The parish priest of a small parish in the Archdiocese of Vienna has refused to allow an openly homosexual 26-year-old to serve on the parish council. Florian Stangl, who is disabled, lives in a registered domestic partnership and obtained 96…
Tag Archive for inclusion
English Bishop Backs Gay Marriage: Queer Ferment in the Anglican Church.
For years, the major focus of controversy in the Church of England has been over the appointment of women bishops. That debate has now been all but settled (even the opponents agree that change is inevitable). Issues around full LGBT…
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…
Inclusion in Church, Australia: A Reader’s Personal Story
I love to read the personal perspectives of individual queer people in church, which help to put a human face on the headlines. I particularly like these when they are from people outside the US (which tends to dominate the…
A Transgender Sister in Christ
“Pastor, I need to know if I’m welcome in this church!” It was with these words, blurted out as she ambled across the threshold of my office doorway, that I was first introduced to Sami (not her real name), a…
Two gay ministers uniting the church – SX News
By now, the movement towards full inclusion in church for openly lesbian or gay (and partnered) clergy is strong, and widely reported – for the US. The process is in fact also evident in many other areas. In Protestant Europe,…
Methodist Church Billboard: “Being Gay is a Gift from God”
Toledo Ohio is not the first name that comes to mind when thinking of the hotbeds of gay activism in the US, nor the United Methodist church for the vanguard of the move for lgbt inclusion in church. That’s what makes this…
Presbyterian Inclusion: Ratification Now Imminent
Since I last updated the status of the Presbyterian process for ratification of last year’s vote permitting the ordination of openly partnered and lesbian or gay clergy, prospects have brightened even more. There are now 16 regional presbyteries that have…
“We Are the Church”: Sr Jeannine Gramick
“I think the best way we convey how we believe is not words; it’s the way we act,” Sr Gramick told students at Columbia Collegege Chicago April 1. Gramick said lay Catholics are far ahead of Catholic leaders on gay issues.…
10 Years of Gay Marriage, and the Christian Church
Ten years ago today, the world noted the first legally recognized gay marriage, in the Netherlands. On that day, four same sex couples exchanged vows in front of then mayor of Amsterdam, Jeb Cohen. It took two years before another…
