In Scotland, Catholic bishops have been vigorously opposing Scottish proposals to introduce marriage equality. The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie, has made a superb reply, responding to the Bishops’ arguments on their own terms. The bishops claim that…
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Irish Bishops Convene Conference on Sexuality
Sadly, this is not the Catholic bishops, but those of the Church of Ireland. Still, it is welcome and a valuable harbinger of things to come. It has become obvious to all who pay attention to evidence, that the traditional…
Dan Savage, Bullying, and the Catholic Church.
Now, here’s a fun bit of synchronicity: Dan Savage, gay columnist, agony uncle, defender of queer kids and scourge of the religious right, has his birthday today, October 7th, on the feast of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Roman soldiers, lovers,…
Sergius & Bacchus, 7th October: Patron Saints of Same Sex Lovers?
Sergius and Bacchus are by a long way the best known of the so-called gay or lesbian saints - unless we include as “saints” the biblical pairs David and Jonathan, and Ruth and Naomi. We need to be careful with…
MCC, Desmond Tutu
At Jesus in Love Blog, Kittredge Cherry has noted two important birthdays that have passed me by: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and that of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC). Both deserve honour and close attention. Take a look: Archbishop Desmond…
Gay Marriage Cheered at UK Conservative Conference
“I don’t support gay marriage despite being a Conservative. I support gay marriage because I am a Conservative.” -British PM David Cameron If there was any room for doubt that gay marriage is coming to the UK, this was firmly…
LGBT History Month, in Faith: Queer Gods and Goddesses
Christianity did not enter the world independently of other religions, or uninfluenced by them. It began as a Jewish sect, and still shares with Judaism a major part of its scriptures and traditions. The Jews in turn were just one…
Lutheran pastor’s reversal on gay clergy
Part of the reason that the cause of LGBT equality and inclusion is making steady, inexorable progress, is that for younger people, many of whom have grown up with openly gay or lesbian family members, sexual orientation is just not…
October is LGBT history month
October is LGBT history month - at least in the US. (In the UK, it’s February). Every day this month, Equality Forum will post information on a notable “Icon” from LGBT history, as they have done every year since 2006,…
Marriage Equality: Shifting Sentiment in Poland, Estonia.
When I wrote earlier this week about the EU Declaration on LGBT human rights, I referred to heavily Catholic Poland as an example of strong resistance to equality. That was an oversimplification. A Hungarian reader, Kal, noted that There are…
