Posts by pwsbuilder
Maybe Same Sex Marriage IS God’s Will
We are not the same America. We are not the same America that we were 20 or even 10 years ago. For decades, civil liberties framed the discourse about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) justice. Now marriage, a union that is sacred for so many, is at the forefront of our national consciousness in…
Read MoreLeaving The Catholic Church & Finding My Way Home
In the spring of 2014, I found myself in the last place I’d ever expected—the dark, close-set box of an old confessional. The wood muffled all other sounds as the priest slid open a little screen before me. I knelt down and said I couldn’t remember the last time I was there, and I began…
Read MoreMeet Brandiilyne Dear: The Pastor & LGBT Advocate Sparking Change In Mississippi
Brandiilyne Dear, a pastor at the inclusive and welcoming Joshua Generation Metropolitan Community Church in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, is an LGBT advocate working to accelerate acceptance in her home state of Mississippi and beyond. Brandiilyne also founded The Dandelion Project, a LGBT organization and resource, and she serves as vice-president of The Spectrum Center, a resource for the LGBT community in…
Read MoreThe Fellowship Of Affirming Ministries 2015 Convocation Celebrates Inclusion & Diversity In The Christian Church
The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries (TFAM) will host its 2015 Convocation from July 13 to July 19, 2015, in Oakland, California. The annual conference brings together over 1000 religious leaders and laity from across the country who support TFAM’s mission of “radical inclusion” in the Christian faith. TFAM seeks to celebrate and proclaim the radical…
Read MoreOpen Letter To Deniers Of Transgender Existence
So you believe that biological sex and gender identity are always inextricably linked. This, in spite of the fact that science is absolutely clear that they are not. This, in spite of the fact that the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric Association are absolutely clear that they are not.…
Read MoreHow Love Heals: A Mother’s Journey To Wholeness After Loss
Picking up the many pieces from a shattered and broken life is not as simple as gluing together a cracked clay pot. It takes so much more. For me it has taken great patience, much time, and a large dose of faith. My journey has been difficult and rocky just like so many other peoples.…
Read MoreCatholic School Fires Lesbian Who Is “Perfect Example Of Living A Religious Life”
A Catholic elementary school educator in the Philadelphia area has been fired because she legally married another woman in 2007. This first-known firing case since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized marriage equality across the nation has an unusual religious exemption twist to it. Philly.com reported that Nell Stetser, the principal of Waldron Mercy Academy in Merion, a Philadelphia suburb,…
Read MoreThe Confederate Flag Is Coming Down! Charleston Terror & The Power Of Love
The Charleston legislature voted to make the Confederate flag a relic of the past! Inside I cheered! Then, I paused and took a moment to reflect on the agony and the ecstasy of recent weeks. We celebrated in the midst of grief as we gained marriage equality. When throngs kissed and danced in the street…
Read MoreFrom Hate To Love: My Journey To LGBTQ Acceptance
When I was growing up, homosexuality was a horrible monster that no one wanted to deal with. “Abomination” was a word that I heard on a regular basis in my Baptist church. I grew up in the 80’s when AIDS, or as it was called then, the “Gay Disease” was on the rise. I even…
Read MoreDignityUSA Advocates for “Sacramental Equality” After Civil Marriage Is Achieved
Members of the leading LGBT Catholic organzation, meeting in Seattle for the organization’s national convention, have voted to begin advocating for equal access to all of the sacraments of the Catholic Church for LGBT people and their families. A unanimously-passed resolution states that “DignityUSA and its members call on the leaders and members of our…
Read More