans

Interview With Bible Scholar: Has "Homosexual" Always Been in the Bible?

Conservative Christians Issuing Apology for Their Homophobia

Nun Reveals Secret: She Blessed Same-Sex Couples

Transgender Priest Selina McMahon’s Journey with the Church
Desmond Tutu: I Would Rather Go to Hell

Pope Says of Gays: Who Am I To Judge?

C Michael Patton: How Jesus Would Act in a Gay Bar?

Resources: Talking About Homosexuality and the Bible

Reverend Valerie Spencer: The Divinity of Transness
 

LGBTQ-Affirming Religious Leaders

Desmond Tutu - Episcopal

John Shelby Spong - Episcopal

John Pavlovitz - Baptist

William Barber - Disciples of Christ

Jim Wallis - Baptist

Matthew Vines - Ecumenical

Rachel Held Evans - Evangelical

Paul Swearingen - Evangelical

Carlton Pearson - Pentacostal Bishop

LGBTQ Faith Leaders to Watch

Dear Phobic Christians: Leave LGBTQ People Alone

TED Talk: The Bible as a Queer Positive Book

Q Spirit: Queer Spirituality

John Pavlovitz: The Sin of Homophobic and Transphobic Christians

The Biggest Bully of LGBTQ People: Organized Religion

Tennessee Gay Couple Rejected by Wedding Venue Due to Owner’s Religious Beliefs

Desmond Tutu: My God is Not Homophobic

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, famous for his role in ending Apartheid in South Africa, has said that he would rather go to Hell if he discovered that God was homophobic. “I would refuse to go to a homophobic Heaven,” Archbishop Tutu said at the launch of a new LGBTQ global public education campaign by the United Nations Human Rights Office. “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this."

Archbishop Tutu, a Nobel Prize winner further remarked, “I can't for the life of me imagine that God will say, I will punish you because you are black, you should have been white; I will punish you because you are a woman, you should have been a man; I will punish you because you are homosexual, you ought to have been heterosexual. I can't for the life of me believe that is how God sees things.”

John Pavlovitz: The Sin of Homophobic and Transphobic Christians

Grace for Gays: Charting a New Path for LGBTQ Christians

Pastor Tells Parents to Shun Their Gay Children

Crystal Cheatham: Lord Have Mercy

Support for LGBTQ Equality Act by Interfaith Group

Queer Sex and Spirituality Can Coexist: LGBTQ People of Faith Tell All

Reverend Valerie Spencer Sees The Divinity of Transness
Far Right Christian Nationalist Theocracy

Church Offers Free Mom Hugs at Pride Parade

A church in Texas gave away free “mom hugs” and “dad hugs” at a recent Pride parade. Jen Hatmaker, a conservative blogger who was unceremoniously kicked out of the Christian media world because she opposed Donald Trump’s election and supports LGBTQ equality, posted on Instagram about what her “beloved little church” was doing to spread the love at Austin Pride.

"My beloved little church went downtown to the Austin Pride Parade and gave out Free Mom Hugs, Free Dad Hugs, Free Grana Hugs, and Free Pastor Hugs like it was our paying jobs. And when I say hugs, I mean the kind a mama gives her beloved son. Our arms were never empty. We happy hugged a ton of folks, but dozens of times. I’d spot someone in the parade look our way, squint at our shirts and posters, and race into our arms. These were the dear hearts who said: I miss this...  My mom doesn’t love me anymore...  My Dad hasn’t spoken to me in three years... Please just one more hug.  You can only imagine what Pastor Hugs did to folks. So we told them over and over that they were impossibly loved and needed and precious. And we hugged until our arms fell off."

And just like anyone who goes to an LGBTQ space and offers unconditional love, the members of the Austin New Church heard terrible stories.  It’s too common for LGBTQ people to have not-so-great relationships with their parents, and too many churches spend time hating LGBTQ people instead of loving them. An open heart and some love can go a long way to healing old wounds.

[Source: Alex Bollinger, LGBTQ Nation, August 2018]

Church Offers Free Mom Hugs at Pride Parade

Queer Youth of Faith Day

HRC Notes: The Bible and Transgender Issues

Openly Gay Black Bishop Ordained by Episcopal Church

Gay Christian Bradley Birkholz: I Tried to Pray the Gay Away

Christians Must Stop Disguising LGBTQ Exclusion as Religious Freedom

Video Interview: Black, Christian, Lesbian

Interview With Bible Scholar: Has "Homosexual" Always Been in the Bible?

Queer Theology

LGBTQ Faith Leaders to Watch

Dear Phobic Christians: Leave LGBTQ People Alone

Christian Parents, If Your Child Comes Out to You Here Are 5 Ways to Blow it

God Updates Mankind on Pronoun Usage

C Michael Patton: How Jesus Would Act in a Gay Bar?

Reverend Valerie Spencer: The Divinity of Transness

Coming Out to My Conservative Christian Family

How I Reconcile Being a Gay Catholic

Bible Verses Homophobes Disregard

Reverend Valerie Spencer Sees The Divinity of Transness
Video: Gay Man Reconciles His Spirituality With His Sexuality

Savage and Insensitive Church Language Must End

Pope Endorses Same-Sex Civil Unions
 

"It's funny, isn't it?  You can preach a judgmental, vengeful, angry god, and nobody will mind. But, if you start preaching a god that is too accepting, too loving, too forgiving, too merciful, too kind, then you're in trouble."

-Bishop Gene Robinson

Gene Robinson was the first openly gay bishop in the US Episcopal Church. His ordination as a bishop of the New Hampshire diocese in 2003 divided the global Anglican community. In the US, hundreds of parishes broke away from the Episcopal Church (the US branch of Anglicanism) in protest, forming a new Anglican Church in North America. Bishop Gene Robinson became a symbol of the LGBTQ rights movement and an advocate for equal marriage.

Gene Robinson was born in 1947 in Lexington, Kentucky. As a schoolboy, he began to realize that he might be different.  He suspected he was gay but said it was not something to be open about. Bishop Robinson says he had relationships with women but admitted that he was also attracted to men.

Wikipedia: Gene Robinson

YouTube: First Openly Gay Bishop in Episcopal Church

BBC: Profile of Gene Robinson

[Source: John Pavolovitz]
 

Ethnic and Religious Perspectives

African American/Black
Hispanic/Latino

Pro-Life Christians Killing LGBTQ Teenagers

Joe and Terry go to the same church. It was my church once, too.

Joe is a pro-life Christian—at least that’s what he would tell you. That’s what his Twitter bio and bumper sticker both say. In Joe’s head, he is a fierce lover of life.

Terry is a gay college student. Being in college is new for him—being gay isn’t. He’s always been gay, something he realized in middle school. Terry is fully alive, though he doesn’t feel quite that way in Joe’s presence. In fact he usually feels rather worthless.

Joe spends a great deal of time talking about embryos on social media; about the sanctity of the life within them, about their priceless intrinsic worth, about the sin of those who would disrespect that precious, God-initiated life. Joe also regularly shares self-righteous religious think pieces and self-assured Facebook posts about why people like Terry are confused, why they are unnatural, why they just need Jesus to be fixed.

Terry already has Jesus.

Pope Francis Tells Parents to Support Their Queer Children
First Out Trans Bishop Installed by Lutheran Denomination
Supporters Push for Gay Priest Who Died on 9-11 to Be Made a Saint
Megan Rohrer Elected As 1st Openly Transgender Bishop In US Lutheran Church
Unity Village: Experience the Spiritual Side of LGBTQ Pride
Guilty as Charged: Southern Baptist Pastor Welcomes LGBTQ Members

For his entire two-decade life he’s been both gay and Christian—and for his entire two-decade life he’s had to hear from people like Joe, why he can’t possibly be both. He’s been bullied and diminished and relentlessly bruised by professed lovers of life like Joe—often until he feels like he doesn’t want to live.

There are reasons why the suicide rate of LGBTQ youth is several times higher that of cis-hetero teenagers. Chief among those reasons, is professed pro-life Christians like Joe who can’t seem to find the sanctity in their lives, people of Jesus who respond to their existence with violence—who offer them no spirited protection, no passionate defense, no effusive words about being fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image. These young people daily bear the incredible weight that the Joes of the world heap upon their tiny shoulders, until they can no longer endure it.

I remember when Terry came out to me in seventh grade; how his lip quivered and his voice trembled, and most of all how worried he was to tell his parents who were pillars in our Pennsylvania church and good friends with Joe. It makes me sad to see that nearly a decade later Terry is still in the closet, though his family has known since the week he shared his truth with me. I see that Terry’s parents are still pillars in their church and that they still spend a lot of time with Joe. They still like Joe’s think pieces and Facebook posts—and I imagine the fresh wounds this inflicts for Terry and wonder if they understand the incredible damage they’re doing.

Vatican Says Catholic Church Won't Bless Same Sex Unions

When Christian parents choose their fears or their standing in the church before their children, it grieves me. I think it grieves Jesus.

When religious people claiming to be pro-life show such contempt for living, breathing, loving, creative, intelligent men and women—it infuriates me. Jesus said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them.” I think this hinderance infuriates him too.

I imagine Joe doesn’t see the inconsistency of his pro-life position. He likely sees none of the hypocrisy that Terry sees. I often wonder if Joe knew which of the embryos in his think pieces and Facebook posts would one day come out in middle school, if he would still defend those as boldly as he does when they are simply an abstract idea. I’m guessing not. Terry can probably verify this.

I wish more pro-life Christians could manufacture the slightest bit of reverence for the sanctity of LGBTQ lives; that they could muster a fraction of the compassion they so readily wield for what they claim God makes and breathes life into.

I wish people like Joe would passionately protect people like Terry instead of regularly injuring them. I’d find their declaration as lovers of “life” to be more believable, more commendable—and more life-affirming. I’d like to see them as eager to march in Pride parades as they are to protest clinics.

Pro-Life Christians Killing LGBTQ Teenagers
No, Being Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or Transgender is Not a Sin
Guilty as Charged: Southern Baptist Pastor Welcomes LGBTQ Members
Open Letter to a Transgender Young Person

Evangelicals Made a Bad Bargain With Trump

Why Evangelicals Should Care About Trump's Lies (And Other Sins)

If you identify as a pro-life Christian and you find condemnation for LGBTQ easy to dispense, I’d ask you to consider the lives on the other side of that finger wagging, Bible Thumping, and lazy exegesis—lives like Terry’s.

If you identify as LGBTQ and you aren’t celebrated in your Christian home or family or church, I want you to know that I and many others celebrate you. I want you to know that we see the sanctity in your life and that we will defend it.

To all the Terrys out there enduring the cruelty of Christians: be encouraged and know that you are loved.

[Source: John Pavlovitz, October 2017]