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Even Amid Controversy, ‘My Soul Still Sings,’ Says UMC’s First Lesbian Bishop

By Sunnivie Brydum

…ard for the episcopacy in June 2016, they awoke to news of the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, where 49 mostly LGBTQ Latinx people were murdered. That “confirmed the need” for Oliveto’s voice in the upper eschelons of church leadership, she explained. “Too often, LGBTQ people and queer folk are talked about, instead of talked with,” Oliveto said. “And lives are turned into issues. And when we turn anyone into an issue, it makes it easier to…

Not All Muslims Are Terrorists, But All Terrorists Are Muslim

By Haroon Moghul

…just mainstream: A Muslim did it. After Omar Mateen’s horrific massacre in Orlando, the media piled on. He’d done it in the name of ISIS, which led many commentators to believe that the attack was orchestrated by the extremist group itself, an operation commanded from afar, as have recently struck Europe. Within a day, Donald Trump was gloating—only the Donald would see this as a morally appropriate response to violence—and renewing his call for a…

Mexico’s Religious Conservatives Seek Anti-LGBT Constitutional Amendment, LGBT Activists Defend Secular Government; Cash From Qatar Funds ‘Traditional’ Family Activism Worldwide; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait have all rushed to condemn the crime in Orlando labeling it terrorism while insisting Islam has nothing to do with it,” said a spokesman for Mesahat, an LGBT service organization operating in Egypt and Sudan. “These same governments keep arresting and torturing gay people and are putting them in jail. Meanwhile they are sponsoring a religious discourse that feeds homophobia.” The Quran mentions homosexuality only…

The Islamophobia Election: How “Muslim” Became a Racial Identity

By Michael Schulson

…that racialized component? If we look at the statistics and we look at the numbers, we have more mass shootings in this country than terrorist attacks. The majority of people committing these terrorist attacks are not Muslims. There need to be policies that take into account behavior and political motivation rather than religion or religious identity. Mass shootings are overwhelmingly committed by white men, yet we don’t say, “Well, we need to mon…

Indonesia Allows Abusive Sharia Laws to Stand; Kenyan Priest Joins Challenge to Anti-LGBT Laws; Dominican Republic Bishop Slams ‘Gender Ideology’ at OAS; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…le experience in prison and other detention facilities. In the wake of the Orlando massacre, the Journal of Human Rights special 2014 issue on local resistance to LGBT rights is being made available by its publisher free of charge for the next several weeks. Middle East: Twitter trolls reporting ‘atheist’ and LGBT girls and women to authorities The Daily Beast’s Ben Collins reports, “A band of Twitter trolls alleging to be from the Middle East spe…

A Solstice Devotional for the Faithless in Trump’s America

By Sunnivie Brydum

…that, in all honesty, I will never know. I saw the light of compassion in Orlando, after the Pulse massacre, when a fast-food worker kept a Subway shop open for two days straight to house small-media journalists. She teared up when, after apologizing for needing to close the restaurant for 30 minutes to clean, she got a standing ovation. I see it in the water protectors at Standing Rock, who have met brutal force with peaceful, steadfast prayer….

The Religious “Right” to Denounce Homosexuality

By Sarah Posner

…environment around 2005, when there was a highly noticeable uptick in the number of services, prayer breakfasts, emails from chaplains, displays of crosses, and other evangelical activity that struck her as “excessive.” But what bothered Major Williams most was the Strong Bonds program, which she attended at an Orlando hotel in January 2008. Included in the Strong Bonds conference tote bag was a camouflage box with a New Life Ministries inscripti…

At National Prayer B’fast Obama Defends His Faith… Again

By Daniel Schultz

…skepticism at that point,” said Hunter, who leads an evangelical church in Orlando. “All of us ought to be able to say who we are and taken for our word. It’s frustrating because he still has some people questioning his faith.” This is curious, since Obama has said again and again that he is a Christian. But more to my suggestion, there aren’t “some people questioning the president’s faith,” there are some people lying about it. It is a fraud to p…

Opponent of LGBT Equality Lauded for His Great Courage

By Candace Chellew-Hodge

…s of people. Oh, my—those vicious lions! Trying keep homophobia off their iPhones! Here’s a thought: Perhaps the lions wouldn’t be so testy if they didn’t have to justify their very existence. Perhaps the lions would be more willing to lie down with the lamb (or the “Daniel”) if the lions weren’t being continually tossed into the political ring for a blood sport sideshow over their “right” to exist. Of course, the article is quick to point out tha…

Egypt Goes After Gays to Silence Islamist Critics; South Africa’s ‘Open Mosque’ is Closed; Global LGBT Recap

By Peter Montgomery

…ders of culture war activism, including anti-gay work abroad, will meet in Orlando at The Gathering, an invitation-only event for the leaders of deep-pocket evangelical foundations. Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights President Kerry Kennedy spoke with the Washington Blade this week about the “global problem” of anti-LGBT legislation. “It’s really important to recognize that this is not just an Africa problem,” said Kerry Kennedy…