All posts tagged: LGBTQ

Father James Martin Reflects on LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Environmentalism, and Compassionate Leadership

Father James Martin Reflects on LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Environmentalism, and Compassionate Leadership

Published by skeptic

Pope Francis, who led the Roman Catholic Church worldwide since 2013, has passed away at the age of 88. A tireless champion of the central social justice teachings of Jesus, Pope Francis followed his personal mantra, “don’t forget the poor,” Pope Francis – previously Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina – brought profound change to the Church in tumultuous and challenging times. He was the first non-European pope since the 8th Century AD. On this special episode of The State of Belief, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush welcomes Father James Martin, a Roman Catholic priest, author, and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in the Church. Father Jim shares his experiences meeting Pope Francis, discussing LGBTQ issues and receiving the pope’s unwavering support for that ministry, and highlights the late Pope’s commitment to the poor and marginalized. Reflecting on Pope Francis’s legacy, Father Jim, a fellow Jesuit, emphasizes his empathetic leadership and pivotal encyclicals on the environment and brotherhood. The discussion also touches on current challenges facing the Church and hopes for its future …

What ‘The Last of Us’ Season Premiere’s Final Moments Really Mean

What ‘The Last of Us’ Season Premiere’s Final Moments Really Mean

Published by skeptic

These tensions emerge in season 2 in Jackson, Wyoming, where dozens of survivors of the Cordyceps plague have built a somewhat safe and stable existence. Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and his wife Maria (Rutina Wesley) helped establish the settlement; Ellie, now an effective fighter and sharp-shooter, helps protect it. But it has also become a microcosm of America in the early aughts. “One of the problems with Jackson,” says Mazin, “is that they’ve become a bit complacent. They feel safe enough that somebody can get drunk at a party and start tossing out homophobic slurs, to repeat the kind of shitty little sins that [people] used to feel free to commit when the world was not in an apocalypse.” Re-creating those shitty little sins—or challenging them—on television comes with complications. After HBO aired the “Long, Long Time” episode, the homophobic backlash was swift. Most of it seemed to come from a vocal minority—the episode was the series’ most-watched to date when it aired—but they were mighty enough to seemingly review-bomb the episode and take …

A Prison Death Highlights Russia’s LGBTQ Crackdown

A Prison Death Highlights Russia’s LGBTQ Crackdown

Published by Sam

The travel agency offered tours aimed solely at men, and that was enough to attract the attention of the police enforcing new Russian laws that restrict the rights of gay people. One night in December, officers stormed the apartment of the agency’s owner and tied him up, he later told a court. “Fifteen people came to my place at night,” said the owner, Andrei Kotov. “They were beating me in the face, kicking me and leaving bruises.” His comments were reported by Russian media and confirmed by his lawyer. Mr. Kotov said the officers pressured him to “confess” that he was running a travel agency aimed at gay people, which he denied. The officers kept beating him, he said, and told him: “No trips for gays.” A few weeks later, Mr. Kotov, then 48, was found dead in his prison cell. Prison officials told his mother that he cut himself with a razor, said his lawyer, Leysan Mannapova. The circumstances of his death could not be independently determined, and Russian officials did not respond to …

US religious groups support LGBTQ+ rights, divide on medical care for trans minors

US religious groups support LGBTQ+ rights, divide on medical care for trans minors

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — Since coming into office, President Trump has signed a slew of executive orders that attempt to restrict the rights and care available to LGBTQ+ people and particularly transgender people. Among the president’s directives: excluding transgender people from serving in the military; blocking gender-affirming care for minors; and banning transgender athletes from women’s and girls’ sports. States are now following his example: Iowa’s Republican governor signed into law last week a measure that ends state civil rights protections for transgender people. But over the past decade, Americans have remained broadly supportive of non-discrimination laws and policies toward LGBTQ+ people. They are less supportive of gender-transition medical care for minors, a new PRRI survey shows. The survey, part of the American Values Atlas, which includes 22,000 adults from across the U.S. polled four times over the course of 2024, shows that support for same-sex marriage and non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people remains strong. Some 75% of Americans support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ people in housing, employment and public accommodation, up from 71% in 2015. “Support …

33 Christian Reformed ministers take oath to a rival denomination as church split deepens

33 Christian Reformed ministers take oath to a rival denomination as church split deepens

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — At a church just outside Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday (Feb. 18), 33 ministers from the Christian Reformed Church in North America stood up to read aloud a declaration, officially accepting ordination in a rival denomination, the Reformed Church in America, and thereby gaining the freedom to be more accepting of LGBTQ believers. Having stated they will abide by the creeds and confessions of the RCA, each of the ministers was then offered a loaf of bread as a symbol of fellowship and welcome. The group ordination ceremony — the first of its kind  — is one of the more public signs of an ongoing split in the Christian Reformed Church on the part of churches no longer willing to abide the CRC’s increasingly rigid stance on sexuality. The ministers are not moving alone. Since June of last year, 26 churches have informed the denomination that they intend to disaffiliate from the 1,000-church body based in Grand Rapids, according to a CRC spokesperson. Most of those churches have declared themselves open and affirming …

Fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ eroding as they’re weaponized by conservative forces – POLITICO

Fundamental rights of LGBTQ+ eroding as they’re weaponized by conservative forces – POLITICO

Published by Sam

In countries like Italy, Belgium or Romania, right-wing conservative groups have been accusing the LGBTQ+ community of “undermining family values and destabilising society” and used discriminatory speeches during election periods. This is then also used justify the introduction of legislation restricting fundamental freedoms and so-called “anti-LGBT propaganda” laws, the report stated. In Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal, local authorities have reported “a significant increase in crimes motivated by perceived sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression,” ILGA-Europe noted. “There is a tendency to instrumentalize the so-called protection of young people as a hope to spread fear and division,” said Italian member of the European Parliament Alessandro Zan of the center-left Socialists and Democrats during an event in Parliament. “The discriminatory measures proposed in Hungary and Slovakia and the successful resolution in Italy against the so-called gender ideology all but spread hate and discrimination across Europe … These measures harm children, families and workers,” he added. Chaber, the executive director of ILGA-Europe, also said that attacks against LGBTQ+ people are becoming “the testing ground …

Humanist, Secular Groups Sign Joint Statement Reaffirming Commitment to Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights

Humanist, Secular Groups Sign Joint Statement Reaffirming Commitment to Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights

Published by skeptic

For decades, the American Humanist Association has fought for and centered equality, dignity, and human rights for everybody—regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression—into our work. We recently signed a joint statement (below) alongside other humanist, atheist, freethought, and secular organizations to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to protecting and advancing the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly trans people. We support LGBTQ+ rights because it is a moral imperative rooted in the values of compassion, reason, and justice—a few of the humanist values we try to elevate and live by every single day. The AHA’s endorsement of this statement reflects our belief that everyone deserves the freedom to live authentically and without fear. LGBTQ+ rights are human rights, and the fight for inclusion is a fight for a society where equality prevails—especially against an incoming political backdrop bolstered by Christian Nationalism that has historically shown its desire to silence LGBTQ+ voices, particularly trans voices. In an era of increasing polarization, our participation in the statement below serves as a powerful reminder of the …

Freedom from Religion Foundation dissolves honorary board in spat over trans issues

Freedom from Religion Foundation dissolves honorary board in spat over trans issues

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — The nation’s largest freethought organization has dissolved its honorary board after three of its prominent members resigned in an ideological battle over transgender issues. The resignations from the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a group that fights for church and state separation, included well-known evolutionary biologists Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne and psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker. The three resigned after the foundation published, and then removed, an article by Coyne in which he argued that sex is mostly binary (either male or female) and that transgender women are more likely to be sexual predators than other women. The post, which drew intense backlash, was taken down on Dec. 28, one day after it was published, prompting Coyne, Dawkins and Pinker to resign from the foundation. That led the foundation to dissolve the 14- member honorary board. The flap offers a peek at a roiling controversy among a select group of New Atheists who have expressed views that are anti-transgender and more generally “anti-woke.” It is a position taken by another atheist group, the …

Deadly violence in Nigeria linked to breakup of United Methodist Church over LGBTQ policies

Deadly violence in Nigeria linked to breakup of United Methodist Church over LGBTQ policies

Published by skeptic

A religious schism has turned deadly in Nigeria, with a church member fatally shot and two young children killed as homes were set ablaze, according to United Methodist News Service. The news service said the reported violence on Sunday stemmed from a schism in the worldwide United Methodist Church over its decision to repeal LGBTQ bans — and the ensuing formation of the new Global Methodist Church by breakaway conservative churches. According to the news service, a United Methodist church member was shot and killed in a confrontation between both factions in Taraba, a state in northeast Nigeria. Homes were set ablaze, claiming the lives of two children, ages 2 and 4, of the overseer of a United Methodist school and nursery, the news service said. Another 10 church members were reported injured. The worldwide Global Methodist Church held its inaugural general conference earlier this year. It was created by churches breaking away from the United Methodist Church — an international denomination with a strong U.S. presence. While the UMC, at its general conference in May, lifted …

Remembering Marsha P. Johnson, Icon of Modern LGBTQ Rights Movement

Remembering Marsha P. Johnson, Icon of Modern LGBTQ Rights Movement

Published by skeptic

On Saturday, we celebrated the birthday of LGBTQ rights pioneer and icon, Marsha P. Johnson. She would have been 79. Johnson will perhaps be best known as one of the names behind the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, which was a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history. The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, was a frequent target of police raids. On the night of June 28, 1969, a raid led to an intense confrontation between patrons and law enforcement. Johnson, along with other LGBTQ activists, fought back against police brutality, marking a significant turning point in the struggle for LGBTQ rights. The uprising was not merely a spontaneous riot but a catalyst for the modern LGBTQ rights movement. According to this obituary from the New York Times, “although New York State downgraded sodomy from a felony to a misdemeanor in 1950, persecution of gay people and criminalization of their activities were still common. Same-sex dancing in public was prohibited. The State Liquor Authority banned bars from serving gay people alcoholic beverages. …