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Mormon Women Knock at the Door, Are Turned Away

By Holly Welker

…ed to the Tabernacle on Temple Square to wait in the stand-by line for last-minute tickets. Instead they were met by church spokesperson Ruth Todd, who said, “This is no surprise to you, that we won’t be able to offer you a ticket or a place.” Then, as men and boys strode past them into the Tabernacle where they awaited the opportunity to move to the Conference Center where the session would take place, members of Ordain Women lined up individual…

Pope Praises ‘Complementarity’ & Resists Gay Ambassador; Irish Religious Leaders Spar Over Marriage; Colombian Atty Gen Cites ‘Bogus’ Study Opposing Adoption; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…uples. Kazakhstan: Amnesty International urging president to reject Russian-style anti-gay law Amnesty International has called on President Nursultan Nazarbayev to reject a Russian-style “Law on the Protection of Children from Information Harming their Health and Development.” From AI: With its large ethnic Russian population dating to its history as a Soviet republic and as a core member of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union, Kazakhstan’s po…

Women and Children First: Syria’s Day of Dignity

By Mohja Kahf

…ces and bodies that we see, their brave sacrifice. The courage of most post-March 18 women protesters—and they are certainly there—is only beginning to surface in footage. That absence caused many to wonder, “where are the Syrian women?” Yet the courage of the Women of March 16 is one key reason for that surge on Dignity Friday. The Kurds of the north have also been playing a role all along, at the front of fearlessness, priming the masses for spe…

The Contested Religious Powers of Baseball on Display in Cuba

By Sean O'Neil

…ry that supposedly fosters a very different way of life? Chris Archer, a 28-year-old pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, and most voluble spokesman for this round of baseball diplomacy, was optimistic: Hopefully, the Rays are showing the people of Cuba, the government of Cuba, what can be, for lack of a better term, afforded to them if they do open their doors and start being a little more open-minded about their policies. The idea of baseball as a po…

Malta Adopts Marriage Equality Over Objections of Catholics and Evangelicals; And More in Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…cher at a religious think tank who calls Protestant churches “the most well-connected and well-financed lobby machine in this nation”: Many South Korean churches took their cues from evangelical US megachurches that since the 1980s have expanded their influence through campaigns against abortion and homosexuality, Kim said. South Korea is also home to many megachurches, including the world’s largest congregation of nearly 800,000. But their reputa…

Paranormal Vodka, Exorcists and a Demonic Doll: Welcome to Paracon, Based on the Work of the Demon-Hunters Who Inspired the ‘Conjuring’ Series

By Eric Harrelson and Joseph P. Laycock

…the billion-dollar Conjuring series of films. Put on by Tony Spera, the son-in-law of Ed and Lorraine and current head of NESPR, the Paracon boasts the chance to see real haunted artifacts straight from the Warren’s now-closed Occult Museum. Joe and I jumped at the opportunity. We enter the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, and follow the staggeringly long line as it snakes out the doors, into the Casino, past restaurants, conference…

Mormons Prepare to March in LGBT Pride Parades Nationwide

By Joanna Brooks

…bout all the love I’ve been taught my whole life?” For example, my eighteen-year-old son received a phone call from the bishop for an interview to set him on the road to preparing for his missionary service. So we are in the hall, and I’m telling him, “You need to call the bishop.” My son looks at me and says, “Mom, I can’t do this.” We talked over many things he was concerned about. One of them was that he has an openly gay teacher who, he told m…

Spiritual Unplugging, Or What to Do When There is Wifi at the Ashram

By Matt Hamilton

…(and craving) swift condemnation by the monks and nuns at the sight of an iPhone. I was on a university-sponsored trip to the subcontinent with other journalists, all of us covering politics and religion. The reporting would come later, however. First came three days in an ashram, and I hoped for a 72-hour hiatus from the compulsion to connect. But this ashram sold wifi. Monks rested their keys and cellphones on the table during meals. And during…

Pop-Culture Angels Are More Than Just Embarrassing Kitsch

By Ed Simon

…the popularity of these tabloids can be directly attributed to their tongue-in-cheek entertainment value. Touched by an angel — every Sunday At the beginning of the period of prestige TV known as the “Third Golden Age of Television,” when David Lynch was directing Twin Peaks and David Chase was just launching The Sopranos, one of the most popular shows—albeit incredibly distant from being critically acclaimed—was a hokey, family friendly fantasy…

Mexican Marriage Marches Show Struggle Between Church and Secular State; Pro-LGBT Mormon Group Grows After ‘Apostate’ Declaration; Botswana Gives Anti-Gay US Pastor the Boot; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…to the one that befit their gender identity. A law guaranteeing basic rights for all people is sorely needed. Sadly, the gender equality bill released last year didn’t quite deliver its promised equality. China: Man challenges ‘cure therapy’ he was subjected to A 32-year-old man is suing a mental hospital that held him against his will and subjected him to therapies designed to “cure” his homosexuality. Myanmar: Interview with an LGBT equality adv…