Posts by pwsbuilder
And We Rise To The Top
My grandmother sat on green rocking chairs, in South Dallas Porches, singing songs like “Cheerios, Cheerios, push them to the bottom of the bowl and then they rise to the top.” My grandmother sat on green rocking chairs, in South Dallas porches, right in front of the drug dealers, in the midst of gun shots,…
Read MoreCatholic Synod Report Misses Opportunity To Affirm LGBTQ People
Now that the Synod on the Family is concluded, much is already being written about an event The New York Times called the “most momentous, and contentious, meeting of bishops” since Vatican II. Below, Bondings 2.0 provides some early commentaries and reactions related to LGBT topics. For a good general overview of what the Synod’s final document contains, see Joshua McElwee’s article…
Read MoreWhat Should White LGBTQ Organizations Do Post-Marriage Equality?
Are we each other’s brother’s keeper? With this June’s historic Supreme Court ruling, Obergefell v. Hodge, that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states, many white LGBTQ organizations nationwide have been questioning what to do next. Last month the Harvard Alumni Association and the Harvard Gender & Sexuality Caucus picked up the gauntlet to answer that…
Read MoreHow Queer Evangelicals Brought This Skeptical Journalist Back To Christianity
It happened at the end of recess, after the bell had rung and all the other junior-high kids had gone inside. After beating him in a schoolyard basketball game of “H.O.R.S.E.,” my beefy, mop-topped classmate, whom I’ll call Neil, hurled basketballs at my chest while his friend held my arms back so that I couldn’t…
Read MoreCardinal Gracias To LGBT People: “Church Embraces You, Wants You, Needs You”
Below is the latest installment of Bondings 2.0’s report from the Synod on Marriage and Family in Rome. New Ways Ministry’s Executive Director Francis DeBernardo continues to send news and commentary from this meeting. Previous posts can be reached by clicking here. Cardinal Oswald Gracias is Archbishop of Bombay, the head of India’s National Conference…
Read MoreWhen I Loved A Woman
I thought because I hadn’t seen a healthy relationship my entire life, and had my formative years tainted with unwanted advances, I was doomed never to truly love anyone—not even myself. But, I did love her! Having just escaped an abusive heterosexual relationship, meeting Karen became a breath of fresh air. I knew she had to be my…
Read MoreGLAAD Leads Millions In United Stand Against Bullying For Spirit Day
GLAAD, the world’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, today showcased the participants for Spirit Day 2015. Each year, GLAAD organizes hundreds of celebrities, media outlets, brands, landmarks, sports leagues, faith groups, school districts, colleges, and universities to go purple in a united stand against bullying and to show their support for LGBT…
Read MoreThe Butterfly Manifesto: How To Be Happy In A World That Is Trying To Kill You
A few summers back, I was surrounded by butterflies. They were everywhere. On the windshield when we got into the car, hovering in front of the door to the house, filling the park every day I went—I entered a shimmering haze of them and they even began landing on me to rest. I combed through…
Read MoreMarried at Last!
Wade Jones and I were married here in Atlanta by the Rev. Dr. Erin Swenson during a private ceremony last week on my 65th birthday, a few days shy of our 15th anniversary, a week before his 55th birthday, and one day after the 10th anniversary of my ordination in the Metropolitan Community Churches. Wade and I met between my 50th and his…
Read MoreDragged To Drag: We Lip-Sync For The Lord
Growing up as a gay male in the 60’s and 70’s, with the wider LGBT community just beginning to open the door to the great closet, the culture of our invisible community was hidden from me. Living and growing in the world as it was, I often felt like I had been kidnapped and forced…
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