On Faith And LGBT Equality: Week In Review

Below is today’s weekly digest of the latest headlines at the intersection of Christian faith and LGBT equality.

Are gay and bisexual men happier than straight guys?

While some Christians give up soda, coffee or the internet for Lent, others are giving up God.

This “LGBT-loving” feminist describes why she calls herself Catholic and why she’s raising her daughters to question and determine their own beliefs.

Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson discusses immigration reform, the Defense of Marriage Act, and how LGBT families are affected by these policies. In these cases, LGBT families are expanding “Christian love,” a concept I discussed this week in my latest editorial.

Over at Religion Dispatches, Sarah Posner introduced a “renegade Southern Baptist” for LGBT equality.

The Illinois State Senate passed legislation, for the first time, allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Columnist Becky Garrison analyzes the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary’s opinion of LGBT people. Evangelical Christians, like Jeffrey Hoffman, are challenging evangelicals to demonstrate “God’s redeeming love” to gays and lesbians.

Lastly, Texas State Rep. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth filed a bill last Thursday to permit same-sex coupes to marry. Thanks Chani for sending this in!

Here’s a final thought from Gregory David:

“Twenty years ago when I graduated high school, I didn’t know a single gay person other than me. Back then it was still legal to put someone in jail for “homosexual acts”. No state had legal gay marriage and homosexuals were banned from the military. A lot has changed just in my lifetime. Think of how many states have legalized same-sex marriage, enacted anti-discrimination protections; think of how many churches are moving toward full acceptance, compared with only ten years ago. We had a President come out for gay rights, and not lose as a result! The progress I have seen just in my brief life is staggering.”

–February 9^th@BelieveOutLoudFacebook

 

Did you catch another headline we should talk about? Let me know by clicking here. Be sure to join the conversation on Twitter. Have a great week and weekend ahead!

Photo via flickr by MarcelGermain

 

Joseph Ward is the Director of Believe Out Loud, an online network that empowers Christians to work for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality and a writer on religion and LGBT equality issues. Follow him on Twitter @JosephWardIII.