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The New Ground Zero on LGBT Rights and Religion

By Sarah Posner

…views that would never be tolerated for a moment if expressed by a public official. Cochran’s defenders are trying to blur the line between his right to hold private views and his duties as a public official, to make his private beliefs, publicly expressed, absolutely protected regardless of their context or impact. It’s that line — not the right to marry, or the right to speak, or the right to practice religion — between the private and the work…

International ‘Pro-Family’ Summit Calls for New Anti-Gay Laws: Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ans people in the South American country to legally change their gender on official documents without surgery and an affidavit from a doctor or another medical provider. A bill that would allow trans Chileans to legally change their name and sex without sex reassignment surgery advanced in the country’s Senate earlier this year. Cuba in 2008 began offering free sex reassignment surgeries to trans Cubans under the country’s national health care sys…

Why is Liberty Institute Still Defending Phillip Monk?

By Rob Shryock

…the claim that this evidence is “totally at odds with the Air Force’s new official explanation” willfully misleading. From the beginning, the Air Force claimed they moved up Monk’s redeployment when his replacement arrived early, making Monk’s continued presence in his old unit unnecessary and redundant, whereas he was needed in his new unit. Monk has, to the best of my knowledge, not responded to this charge. It’s apparent here just how weak The…

Gambian Prez Rails Against Gay ‘Evil Empire’; Irish Priest Comes Out During Mass; Trans Talk on Tunisian TV Sparks Debate; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ing that it would be, “In order to cleanse society.” Mexico: Mexicali City Officials Continue to Resist Marriage Equality Last weekend officials in the city of Mexicali continued their refusal to marry Víctor Aguirre Espinoza and Fernando Urias Amparo in spite of an order by Mexico’s Supreme Court more than six months ago that the men could marry. The couple had previously been denied based on claims of incomplete paperwork. This time, the excuse…

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

…saying that an appointment is confirmed when the name is published in the official bulletin of the Holy See. It is extremely rare for the Pope to get directly involved the naming of ambassadors. Earlier this month the French Catholic daily La Croix cited an unnamed source as saying the Vatican considered it a “provocation” that France’s Socialist government, which in 2013 legalized gay marriages, had proposed a homosexual for the post. The Guardi…

Death Couture: Not For Halloween Only

By Stephen Andes

…divine presence inhabits the physical world via material objects. Although official Church teaching mandates a separation between sign (i.e. icons, etc.) and signified (i.e. the divine presence), in practice the two often merge. Both Roman Catholic modernizers and Protestant iconoclasts have for the last four hundred years tried to stress the transcendence of God’s presence—the absolute separation between the material and spiritual in the here and…

Women Have Abortions Whatever Their Religion

By Dennis S. Ross

…does what she believes she should, regardless of what any pastor, elected official, or radio talk show host thinks. The woman determines and shapes her destiny; and, in another surprise to many, she may in fact have the support of her clergy. Religious leaders approach abortion in different ways. First are clergy, including myself and others from a wide array of denominations (Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians, Presbyterians, Lutherans, as well…

Falwell’s University Drops Campus Democrats Because of Abortion Views

By Carlton Veazey

…ause the Democratic Party is pro-choice – and that position conflicts with official Liberty policy. At issue: how we deal with controversy and conflict in a democratic society. Notre Dame opted for tolerance and respect, although to be honest they hope that their side will come out looking better and having more influence. Liberty, however, stood resolutely by its guns, saying, in effect, you can’t be a standard Democrat (meaning a Democrat who su…

Why Even Progressive Christianity Must Own Its Complicity in Anti-LGBT Violence

By Layton E. Williams

…list referenced above reveals, too often Christian churches choose to be unofficially or quietly welcoming of LGBT people without vocally or officially offering affirming theology and polity. The painful reality of our time is that, to whatever extent we are not vocally affirming that LGBT people are beloved nor explicitly countering claims that queerness is sinful, we are allowing Christian homophobia to persist. Holocaust survivor and author Eli…

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

…ice arrest pride participants; parade cancelled under mob threat from govt official Organizers cancelled Saturday’s pride parade “after a tense meeting between a senior government official and one of Uganda’s top human rights lawyers,” reports BuzzFeed’s Lester Feder. The government’s Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo reportedly threatened to mobilize a mob if the event went forward. Earlier in the week police raided a gay pride event taking place at a…