Religion
The Gay Gospel?
You’ve always heard that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, but you might be surprised to know that this is disputed among some theologians. While it’s true that Jesus never explicitly speaks about homosexuality — it was certainly commonly practiced in his day, and he would have encountered many homosexuals. In Roman sexual culture, men […]
Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. From a very young age, I found myself incredibly attuned to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the […]
Massive Religion FAIL in the LGBT Community
It’s been a full year now that I’ve been writing for The L Stop, often about religion and spirituality in our community. The recent Pew Research poll results that came out have me wondering who out there is reading, given that about half of our community identifies as “unaffiliated, atheist or agnostic,” a little more […]
Queer Catholics React to Pope Francis
Social media sites were immediately abuzz yesterday, as the world watched Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio — now Pope Francis — speak the first words of his papacy from the red velvet curtained balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square and the rest of the world. Here are a few reactions I received from LGBTQ Catholics: “There are a few […]
There is Rest for the Weary
This last year for the LGBTQ community has been one with plenty of drama, celebration and yes, even heartache. We witnessed the President of the United States endorse marriage equality, we found ourselves in the middle of heated state ballot battles for gay marriage, and many of us are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court ruling […]
Cardinal George, It’s time for an Epiphany
Every New Year’s Day, I brunch with the Gay and Lesbian Outreach and Support group from my Catholic parish on the Northside. This year, we were excited to talk about the news that our State Rep, Heather Steans (along with her colleagues), would introduce the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act as early as this […]
Pope Benedict and “Traditional Family Values”
Pope Benedict, leader of the Catholic church is on a roll; fulfilling last years new year’s resolution of becoming an avid tweeter (@pontifex feel free to tweet to him regarding your thoughts) and this week making 2013’s resolution early dedicating it to gay couples worldwide. In two separate addresses Pope Benedict re-vowed to make “traditional […]
LGBTQ Religious Communities to Visit During the Holidays
By BC Growing up, much of the Christmas holiday that my family celebrated was centered on religious observances. We had an advent calendar counting down the days until Christmas in our house, my siblings and I would always be cast as an angel or shepherd in the Christmas pageant, and most importantly to my mother […]
Religion Needs to Have a “Come to Queer Moment”
By BC I am always astounded at the lengths many religious traditions will go to in order to convert people to their religious beliefs. In the south, Christians would call this a “Come to Jesus Moment.” LGBTQ people have been presented with numerous come to Jesus moments in many areas of life: religious protesters at […]
At the Crossroads
Every time you turn around these days, you bump into another news story where the LGBT community is being skewered by those with religious authority. Whether it’s Catholic nuns being admonished for spending too much time ministering to the poor and not speaking out against gay marriage, or a disturbing video goes viral where a […]