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Trans Protections in India and Malta; Death-by-Stoning Law in Brunei; Church-State Divides on Marriage

By Peter Montgomery

…hate it because Allah hates it.” Scotland: Congregations Leaving Church of Scotland Over Moves Toward Gay Inclusion The Church of Scotland voted last May to allow gay men and women to be ordained; legislation will be drafted this year and go to regional presbyteries before returning for final approval in 2015. But according to Pink News, some churches are quitting the denomination before next month’s General Assembly meeting. Two Edinburgh congreg…

Pope Denounces Gender Colonization; Indonesian Court Considers Islamist Request To Criminalize Homosexuality; Egypt’s Grand Mufti Says No One Has Right to Harm Homosexuals; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…crimination, bullying and homophobia,” reports Hannah Rodger at the Herald Scotland. The campaign for LGBTI education in Scottish schools – by the lobby group Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) – has sparked a mini culture war in Scotland which has played out in the pages of the Sunday Herald over recent weeks, with some religious figures vociferously opposed to the move… The SNP [Scottish National Party] MP Mhairi Black said she never had to come…

Competing Visions of Family & Freedom at UN; Methodists Try to Avoid Schism on Sexuality; Catholic Cardinal Denounces LGBT ‘Demonic Ideology’; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…measure and protested outside the legislative session. Scotland: Church of Scotland allows ministers to be in marriage with same-sex partner In a compromise, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted his week to maintain its position that marriage is between a man and a woman, but also to allow congregations who feel differently to appoint a minister who is in a marriage with someone of the same sex. Italy: Civil unions signed into law,…

Corporations Have Consciences and Contraceptives Are Cheap: Hobby Lobby at the Supreme Court

By Sarah Posner

At oral argument in Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties, Inc. v. Sebelius this morning, the Supreme Court justices spent a great deal of time questioning the lawyers in the case about whether corporations have a religious conscience, and whether Congress intended to protect it when enacting the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). What was most striking, though, was how all three female justices, Sonia So…

Global LGBT Recap: Nigeria Jails Gays, Russian Orthodox Spox Calls for Criminalization Referendum

By Peter Montgomery

…sion talking about the LGBT people being less than human. For example, the number two person in the state broadcasting company – actually now he’s the number one person – hosted a show devoted to the question of whether it was enough to protect our children to ban homosexual propaganda or whether more needed to be done. He argued that more needed to be done. He said and we need to outlaw blood and sperm donations by them. And if they die in car ac…

Mormons Declare Same-Sex Marriage Apostasy, Deny Baptism to Children of Same-Sex Couples; Colombian Court OKs Adoption Over Church Objections; Franklin Graham Praises Putin’s Anti-Gay Policies; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ming Out Ruth Davidson, a lesbian and Scottish Tory leader, told BBC Radio Scotland that she had struggled with her sexuality for years before coming out. From Pink News: “But there comes a point at which you make a decision and that decision is either that you’re going to live a lie for the rest of your life, or you’re going to trust yourself, and that’s what I had to do.” She went on to talk about how her Church of Scotland upbringing and her fa…

Clash of the (Scottish Islamic) Tartans

By Amanullah De Sondy

…sulted Islamic scholars to bring together the ‘civilizations’ of Islam and Scotland. The Scottish Islamic tartan has also been endorsed by the Sunni-oriented Muslim Council of Scotland. I have been left scratching my head. Which Islam does this tartan represent? Is it a Sunni Islamic tartan? Does it represent other denominations, such as the Ahmadiyyas or the variety of Shi’ia colors? If this tartan is to strengthen diaspora Muslim identity then w…

Challenge to ‘un-Africanness’ of homosexuality; LGBT Catholics in Africa face church cooperation with persecution; lesbian cartoon project debuts in bangladesh under shadow of violence; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…rk in what Pink News called “the first awards of its kind to take place in Scotland. Sturgeon said she is proud to have advanced LGBT equality in Scotland but cited a recent survey on discrimination and prejudice as evidence that more work is needed. “We’ve got to keep the pressure on, those of us who believe in equality as a fundamental human right – we have to continue to make that case.” “I’m optimistic – we should never underestimate that chal…

Invited by Allah

By Amina Wadud

…to me it would be a very easy to make hajj from there. I bought an airline ticket and was in contact with the family of one of my graduate school friends. They would pick me up from the airport and host me during my stay and the days of ritual. Nice plan. So I went to the embassy to get the visa and was denied because (as an American) I needed proof that I was Muslim. How do I prove I have been a practicing Muslim for a decade? I went to the famou…

Modernity’s Fraternity: What Dan Brown Gets Right

By Samuel Biagetti

…the world of the Bible. Later, in the seventeenth century, particularly in Scotland, the organization began to expand beyond its medieval foundation. Men who were not actually stonemasons, including other artisans, affluent gentlemen, and those with philosophical and scientific interests, started to join the lodges, drawn by their social conviviality and their traditions of ritual and secrecy. This custom of including non-stonemasons in the lodges…