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

By Peter Montgomery

…e legislature. President Michelle Bachelet supports the civil unions bill. Australia: Church Camp Loses Appeal Over Anti-Gay Discrimination A Christian organization that runs youth camps in Australia this week lost an appeal of an earlier court ruling that it had committed discrimination when it refused in 2007 to rent its facilities to WayOut, a suicide prevention program that works with LGBT youth. The camp organization refused the booking becau…

Prosperity Gospel Is Not the Only Problem with Joel Osteen’s Harvey Response

By Brie Loskota and Peter Gudaitis

…ved or Twitter-shamed into action, Lakewood Church put up a page on its website lateMonday to collect donations and seek volunteers for Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational evangelical international relief organization that is a member of VOAD. Lakewood Church tweeted: Coordinating with the city, Lakewood is a collection site for distributing supplies to the Houston area shelters. https://t.co/XxIbYde0L6 — Lakewood Church (@lakewoodch) August 29…

UNESCO on Religion, Culture and SOGI in Asia; Orthodox Family Sues to Stop Cremation of Israeli Trans Woman; Struggles of Iraqi Queer Activists; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…stian communities run by, and for, LGBTI people, while not large, exist in Australia, Hong Kong SAR, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea. Research among ‘same-sex attracted and gender questioning’ (SSAGQ) young Christians in Australia has found changes across time. In recent years, the religious sub-group had higher expectations of how they should be treated, and reported fewer contradictions between their faith and their sexua…

Obama to Cave on Bush Tax Cuts: Letter to the Washingtonians, Chapter 1

By Daniel Schultz

…ould soon be at war. Traffic stopped, there were no planes in the sky, the phone didn’t ring. I supported the war to come, with only the reservation of who held the keys of command. Still, the enemies of the good must be punished, must be denied the safety of even a parched rocky hillside in a poor land. In 2002 and 2003, the grim infection of another war became more and more certain. I did not support this war. It was wrong, and I said so from my…

Racial Justice Will Be Top Priority for New Prez of the United Church of Christ

By Frederick Clarkson

…nsidering new ways of “being church.” His vision is a bold one, but on the phone he quietly shrugs it off, saying it’s just a continuation of the Congregational tradition of more than 400 years. ________________ Frederick Clarkson: In Beyond Resistance you say that we are living in the dawning of a “postmodern” age of Christianity that may last for 500 years. What kind of church do you see emerging? Dorhauer: The first thing I want to say about th…

Why #FreeBritney is an #Exvangelical Cause

By R.L. Stollar

…journalism professor Evelyn McDonnell has observes, “Selling Britney as a virgin…made her a non-participant in the sexual pleasure that was clearly a part of her appeal. From the very beginning of her career, she lacked agency.” Furthermore, Refinery29’s Danielle Campoamor points out, “It was when Britney reclaimed her agency that her image began to crack.” Britney’s image cracked as she exerted agency because her childhood and early adult life w…

UN Human Rights Council Creates LGBT Watchdog; Orthodox Council Affirms Traditional Teaching on Family; Pope Francis Says Church Should Apologize to Gays; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…s spoke with Raj Islam, Mannan’s nephew and a human rights commissioner in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Hampton Roads Pride presented a scholarship in Mannan’s honor last week. More from Lavers: Mannan and Tonoy are among the growing list of activists, secular academics, writers, bloggers and members of religious minority groups who have been killed by Islamists since early 2015. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government have come u…

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

…l” issue and one “on which decent people can differ.” He has proposed that Australian voters decide the issue directly, in a referendum or a nonbinding plebiscite. He has been vague about how such a vote would be conducted, but he said that it would probably be held after the next elections. Meanwhile, a new TV ad by the anti-equality Marriage Alliance, “claims that allowing same-sex marriage will lead to an increase in drug addicts, rapist and su…

Conservative French Catholics a ‘Rightwing Patriarchal Bunch’?; Indonesian Prez Decries Anti-LGBT Discrimination; Romanian Prez Warns Against ‘Religious Fanaticism’; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…lly to people whose convictions had involved underage or nonconsexual sex. Australia: First gay Aboriginal parliamentarian makes pitch for marriage equality Chansey Paech, described as Australia’s first openly gay Aboriginal politician, used his maiden speech in the Northern Territory parliament to make a pitch for marriage equality. Voters had rejected opponents’ efforts to smear him based on his sexuality. From BuzzFeed’s report: “I am young, I…

Country of Georgia Considers Constitutional Marriage Ban; Hindu Nationalist Leader Surprises India With Call to Decriminalize Homosexuality; No End to Anti-LGBT Propaganda Campaign in Indonesia; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…since a group of Dominican evangelicals posted it to the White House’s website last week. A group of Catholic bishops in the Dominican Republic on Monday urged the country’s government to formally complain to the U.S. about Brewster’s “conduct” that includes visiting schools and attending public events with his husband, Bob Satawake. National Security Advisor Susan Rice last week reiterated the Obama administration’s support of Brewster. A group…