The polarization we see in society is also reflected in the Church.

President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act at a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. The new law creates federal protections for both same-sex and interracial marriages, effectively guarding these rights against the possibility of the Supreme Court overturning the rulings that previously granted them.

Christmas is a season of lights... And a season to become enlightened…. To notice and amplify the light that shines within us all, revealing inner wisdom and guidance for our lives. 

On June 12 was Boston Pop-Up Pride, to the surprise and joy of the throngs of revelers who gathered on Boston Common. When Boston Pride was dismantled last July, a coalition of LGBTQ+ community activists and groups stepped up and got busy.

Bean was the first black openly gay gospel singer to join Motown. However, his time at Motown was short-lived when he refused to croon heterosexual love songs. Bean eventually left Motown in the 1980s, abandoning his singing career. 

Pope Francis has expressed support for civil unions in the Catholic Church. Once again, the pontiff has sent shockwaves across the globe to 1.3 billion of his followers with another LGBTQ- affirming statement. However, this one might very well create talks of a schism in the Catholic Church, as we have seen in Protestant ones.

Be part of the change our country needs by voting to protect the rights of all.

The Supreme Court's decision allowing the transgender military ban to go into effect is another reminder that the transgender community is under attack by the current administration. They are being painted as dangerous deviants whose very existence threatens our nation.

The coronavirus, the virus that causes the deadly illness called COVID-19, eerily reminds me of when I started as a young minister during the AIDS crisis. The enormity of the pain, grief and anxiety expressed by mourners and the volume of deaths reminds me of those early years.

I think all of these [Christian rock stars] who find the courage to share their truth make a huge impact, and if everyone in contemporary Christian music and the church was honest about their own truth, their own questions, and their own beliefs, I think we would progress a lot quicker. 

The Unity Flag was first flown by College Park Baptist Church at the FaithAction Unity Walk in Greensboro, NC on August 5, 2017 and symbolizes a commitment to basic human and civil rights for all people.

One of the struggles many millennials have with organized religion in general is the inability of the older generations to adapt, change, or entertain new ideas and new ways of thinking. This is an issue each generation bumps up against, but this generation and this subject don’t seem to be finding a middle ground.

Early Sunday morning before Christmas I learned that my first long term partner had died. It took me by surprise and grabbed me in the gut. I wanted to talk to somebody about it, but I didn’t think anyone could understand. So I’m talking about it with you, the reader of this blog.

Free speech is one of the cornerstones of American Democracy. However, what are the boundaries of free speech? In the current political milieu, the protection of free speech appears to have an amorphous and wide expanse when it comes to sexist, racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, and xenophobic rants on many social media platforms and college campuses.

So let’s start with listing the reasons why LGBTQ+ individuals might not want to go to church at all.

Did you watch Tuesday night’s Democratic debate? The race to the White House for Democrats is an exhausting one, and I’m simply watching the battle on television. 

Last week, a CNN editor reached out to me and asked if I would write a piece for them regarding the crowd at President Trump’s rally in Greenville, North Carolina, that shouted “Send her back!” in response to his criticism of four Congresswomen. The editor wanted me to reflect on how Christians could justify chanting such a thing. 

June is LGBTQ Pride month, so there’s no better time to think and talk about the relationship between churches and the LGBTQ community. It’s a great time for church leaders and members to take a hard look at their treatment of marginalized peoples and work toward creating an accepting and supportive environment for all, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity.

Lonely Mystic: A New Portrait of Henri J. M. Nouwen is the most intimate glimpse of Henri yet, if that’s even possible, given his intimate self-portrayals in almost every one of his own books. It may make those who want to see Henri canonized squirm a little, though not because of any illicit affairs or theological heresies or tasteless behavior. He was the consummate “best little boy in the world” that every gay boy and man wants to be, but his calling to a celibate vocation kept him lonely and needy and sometimes, broken.

As a 7 year old, I  was usually allowed to dress myself.  So I chose to run around with my hair in Jerhi curls, frayed blue jeans and a t-shirt. To the world, I looked like a girl, but in my heart, I was planning on growing up to be a man.This was long before I discovered the word transgender.

I've never been one of your number, though I've always been a fan. I grew up Pentecostal (among other things), where we found your personal and social holiness traditions to be fertile soil to grow our experiences of the Spirit stirring in our midst.

For decades there has been an ongoing struggle in the United Methodist Church (UMC) to adopt a policy of full inclusion of its LGBTQ parishioners and clergy and all the spiritual gifts we bring to the church. However, UMC voted at General Conference last month to uphold - 53% to 47% - its Traditionalist Plan, which is to oppose same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. Now the church has the potential for a schism with its global delegation outweighing the U.S

Both my sexuality and my spirituality conspired to persuade me that embodiment is good, a sacred trust, a holy way of being. My sexuality impelled me to love another intimately, physically, even worshipfully at its better moments. My spirituality, being incarnational, inspired me to love others personally and politically, wishing them shalom: health, well-being, justice, equality, peace.

Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision allowing the transgender military ban to go into effect is another reminder that the transgender community is under attack by the current administration. They are being painted as dangerous deviants whose very existence threatens our nation.

You say you won’t serve a woman who is outsides God’s definition of marriage. It is sin. So, I ask is your plan to provide services only to those without sin in their lives? Will you turn away those who are divorced? Surely, their sin is equal to hers. What about those who harbor resentment to a family member? Will you screen them out as well?

The Parliament of the World's Religions is proud to distribute It's About Time, a weekly podcast produced in partnership with our allies at Religica.org and Seattle University.

Transgender people are in every facet of life- even prison. Too often, however, because of physical and sexual assaults, and being housed in facilities according to their birth sex and not their gender identity, these inmates are not only serving time for their crimes, but they are also trying to survive their time while imprisoned.

While I will continue to argue that the African American community doesn’t have a patent on homophobia, it does however, have a problem with it. And comedian Kevin Hart is another glaring example of the malady.

verything is interrelated, and dynamic, in ceaseless change, and anything that seems unchanging is illusory. Those of us who are “good, civil and kind” must lean in to change history’s trajectory. God’s kingdom come!

I was in a debate recently with some friends about the NFL protests over police brutality. Some folks were saying there are no structural injustices in the police force. Rather, they argued there are some isolated "bad apples" who do bad things. The incidents may be bad, but the number of them is not statistically large when you look at a nation of 300 million (I'm paraphrasing a bit here). Numbers can be funny. You can get them to say all sorts of things.