Religion Dispatches
…r my mother, who six months ago survived the latest in a harrowing series of medical ordeals. With that little bit of prayerful business out of the way, I turned from the ecstatic mob of Santiago-rushing crentes and walked down the darkened block, gripping my scuffed iPhone and returning to my real life, a reality somehow made newer….
Read More…prived of what a man and woman can give to children in a stable marriage.” Chile: Son of Former Interior Minister on Being Gay and Jewish Raimundo Hinspeter, the son of a former Minister of the Interior, published a reflection in the Jewish Journal on being gay in a religious Jewish school and community in Chile. “It is not easy being Jewish or gay, nowhere in this wicked world,” he writes, much less in a country where “discrimination is formally…
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…y left the airport and began marching a mile to the headquarters of Alaska Airlines. I think the photo does a great job of embodying the energy of the budding movement—clergy and workers from a diversity of backgrounds and faiths. To me, the picture reinforces a key argument of the book: this is a moral fight. For nine months leading up to the rally, organizers had been meeting people at the airport and in the community, coaxing them to take on an…
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…ust be made to enforce it. In the April 2007 priesthood session, a musical number was provided by a men’s chorus. The chorus was selected and trained by Brigham Young University professor Rosalind Hall, who also chose the music for the choir—but Hall was not allowed to attend the performance; instead, she was replaced by a male colleague, Ronald Staheli, for that one event. In fact, Hall was not even allowed to be in the conference hall to hear he…
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…ortion. Both initiatives are strongly opposed by the Catholic Church and a number of news sites drew attention to the camera’s focus on the sour face of Santiago’s Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati when Bachelet mentioned them. Russia: French president pushes Putin on abuse of Chechen gays French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russia’s Vladimir Putin to ensure the safety of LGBT people in Chechnya, where gay men have been subjected to a campaign of deten…
Read More…ore refused to discontinue a promotion which offers its customers discount tickets to a Christian magic show produced by Lawrence Khong, the anti-gay pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church: Mr Khong has claimed that gay people have “a shorter lifespan, more sexually transmitted infections and more health problems than the general population” and has warned of a “looming threat” of “homosexual activists” trying to repeal sodomy laws. Many custome…
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…oommate over a period of months in 1970. Although I can’t find an official number, a casino employee tells us over 5,000 tickets have been sold; 5,000 pilgrims who’ve made the trek from around the country to pay their respects to Annabelle, and are willing to wait hours to do so. On the convention floor, an eclectic group of vendors hocks their wares, from Ouija boards and books about ghost hunting to bath bombs shaped like horror movie icons. The…
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…self-interrogation boiled, my hand extended to the right. I reached for my phone, but I found nothing. At first I laughed at my instinct, my muscle memory. The phone, with its glowing screen, gave me solace and control. But I was tied to my cushion for another hour, and in this ashram for another day, so email would have to wait. I panicked. My heart raced. Would my editor be asking for me? Would a reply from that politician’s secretary sit unansw…
Read More…for LGBT equality in the islands, turned one year old on Valentine’s Day. Chile: Government abandoning opposition to marriage equality The Washington Blade reports that the Chilean government has met to finalize a settlement agreement with an LGBT advocacy group in a lawsuit filed with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation in a press release it posted to its website said the governme…
Read More…ation office legal documents verifying their marriages in other countries. Chile: Court Will Hear Marriage Equality Case The Court of Appeals of Santiago has agreed to consider a marriage equality case brought by gay-rights advocates on behalf of two men who have been in a relationship for 16 years. Bermuda: Government Plans Referendum on Marriage Equality and Civil Unions Government officials announced this week that legislation will be introduce…
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