This weekend’s New York Times Magazine will include a cover story about therapists who help gay and lesbian Christians who want to remain in the closet.
An excerpt:
Christians of the kind who earnestly believed that the Bible deplored homosexuality were particularly troubled as they tried to reconcile their faith with their sexual orientation. The more Flanigan studied this conundrum, the more he came to see it as intractable. Some gay evangelicals truly believe that to follow their sexual orientation means abandonment by a church that provides them with emotional and social sustenance — not to mention eternal damnation. Keeping their sexual orientation a secret, however, means giving up any opportunity to have fulfilling relationships as gay men and women.
“When these clash, what do you do?” Flanigan recalled thinking, and when he began to research the topic about a decade ago, he found few answers beyond the obvious. Antigay religious groups would not condone homosexuality; they thought gays should just give up their orientation, and the most extreme among them offered frightening “conversion” practices. Nonreligious gays thought the conflicted should just walk away from churches that won’t accept homosexuals as they are. “Which trumps which?” Flanigan asked himself. “Religion or sexual orientation?”
National Public Radio reports that the Department of Education has warned schools, colleges and universities throughout the country that failing to halt bullying could violate anti-discrimination laws.
That letter comes as some groups worry about a religious undercurrent to anti-gay bullying, and as some religious groups maintain that homosexuality is a sin and say gay rights organizations are trying to teach that it is acceptable.
Tony Perkins of the evangelical group Family Research Council said his group is trying to confront gay activism in schools. Another evangelical, Warren Throckmorton, said he is one of many Christian conservatives who are trying to help churches deal with and prevent anti-gay bullying.
On Sunday, a high-ranking leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emphasized kindness toward gays in a speech to 200,000 Utah Mormons, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
The sentiments from Dieter Uchtdorf, one of the church’s highest ranked officials, came in the wake of a speech several weeks ago by another senior member that implied that beging gay was not a biological trait. Some gay Mormons and their allies thought the statement from Boyd Packer, a member of the LDS Quorum of the 12 Apostles, was insensitive.
A church spokesman later said the church condemned anyone who belittled gays, according to the Tribune.
In his speech, Uchtdorf said the church didn’t know what caused homosexuality and that the church’s members should remember that “God loves all his children, and because he loves us, we can trust him and keep his commandments.”
Fr. James Martin, writing in America magazine, has a piece challenging American Roman Catholics to consider how Catholics can respond effectively and compassionately to suicides by gay and lesbian teens.
Religious gay and lesbian adults have joined a chorus of voices trying to prevent suicides among gay and lesbian teenagers, according to a Religion News Service report.
The effort is part of the “It Gets Better” project launched by syndicated columnist Dan Savage, who said he was inspired to speak directly to teens after reading about the suicide of a boy who had been bullied for being gay.
Below, you can see a couple of the It Gets Better videos from a religious perspective.
First, a Muslim gay teen talks about his experiences:
The forum’s theme on Thursday, Oct. 21, will be “Gays in the black church: Is it time to come out the closet?”
The discussion will be at 7 p.m. at the church, 1001 Goldwyn Avenue, and is hosted by the church’s pastor, Bishop Richard RT Davis.
The facilitator for the discussion will be Kenneth Cody, who is also known as the entertainer Neaundre Bonet.
Black churches have ignored gays in the pulpits and pews for too long, church leadership said in an announcement about the forum. The forum hopes to determine whether a gospel of inclusion for the LGBT community is possible and desirable for black churches.
A group of religious leaders who describe themselves as in favor of fully including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in their churches are meeting this weekend in Orlando.
The Believe Out Loud Power Summit for faith leaders is Saturday, Oct. 9, through Monday, Oct. 11, at the Doubletree Resort Orlando, 10100 International Drive.
The event is sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Institute for Welcoming Resources and the Task Force Academy of Leadership and Action.
Other participants include Integrity USA, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists and the Reconciling Ministries Network.
Workshops at the event will include themes such as nonviolence and conflict resolution, bisexual and transgender inclusion and how people connect their local churches with the larger pro-LGBT-welcoming church movement.
The Orlando-based Church of Healing and Prosperity will host a series of discussions about churches’ relationships with gays and lesbians.
The talks, which are described as a forum on the topic of “Gays, Lesbians, Down-Low Brothers and Sisters in the Church, Pulpit & Pews,” will be Oct. 7, Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the church, 1001 Goldwyn Avenue.
The discussions are inspired by the scandal involving Eddie Long, pastor of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Long, who has been a vocal opponent of gay rights initiatives and described homosexuality as “spiritual abortion,” has been accused by four young men of coercing the men into sexual acts with him.
For more information, contact Bishop Richard Davis at 407-535-7443 or 407-459-2322 or kingdom@iag.net.
A prominent Mormon elder was moved to tears as he listened to the stories of several lesbian and gay Mormons who described at a recent Oakland, Calif., meeting how hurt they had been by the church’s involvement in a successful political campaign opposing legalized gay marriage.
The meeting happened Sunday, Sept. 19, and ended with tears and an apology from Elder Marlin K. Jensen, the official historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to a Religion Dispatches report.
Jensen took notes throughout the meeting and acknowledged the hurt of many Mormons at the church’s actions.
“To the full extent of my capacity, I say that I am sorry . . . I know that many very good people have been deeply hurt, and I know that the Lord expects better of us,” he said.
CNN has tracked down another one of the four young men who have accused Eddie Long, pastor of the Atlanta-area New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, of coercing them into sex.
Spencer LeGrande, who has moved back from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C., says Long “knows the truth” about what happened.
Long has expressed antipathy toward gays from the pulpit and led a march several years ago against gay marriage.
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