Religious Left

The Cathedral of Hope will observe the 40th anniversary of the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr . by welcoming the Rev. Zan Holmes to its pulpit on Sunday (April 6) at the 9 and 11 a.m. services. Holmes is pastor emeritus of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas, where he served as senior pastor for 28 years. He taught preaching at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University for 24 years, and served four years in the Texas House of Representatives, beginning in 1969. full article

I wonder if the 20th Century will be remembered as the century of genocide. The power of ideology to move one group to think that they can somehow cleanse the population of some kind of perceived impurity motivated the Turks to kill Armenians, the Nazis to kill millions of Jews, Poles, Gypsies, disabled and GLBTQ folks, and the Khmer Rouge to kill millions in Cambodia. All believed they were doing their society a favor by eliminating undesirable people, thinking they could somehow construct a better society. They practiced killing with an ideological purpose whereas in the past, the killing was more indiscriminate and practical. Submit to my power or I’ll wipe you out said Genghis Khan. Send me tribute. I don’t care what you think but I do care about the wealth you’ll be generating for me. The more contemporary version isn’t economically driven but motivated by a (flawed) vision of a good society. I was reminded of this by watching the obituary of Dith Pran on the New York Time

Many evangelicals speak about gays and lesbians as if they are not present in church or ministry gatherings. The important fact is this: There are no places in evangelicalism–whether over coffee in a university setting or in church in a small southern town–where we can afford to act or speak as if homosexuals are not present. They are, and most of us know this. So we cannot speak and act as if homosexuals aren’t there. Despite the fact that no intelligent person would make the case that heterosexuality is entirely chosen, it is common to say this about homosexuality. The fact is that human sexual attraction is a highly complex mixture of factors and no one, most certainly not a preacher, is going to make authoritative pronouncements on why someone is attracted to the same gender in any situation. A few months before he died, Christian writer Henri Nouwen stated that he was homosexual in orientation, but had always lived in chastity. This honest admission certainly caused some Christian

Because I hold a tenured professorship in Christian ethics at Mercer University, I am one of those rare souls who can talk candidly about this hot-button issue. And these days I’m finding it hard to avoid the nagging and unsought conviction that this freedom now demands responsible exercise. Methodology is everything. Starting points are everything. Glen Stassen and I wrote a widely read book in which we argued that truly Christian ethics focuses relentlessly on Jesus Christ. It starts there, it dwells there, it ends there. All statements about Christian morality -- all statements about anything -- must fit with the Jesus we meet in the Gospels. Jesus is where God meets the world, and thus where any who bear his name must meet the world as well. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves. He defined neighbors to include everyone. Absolutely everyone. He sharpened that definition by calling us to attend to those regarded as the last, the least and the lost. The most rejected, th

As many are already aware US gay couple Brendan Fay and Tom Moulton are in Warsaw. Warsaw - Polish intellectuals publicly apologized Friday to a gay US couple for being offended by the anti-gay propaganda of Polish President Lech Kaczynski. Kaczynski on March 17 used images of the wedding of Brendan Fay and Thomas A. Moulton, a gay couple from New York, in a TV speech warning against gay rights as enshrined in the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights. TVN 24 Polish News has posted a video of the media frenzy that greeted Brendan and Tom upon arrival at Warsaw's airport. Click here to view the video and read the story, in Polish, about the couple's visit. full article

Embattled minister The Rev. Jeremiah Wright made a surprise appearance March 28 at Saint Sabina Church, 1210 W. 78th, to help celebrate poet Dr. Maya Angelou's birthday. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama—who has called Wright his spiritual advisor—has distanced himself from remarks the minister recorded on videotape that some have interpreted as racist and anti-United States. On an episode of the TV show The View that aired earlier that day, Obama said, “Had the Reverend not retired, and, had he not acknowledged that what he had said had deeply offended people, and were inappropriate and mischaracterized what I believe is the greatness of this country, for all its flaws, then I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying there at the church.” full article

By EDDIE FILER First of all, let me say that I’m an agnostic and don’t believe that there is a God who cares whether we’re homosexual or not. If God created homosexuals in his image, then God must be homosexual. I agree that gay people should have all the rights that are afforded heterosexuals. It is against what is right to persecute and make unkind comments about anyone who is different, and homosexuals are different in the way they love a person of the same sex. We would be better off if we could learn how to be accepting of people who are different. Being a non-believer, I don’t believe that there is a God who has a plan for anyone on this Earth. I must accept the theory of evolution, because the religious teachings about God’s plan for Earth doesn’t make any sense. Why would God’s plan have homosexuality, which is not the norm? Why would God’s plan be to have so much hatred and disunity about why we are different? We have come a long way during the last half-century. Gay marriage

Pat Robertson Founder, CEO and Director of the Christian Broadcasting Network 2004 Revenue: $186,482,060 Location: Virginia Beach, Va. Web site: http://www.cbn.com/ “We often hear of the constitutionally mandated ‘separation of church and state.’ Of course, as you know, that phrase appears no where in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights....We do find this phrase in the constitution of another nation, however...that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics—an atheistic nation sworn to the destruction of the United States of America.” “When I said during my presidential bid that I would only bring Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. ‘What do you mean?’ the media challenged me. ‘You’re not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe the Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?’ My simple answer is, ‘Yes, they are.’” “We have a court that has essentially stu

Muslim scholars at a meeting in Jakarta announced on Mar. 27 that homosexuality is natural and part of God’s creation. Within the full context of Islamic teaching, the scholars said, the faith does not reject homosexuality. The scholars said that anti-gay teachings spring not from Islam, but from limited understanding of the teachings of Islam. Though anti-gay clerics frequently cite the Qu’ran in their condemnation of homosexuality, the Jakarta Post article quoted Siti Musdah Mulia as referencing a different passage from the Islamic holy text, al-Hujurat (49:3), which teaches that all people are equal without regard to gender, social status, wealth--or, says Mulia, sexuality. Rido Triawan, head of Arus Pelangi, put forth the notion that cultural acceptance of gays did not clash with Islamic religious tradition, saying, "In fact, Indonesia’s culture has accepted homosexuality." Said Triawan, "The homosexual group in Bugis-Makassar tradition called Bissu is respected and

INDIANA: God does not condemn homosexuality or other alternative lifestyles, a panel of four local religious leaders said at PRIDE’s “Homosexuality and Religion” panel discussion Tuesday in Smythe Lecture Hall. Dianne Oliver, associate professor of religion, chaplain Brian Erickson, Unitarian Universalist minister Carolyn Brown and United Church of Christ pastor Karen Lipinczyk began discussing their denominations’ beliefs concerning gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. Oliver took on the first question regarding the passages in the Bible that discuss homosexuality. Out of 66 books, she said, there are only 7 passages that refer to homosexuality. And all these passages, Erickson said, refer to homosexual acts, not homosexual relationships as we know them today. Brown agreed, and said the people of that period had no conception of a homosexual as our society would define him or her. “They didn’t even have a clue of what a homosexual was in the time that those books were writte

The fight for gay equality continues in the heart of rural America this week, as the Iowa Supreme Court considers a lawsuit brought by six same-sex couples denied marriage licences in the state. Senior attorneys from Lambda Legal, joined by former Iowa solicitor general Dennis Johnson, will argue that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the equal protection and due process guarantees in the state's Constitution. Among those speaking up for marriage equality are two former Iowa Lieutenant Governors, Joy Corning and Sally Pederson. Other supporters include doctors, social workers, scientists, historians and more than 200 clergymen and other faith leaders. Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Professor of Law at the University of Iowa, pointed to Iowa's history of marriage equality: "We look back with pride that Iowa eliminated its ban on interracial marriage 116 years before the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia which struck down such laws around the coun

The national gay & lesbian wedding resource, Rainbow Wedding Network, has announced that the company will be producing its first annual Seattle GLBTQ Wedding & Family Expo. The event will also include the Same Love, Same Rights® Mobile Marriage Summit, a forum in which ideas are collected from all who attend on innovative ways to create mass change in America concerning marriage equality. The Expo will be held at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront on Sunday, April 6, 2008 from 12:30 - 3:30 pm and is free for the public to attend. full article

Homosexuals have a constitutional right to marriage. Though not expressly stated, the First Amendment implies the separation of church and state. This notion is reinforced by a letter written in 1802 by Thomas Jefferson. Since then, it has been the de facto understanding that church and state are two separate entities. Additionally, Article Six establishes the Constitution as the supreme law of the land. This point is important because in justifying the legality of gay marriage, one must first define marriage as a state function and not a religious one. It can be argued that marriage is a state function because it has the power to modify other state functions such as Social Security and tax filing status. Because marriage affects state functions, constitutionally, it too must be a state function for it to legally do so. If not, the government is violating Article Six and is actively discriminating against unmarried citizens. "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment

By Anthony Weiss Atlanta - When Gayanne Geurin Weiss and her husband went looking for an Atlanta synagogue to join, they soon found one that had everything they wanted; it was warm, friendly and spiritual. There was just one catch: It was for gay men and lesbians, and Weiss and her husband are straight. Gay and lesbian synagogues first began to appear in the early 1970s, in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall rebellion, which spurred the rise of the gay movement. Feeling unwelcome in mainstream synagogues, and inspired by the founding of gay-friendly churches, Jews in New York and Los Angeles formed congregations of their own. “If the world is going to change, we have to model that change. Gay and straight people need to build community together as Jews,” said Rabbi Denise Eger, Kol Ami’s founding rabbi. “We didn’t want to be a gay ghetto.” In that same spirit, when families such as the Weisses asked to join Bet Haverim in the mid-1990s, the congregation’s members felt that they couldn’t ju

original article Robinson has not been invited to the Lambeth Conference, which brings together bishops from all over the world every 10 years, but plans to be outside, talking to anyone he can reach. "One of the things I think I've learned in the last five years is that, as much as I wanted to be known as the good bishop, and not the gay bishop, there's no escaping," Robinson told the Boston Globe. "I would love just to be a simple country bishop but that just doesn't seem to be in the cards." full article

I wake up, brew some coffee and jump in front of the computer. Asking myself what happened while I was asleep? Who felt the sting of discrimination today? Hope no one got killed or bashed! I receive email notification of news articles based on key words I select. Some of my words are “hate crime”, faggot, queer, homosexual, bashing, “hate speech” and many more. You get the idea. Being a United States citizen and a gay man I have a focus that I call equality. I shine the spotlight on news contrary to my focus. By the way, I do this on my own and in hopes people will open their eyes and see what is happening. I see so much hate and sadly, much of it from religion. I wish more people would remember history and historical facts. The religious based hatred, persecution and wars have gone on far to long. Pilgrims who formed these United States of America were called Separatists in England because they wanted independence from the established Church of England. Our country was t

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Republican state Rep. Sally Kern, whose widely publicized condemnation of gays and lesbians has provoked calls for her resignation, will have a Democratic opponent in this fall's election, Democratic officials said Monday. Ron Marlett, a 59-year-old social worker, was introduced by state Democratic Party head Ivan Holmes at a news conference where Marlett said statements by Kern that likened homosexuality to terrorism echo the words of extremists. "I've just been concerned for some time about the damage done by extremes," Marlett said. "I abhor hatred. I abhor hatred of people, of groups. I think everyone is worthy of respect." Marlett, a social worker at Community Pathways Unlimited, said he has considered running for public office in the past and that Kern's comments helped him make the decision to seek her Oklahoma City-area seat. full article

A sample of a Easter Sunday worship service at the Cathedral of Hope , the largest lesbian & gay church in the world.

LAGOS, March 21, 2008 – A shocking story of mob violence has emerged which almost culminated in the death of one of the leaders of the Changing Attitude Nigeria (CAN) group in Port Harcourt. The violent attack occurred at the funeral ceremony for the sister of Davis Mac-Iyalla, attended by six members of the Port Harcourt group on Thursday 20 March 2008 “I suffered in the hands of a mob group that attacked me at the Service of Songs for Davis’s late sister. While hymn singing was going on a muscular man walked up to me and asked me for a word outside the compound." “The next thing I saw was a mob group who were there to attack me." “They started slapping and punching me, kicked me on the ground and spat on me." “Violence against LGBT people has been encouraged by Archbishop Peter Akinola and the leaders of the Church of Nigeria. They have attacked the presence of LGBT in church and society, and supported a bill which would reinforce prejudice against LGBT people.&quo

New York, March 20, 2008 - Peter Sprigg, vice president of policy at the Family Research Council, discussed the group's opposition to the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) saying "I would much prefer to export homosexuals from the United States than to import them into the United States because we believe homosexuality is destructive to society." Statement by Rachel B. Tiven, Executive Director Immigration Equality "Unfortunately, the Family Research Council's preference to export lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangender (LGBT) Americans prevails. This policy continues to separate people who love each other, but of course Mr. Sprigg's group doesn't care about that. full article

When the religious narrative you tell about your life to the American public is revealed to be vastly different than the one you actually lived, you have more than a credibility problem - you have a dilemma as Obama is finding out. Rev. Wright was the man who brought Obama to Christ, presided over his nuptials baptized him and his daughters, and was the inspiration for his bestseller, The Audacity of Hope. If Obama, however, is indeed using religion to win votes, he unfortunately placed himself in a difficult quagmire - not only with LGBTQ and liberal voters, but also by still being a member of Trinity. Why? Because he worships in a conservative black church within a liberal denomination. And Trinity is provisionally opened to the idea of same sex marriage. In the church's magazine The Trumpet his article " Maybe I Missed Something! " shows how LGBTQ issues are not a priority in his present-day prophetic social gospel intended to ameliorate the social conditions of all Go

If you listen to the Christian right you will often hear them toss around the term Homosexual Indoctrination. They want children to continue in ignorance rather than learn. To them and many others, it’s ok to learn about Hitler but not homosexuals. It’s ok to talk about the Jews he killed but not the homosexuals. After eons of heterosexual indoctrination in our schools the Christian right are in fear. They don’t want anything to change. They feel teaching their kids that homosexuals exist or that they have existed for ages is indoctrination. If you follow this line of logic teaching them about Hitler must being a Nazi indoctrination technique. They claim it’s because “the bible says”. They claim it will be the ruin of society. As with our government, and the bible, an attempt is made to control by use of scare tactics. You will burn in the lake of fire: The terrorists will get you: The list goes on an on. It’s all an attempt to control and squelch that which they disagree with. As we s

As Sally Kern and many others have proven. One only needs preface hateful commits with a denial to make them “acceptable”. My following comments are not a threat. I don’t hate anyone and have nothing but love and compassion for my enemy. There now I’m safe and can say hurtful things about whomever I desire. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were that easy? I’ve been getting worried lately, but I worry a lot so maybe it’s no big deal. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve watched how we gays are treated, for a few decades. I only know I am worried about violence. I feel every person has an instinctual “line drawn in the sand”. Once that line is crossed there is no telling what that person is capable of. If you keep pushing and pushing, sooner or later you might reach that line causing the person to react in a way they normally wouldn’t. So after a few decades of seeing the gay community pushed and pushed I must wonder. Will this end up in violence? History is full of examples where the oppressed turned

By Kay Springstroh Lawrence King was an openly gay 15-year-old student at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, CA. On the morning of Feb. 12, his 14-year-old classmate entered Room 42 and shot Larry in the head with a handgun. His father said, "If Larry had the story to write, he'd say, 'If I have to give someone a heart, I want to give it on Valentine's Day.'" Seven of Larry's vital organs were transplanted and he was pronounced dead on Feb. 14. Larry's executioner, Brandon McInerney, is being charged as an adult for premeditated murder with a hate crime allegation. There are reports that his father and mother were involved in excessive drug use and violent arguments, one of which ended when his father shot his mother in the arm. In conflicting reports, people have suggested that Brandon was extremely charming and assertively bullying. One boy pulled a trigger previously cocked by a learned vigilante mindset and another child was its premeditated

By Ellen Fagg The Salt Lake Tribune Two new dramas about gay members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - one that played to sold-out houses last month at the University of Iowa and another produced in a well-attended workshop in New York City - suggest there's still artful vigor left in mining the painful collision of faith and homosexuality. "I'm glad to see attention brought to this issue from whatever quarter," Carol Lynn Pearson says of the mini-national boomlet of gay Mormon-themed plays. "People of every religion need to take a really strong look at how we are treating our gay brothers and sisters - and what we tell them in the name of God." The experience of the two playwrights John Cameron, 56, head of the University of Iowa's acting program, and Roman Feeser, 33, of New York City, are separated by more than a two-decade age range. Cameron served an LDS mission in Guatamala and El Salvador, and performed as a Young Ambassador whi

As long as religion feels it's okay to spout hate speech from the pulpits I think we will see much more of this in the future. Hawksmoor's St George's-in-the-East A priest has been attacked in the grounds of his church, in what police described as a "faith-hate" crime. Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, was injured by two Asian youths at the church, in Tower Hamlets, east London. Canon Ainsworth said a third youth watched as he suffered cuts, bruises and black eyes in the assault at the church of St George-in-the-East. The youths also jeered at the priest for being a churchman in the attack on Wednesday night, the Met Police said. Evidently it doesn't feel that great when the shoe is on the other foot!

Rep Kern: On April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City a terrorist detonated a bomb that killed my mother and 167 others. 19 children died that day. Had I not had the chicken pox that day, the body count would've likely have included one more. Over 800 other Oklahomans were injured that day and many of those still suffer through their permanent wounds. That terrorist was neither a homosexual or was he involved in Islam. He was an extremist Christian forcing his views through a body count. He held his beliefs and made those who didn't live up to them pay with their lives. As you were not a resident of Oklahoma on that day, it could be explained why you so carelessly chose words saying that the homosexual agenda is worst than terrorism. I can most certainly tell you through my own experience that is not true. I am sure there are many people in your voting district that laid a loved one to death after the terrorist attack on Oklahoma City. I kind of doubt you'll find one of them that w

If it wasn't so pathetic it would be funny. The hypocrisy of religion is the king of hypocrisy. Old school religion believes in slavery. Old school religion believes a womans place is in the kitchen, pregnant and caring for every whim of her husband. Old school religion believes in polygamy. Old school religion also believes homosexuals are an abomination. The ability of religious zealots to pick and choose which verses of the bible are important shines a bright light on their hypocrisy.

There are four passages in the Bible regarding homosexual acts and more than 3000 passages about caring for the poor.

Three months after the Diocese of San Joaquin took a momentous vote to leave the U.S. Episcopal Church, Bishop John-David Schofield says there's a lot of work to do and there's no looking back. John-David Schofield, 69, bishop of the Fresno-based diocese for 20 years, says he never has felt he was leading people down the wrong road. On Dec. 8, the local diocese became the first American diocese to secede from the U.S. Episcopal Church since the Civil War, largely over differences with the national body's approval of same-sex blessings, ordination of a gay bishop, the role of women in the church and how to interpret the Bible over such issues. The diocese also aligned with the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of South America, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which has similar views as the diocese. In response, the Episcopal Church banned Schofield on Jan. 11 from practicing his religious duties for 60 days, which ends Tuesday. The Diocese of San Joaquin said the nation

Recently the American Family Association was "tooting it's own horn" again. This time they were bragging how their boycott against Ford did it's job. "I have some good news for you!" wrote chairman Donald E. Wildmon in a message to members . "AFA is suspending its two year boycott of Ford Motor Company. The conditions of the original agreement presented in fall 2005 have been met." Those conditions, as laid out at the time by AFA, included demands that Ford stop advertising in gay-focused media outlets and stop donating to groups that support gay marriage or gay pride parades. Wildmon's announcement was covered by dozens of media outlets including BusinessWeek , Brandweek and the Chicago Tribune . But Ford spokesman Jim Cain insists the automaker had made no such promises. "I can tell you there was not a negotiated settlement to this boycott," he says, sounding somewhat mystified by AFA's triumphalism. While Ford has scaled back

Free speech has limits. Free speech is not hate speech and hate speech is not free speech. For eons religion has been demeaning anyone who doesn't fit the religious mold. It's time for the tables to turn and religious folks are worried about that. I think it's high time they became worried. Your belief in the bible is not mine. Therefore, you can not make requirements of me based upon your belief of an ages old, mistranslated book of myths. You people are nothing more than parrots. Someone tells you "the bible says" and you need to go around repeating it as if it's the final word. I got news for you, in these days, the law of the land rules, not religion or the bible. If you people can't see you are trying to shove your beliefs down everyones throat then you are blinded by your misplaced faith. I say have faith in yourself and drop the BS. It's a shame people can't have more of a live and let live attitude. If you wish to live in a s

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Leaders of the U.S. Episcopal Church were told once and for all on Monday that the gay man they elevated to bishop will not be allowed to attend a top, once-a-decade worldwide Anglican church meeting this summer. "It feels as if, instead of leaving the 99 sheep in search of the one, my chief pastor and shepherd, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Rowan Williams), has cut me out of the herd," said Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, after receiving the definitive word that he will be excluded from the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference in England. Robinson said he would nonetheless attend the meeting as an outside observer. A team of bishops assigned to negotiate the issue with the Archbishop of Canterbury's office have been informed that a full invitation is not possible; that a retreat planned during the meeting in July at Canterbury Cathedral was closed to uninvited guests and media; and that there was no room for an "observer" at th

by Peterson Toscano Many lesbian, gay and bisexual folks live with internalized homophobia. We grow up in a society that insists that heterosexuality is the approved norm, and anything other than it is not only "less than" but actually a perversion. Even when we did not hear bad things said about gays, lesbians and bisexuals, we have almost exclusively heard good things about heterosexuals while virtually nothing positive about people not heterosexual. We experienced heterosexual lives, loves, and desires prominently celebrated in pop songs, romantic comedies, religious services and billions of images. We got the message that non-heterosexuals were not fully human. I do not understand why the weight of heterosexism and homophobia affects some people more than others. Some of us actually have taken an aggressive stance to rid ourselves of our same-sex attractions and gender differences. We went to war with a part of ourselves. We called that part of ourselves Our Enemy. We dem

I just read an article where the Governor of Texas was glorifying the Boy Scouts as a source of traditional values. The bible has some of those traditional values also. Where do we draw the line on tradition and progress? Should progress be halted for tradition? If you said yes, then you are a deterrent to progress. Change will happen, people change and times change. Holding on to some traditions is nonproductive. If you look at the tradition of the bible you’ll notice divorce is not allowed. Seems that tradition was dropped! You can also find a tradition of slavery in the bible. Seems that tradition was dropped. I guess those two traditional values were no longer considered viable. I wonder who makes these decisions of viability? Because they’ve been laying down on the job! Obviously tradition can be counter productive or the two traditions mentioned above would still be in place. Heck, even my mother doesn’t make her traditional dishes the same way she did just 30 years ago.

I’ve had plenty of discussions regarding homosexuality and the bible. First I’d like to congratulate religion for pushing me away. I was baptized Catholic as a young baby (baptizing babies into the church is a whole different topic). Religion is about belief. EVERY person is free to believe as they wish. You are free to believe the bible is accurately translated. I am free to believe the bible is not accurately translated. Here’s an experiment to try. Get a group of people (at least 15-25 people). Get a photo that has several aspects to it (the one we used was an old downtown scene with a lot of “activity” in it.. business owner cleaning shop, housewife dropping flowerpot out of window, dog doing his business on fire hydrant.. you get the idea). Have your people make a line or take numbers (however you want to do it). Only the first person gets to see the picture. That person whispers a description of the picture to the 2nd person. The 2nd person whispers a description of what they hea

Commitment ceremonies between gays have been ongoing for many years. These ceremonies have no legal standing. They are a public affirmation of love and commitment between two people, nothing more. I attended one decades ago at a MCC church. But the religious right is so insecure they are screaming and yelling about a commitment ceremony at Penn State University. They plan to stage a protest on the campus during the ceremony. AFA President Diane Gramley said the ceremony, over which State College Mayor Bill Welch has agreed to preside, could be seen as a step toward legalized gay marriage. Still, ceremony organizers are not backing away from their plans, Penn State graduate student Tom Koerber said. He is co-director of the university Coalition of LGBTA Graduate Students. The group has designed the ceremony as a public opportunity for same-sex couples to express love, devotion and pride, right at the start of the annual Pride Week in the gay community. He said a Harrisburg-based group,

Recently I read an article on how the "powers that be" in the Presbyterian religion cleared up confusion in regards to gay clergy. The largest Presbyterian body in the country, the PC(USA) has been wracked with confusion and debates over gay ordination since the 2006 General Assembly adopted an "authoritative interpretation" of the ordination standard. Some felt the decision gave leeway to local and regional governing bodies to ordain practicing gay ministers. Last month's rulings upheld the denomination's fidelity and chastity requirement – fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" – and were praised by conservatives. "I commend the church court for making clear and final what ought to have been obvious all along: Our constitution appropriately forbids the ordination of persons unrepentantly remaining in sinful practices," said Jim Berkley, director of the Institute on Religion and Democrac

Stop speaking for God In response to comments made by radio host Phil Valentine by John Michael Weatherly, Nashville, Tennessee Let me first say I agree with the vast majority of Phil’s views on politics, life, religion and even humor. Phil is very vocal in his assertions and supports his views against the opposing caller or e-mailer with logic and evidence. I admire his ability to think on his feet and provide valid responses. Yesterday, however, Phil did what so many conservatives, evangelicals, religious ‘leaders’ and politicians do so frequently: Phil used the Bible to assert his belief that homosexuality is wrong. He went so far as to say that “Jesus Christ would have been very vocal and adamantly against homosexuality. He’d let you know it.” From whence does this divine knowledge come? Does Phil speak with Jesus? I’m not going to get into the semantics of the six passages in the Bible that can even remotely be construed as a disapproval of homosexuality. Why? The King James Bible

(Frankfort, Kentucky) A judge ruled Thursday that Kentucky GOP lawmakers and former Gov. Ernie Fletcher violated the state constitution by appropriating $11 million in state funding to a Baptist university. Kentucky Fairness Alliance executive director Christina Gilgor called the ruling a victory against state-subsidized discrimination. The legality of the grant grew out of a 2006 incident in which the university expelled a student it found out is gay. Jason Johnson, 20, was expelled after posting his sexual orientation on a Web site. The dean's list student received all Fs on his transcript when he was expelled. ( story ) Following public outrage the university agreed to allow Johnson to send in work to finish his courses and receive final grades but he was barred from the campus. full article

The American Family Association is urging parents to keep their children home from school April 25, the National Day of Silence. The Day of Silence, first organized in 1996, encourages students to remain voiceless for a day to represent the silence faced by LGBT people and their allies. Hundreds of schools across the country now participate in the event. "DOS leads the students to believe that every person who identifies as a homosexual, bisexual or cross-dresser is a victim of ongoing, unrelenting harassment and hate ," the AFA said in its mass email. "Students are taught that homosexuality is a worthy lifestyle, homosexuality has few or no risks, and individuals are born homosexual and cannot change. Those who oppose such teaching are characterized as ignorant and hateful bigots." The AFA is asking parents to inform their school that they will not allow their children to attend that day. They also want parents to explain to their children that "homosexual beh

Glenn Stanton, director of global family formation studies at Focus on the Family, said there's a clear consensus among anthropologists. "A family is a unit that draws from the two types of humanity, male and female," he said. "Those two parts of humanity join together, create new life and they both cooperate in the legitimization of the child, if you will, and the development of the child." Since its beginnings as a scientific discipline in the 19th century, anthropology has documented the historical and cultural variability of marriage and family forms. From ghost marriages to "female husbands" to polyandry, polygamy and cousin marriage, the cultures of the world exhibit incredible diversity in how they manage the universal problems of cultural transmission and the reproduction and care of the next generation. ... In fact, the [American Anthropological] Association requires academic recruiters who advertise with its service to state whether they prov

A lawmaker's attempt to push legislation aimed at amending the Iowa Constitution to ban gay marriage failed Tuesday. House Minority Leader Christopher Rants sought a procedural vote to allow the proposal to skip past the typical legislative process and come up for debate in the full House. Approval of the resolution would be the Legislature's first step toward setting a public vote on amending the constitution. Brad Clark of One Iowa, a Des Moines-based civil rights group, praised the House's action. "Instead of playing politics with our state's constitution, we are thankful that the Iowa House has chosen to focus on real issues facing Iowa families," Clark said. full article

I am 21. I am an engineering student. And I am a gay. I am writing this article because I am angry, frustrated and feel unbearably suffocated in my closet. I realised I was gay by the time I was 14. No, I never had any 'bad experience' in my childhood that made me 'turn gay'. No uncle or elder cousin ever molested me. I am gay because I believe I was born gay. God or nature, whatever one believes in, made me what I am. Just as some people are blonde or left-handed, sexual orientation is also a feature that is decided biologically. Modern technology can determine the sexual orientation of a child even before he is born. The WHO has removed homosexuality from its list of psychological disorders. Yet, some people would like to believe otherwise. They would say that if everyone were gay, there would be no society. This is a dishonest argument for the simple reason that everyone is not gay. They say it's against the Bible - an abomination of God. But if Christians can ch

Last time I looked morals included honesty. Evidently that doesn't apply to all Christians. I say this in reference to a couple articles regarding the recent Elmira, N.Y. pride festival. When reading the "Christian" posting you'd think the Christians did nothing wrong and were wrongfully arrested by police. I doubted the truth of this while I was reading it: "But when Christians show up at a public event to SILENTLY PRAY, they are discriminated against and free speech doesn’t apply. Very scary!!" When reading a more rational unbiased posting the truth comes out: Four Christian protesters who disrupted a gay pride festival in Elmira have been convicted of disorderly conduct. Julian Raven, Maurice Kienenberger, Gloria Raven and Walter Quick testified they went to share their religious views at the Southern Tier Gay Pride Festival in a city park on June 23 (isn't it interesting it took so long for a minor legal decision such as this?). Wearing red T-shirts

Austin, Texas - (February 25, 2008) – In an interview with Deborah Solomon in yesterday's The New York Times Magazine, Texas Governor Rick Perry continued his preoccupation with sex, asserting that allowing gays in the Boy Scouts of America would subject boys to "a crash course in sexual orientation". When asked why he supports efforts to keep gays out of the Scouts, Perry said, "I am pretty clear about this one. Scouting ought to be about building character, not about sex. Period. Precious few parents enroll their boys in the Scouts to get a crash course in sexual orientation." When asked whether he believed that gay youth might also be interested in the character-building aspects of scouting, Perry replied, "The argument that gets made is that homosexuality is about sex." Statement of Paul Scott, Executive Director of Equality Texas "The Boy Scouts of America are, indeed, about building character. Governor Perry seems to be the one confused th