It’s Time for Trans Lives to Truly Matter to Us All

A person holding a candle in front of a crowd.

Each November LGBT centers, local groups, and churches host events for Transgender Day of Remembrance. It’s a single evening, a few hours, dedicated to memorializing those who were violently murdered for being transgender. Nearly all of the victims of violence are women, of color, poor, and many likely engaged in sex work. In the United…

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MCC And Human Trafficking—Why?

Stop human trafficking.

Why are members of Metropolitan Community Churches joining the effort to stop human trafficking and slavery? First, we care about all human beings. When anyone is oppressed, we still have work to do. Second, being lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer adds to being vulnerable to exploitation and to the possibility of losing our freedom…

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To Christian Parents of Gay Children

A black and white photo of a man holding a child's hand.

“You want to shove those words back in and put the lid on. But you can’t. Your child is gay. This goes against everything you’ve been taught. It was not what you had in mind, and you instantly wonder where you went wrong.” When you become a parent, you know to expect the unexpected. But…

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The Day Love Reigned In Florida

A group of people are throwing flowers in the air.

From faiths of all traditions, we clergy stood waiting to be selected like kids on a childhood playground. People from all walks of life had gathered: gay, straight, couples, singles, families with children, black, white, Latino, and Asian. People mingled introducing one to another. All of us there for one purpose, to celebrate and witness the…

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My Life As A Nuclear Weapon

A statue of jesus on a cross in front of a cloudy sky.

I awoke to a bombshell last week. Pun intended, because I need some humor to dull the hurt, manage the anger, and resist a rekindled sense of insecurity. The bombshell is the statement attributed to Pope Francis concerning gender theory. Now widely circulating in the media is the statement made by this pope that gender…

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Fundamentals Without Fundamentalism

Two hands making a heart shape at sunset.

Had they lived, my mother and father would have celebrated their 100th and 99th birthdays this past weekend. Gratefully I share some of the things they taught me by example that have shaped my spirituality. They considered themselves fundamentalists, but this in the day when fundamentalism did not have quite the edge it does today.…

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LGBT Catholic Pilgrims Get VIP Seats At Papal Audience

St peter and st peter in front of st peter's basilica.

In what is surely the most official welcome from Church officials that New Ways Ministry has received in its 38-year history, and one of the warmest welcomes the LGBT community has received, a pilgrimage group of 48 LGBT Catholics and supporters led by our co-founder, Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL, received VIP seating at the papal…

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Coming Out: An Ash Wednesday Reflection

A glass of water sitting on top of a wooden table.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (…) But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which…

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When I Spoke Out, Support Poured Out

A wooden cross sits on top of a stone wall.

When I first joined the Many Voices Video campaign, I wrote a reflection on the importance of having the conversation around lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) acceptance in the Black Church—even when we’re not sure how. Since my video voicing my support as an ally and a southern minister was released, one thing is for certain: People…

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