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Rapid changes in public opinion have brought the LGBT community into an uncomfortable spotlight. Even as we celebrate the inclusion of gay youth in the Boy Scouts of America, we join with the LGBT community in mourning the rash of recent anti-gay hate crimes in New York City. This newsletter features responses from across our community…
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Since the beginning of the year, more than two dozen anti-gay hate crimes have occurred in the City of New York. This number alone has rallied not only the gay community, but also elected officials, community organizers, and faith leaders throughout New York and across the country. In the wake of these heinous attacks that…
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At South by Southwest (SXSW) 2012, Kristin Russo and Dannielle Owens-Reid, founders of the advice website and youth outreach organization Everyone Is Gay, shared how their straightforward and humorous approach connects with LGBT teens and young adults. They returned in 2013 to present a panel titled “Ermahgerd: Cyberbullying” that addressed the overall problem of online…
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On a sunny July day last summer, I sat cross-legged on a musty pillow in a retreat center in the Appalachian Mountains. I was at the Presbyterian Welcome Retreat for LGBTQ persons seeking ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA). We were asked to go around the room and introduce ourselves, including how we identified in…
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The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared.” This week, gay Boy Scouts are prepared for equality. At the same time, they are prepared for discrimination. They know that even if the policy changes to allow gay Boy Scouts, there will still be those who discriminate. There will be those who are frightened by change and…
Read MoreI would applaud Boy Scouts of America if it permitted openly gay scouts to fully participate in Scouts. However, the Scouts must also accept openly gay Assistant Scoutmasters and Scoutmasters. Anything less still amounts to a clear, implicit message that homosexuality is an abomination so horrible that it, alone, undermines the full value and integrity of that…
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Ironically, it wasn’t until I came out that I began to discover that being gay wasn’t the end of my relationship with the church. In fact, I couldn’t get those loony Christians to stop calling me. Hadn’t they heard I was queer? What use could I possibly be to the church? In a strange twist…
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As a child, I was taken to my grandmother’s Baptist church in South Georgia every Christmas and Easter. While I am thankful for those experiences with her and have come to understand just how deeply and beautifully her faith has impacted me, I didn’t feel particularly connected to the church at that time. It wasn’t…
Read MoreThis Thursday, 1400 members of the Boy Scouts’ National Council will converge in Dallas to vote on a resolution critical to the Boy Scouts’ longstanding ban on gay members. Many people are speaking out, and GLAAD is making sure that the voices of fair-minded people are heard, including people of faith. 70% of Scout troops…
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I confess, I cringe a bit at the identification of being “bisexual,” not because it is incorrect. It is very true that I have the capacity to be attracted to both women and men. The problem is how limiting “bisexual” is as a description of who I am as a “bi” person. For me, it…
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