Why Americans’ Views Flipped on Gay Rights

June is Pride month - although Der Trumpenführer has banned embassies from flying the rainbow flag and ended important HIV research in deference to his knuckle dragging Christofascist base - and this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City which many view as the beginning of the struggle for gay rights in America.  Despite the efforts of the Trump/Pence regime and its Christofascist supporters to role back LGBT rights and re-stigmatize, the majority of Americans are not buying into the effort, especially the younger generations who are walking away form religion in no small part because the anti-gay agenda and daily hypocrisy of evangelical Christians and right wing Catholics.  A lengthy piece in the Washington Post looks at the rapid change in attitudes towards LGBT individuals and suggests that the fact that gays cross every demographic and region of the country and that sexual orientation is not immediately discernible may have been a driving factor in the speed of change.  The piece also points out the glaring lack of non-discrimination protections in many states (if Democrats win control of the Virginia General Assembly in November, this may finally change in Virginia) and that "conservative" - think hate-filled - religion remains at toxic evil - which hopefully will ease as older generations literally die off.  Here are article highlights:

Steve and Teri Augustine met, fell in love and got married in a conservative evangelical Christian community. They grew up believing homosexuality was a sin, and that the “gay agenda” was an attack on their values.

Then, six years ago, their son Peter — their youngest child who loved theater and his church youth group — returned home to Ellicott City, Md., from his freshman year of college and came out to his family as gay.

Teri asked her son not to tell anyone else, and drove herself to a mall parking lot to cry. Steve questioned his son’s faith, reciting Bible passages from Corinthians. The Augustines decided to put their son through a year of conversion therapy, determined to “set him straight.”

But after the therapy failed, something changed. Steve and Teri Augustine started meeting Peter’s friends and inviting other gay Christians to dinner. Two summers after Peter came out, the family stood on the sidelines of the Capital Pride parade wearing rainbow beads and shirts with the words “I’m sorry.” Teri now hosts a support group for Christian moms of LGBTQ children.

The transformation in the Augustine family parallels a shift in public opinion that social scientists say is unlike any other of our time.

As recently as 2004, polls showed that the majority of Americans — 60 percent — opposed same-sex marriage, while only 31 percent were in favor, according to the Pew Research Center. Today, those numbers are reversed : 61 percent support same-sex marriage, while 31 percent oppose it.

“You can’t find another issue where attitudes have shifted so rapidly,” said Don Haider-Markel, a political science professor at the University of Kansas who has studied public opinion of LGBT rights over the years.

What’s perhaps most surprising is that support for same-sex marriage has increased among nearly all demographic groups, across different generations, partisan lines and religious faiths. Even among the most resistant religious group, white evangelical Protestants like the Augustine family, support for same-sex marriage has grown from 11 percent in 2004 to 29 percent in 2019, according to Pew.

But while it’s clear that the gay rights movement managed to change people’s minds faster than any other civil rights movement in memory, it’s less clear why. How, in 15 years, did Americans’ views flip on such a charged social issue? And why haven’t other groups that have also publicly fought discrimination managed to change public opinion as quickly? The answer lies in human behavior and demographic realities, as well as a winning strategy by gay rights activists that capitalized on both.

In a study published earlier this year, Mahzarin Banaji, a psychology professor at Harvard University, investigated patterns of long-term changes in attitudes toward six social groups — the elderly, the disabled, the overweight, black people, people with darker skin tones and gay people — over a decade. . . . Between 2007 and 2016, Banaji found that explicit attitudes toward all groups became less biased. But implicit attitudes toward some groups stayed the same — including bias toward people with disabilities and the elderly. Implicit bias against people who are overweight actually became worse. Respondents became less biased in their attitudes toward race and skin tone.

But of all of the groups, implicit attitudes toward sexuality changed, by far, the fastest. . . . This relatively recent acceleration came after decades of struggle.

In 1978, almost a decade after Stonewall, gay rights activist Harvey Milk gave an impassioned plea: “Every gay person must come out.” In the decades that followed, more and more Americans started coming out to their loved ones, some galvanized by the pain of the AIDS epidemic.

Then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the growing visibility of gay people in popular culture began to trigger a major shift in attitudes, social scientists said. By then, comedian Ellen DeGeneres had come out as gay, the NBC sitcom “Will & Grace” had taken off and Americans started seeing more examples of gay people in popular culture. Most of these characters and the most visible leaders at the helm of the movement were white people with the power and privilege to help LGBT rights reach the mainstream.

But there was something different about the gay and lesbian community, compared with other minority groups. They were in every socioeconomic and racial group, every generation, in small towns and big cities. Unlike other demographics, “sexuality is a dimension that is everywhere,” Banaji said. “It is not segregated.”

The more connections Americans made with gay or lesbian people, the more positive their attitudes toward them became — a trend social scientists call “the contact hypothesis.”

And families like the Augustines were forced to resolve an internal dilemma that social scientists call “cognitive dissonance.”

“When two beliefs come into conflict in our minds, our brains are not good at just holding the conflict. We have to resolve the conflict,” Banaji said. “You can disown your child or you can change your attitudes toward gay people.”

 After conversion therapy failed to change their son’s sexuality, Teri and Steve Augustine resolved to understand it. Teri asked her children to invite gay Christians they knew to their home.  Her daughter Bethany invited a gay colleague to come to dinner with his partner. Teri learned about the pain he endured when his church rejected him.

Then, during Peter’s junior year of college, his parents went to a Gay Christian Network conference, where they worshiped alongside hundreds of gay, lesbian and transgender Christians. “I grew up with a concept that those two words were mutually exclusive,” he said. He had already begun to believe that Peter could be both gay and Christian, “but Peter is only one person. I saw it in 1,500 people. . . . That was the closest thing I had to a lightbulb.”

What might be different about the gay community, Banaji speculated, is that even before a person came out, “love was in place.” A parent or a co-worker already knows and loves a gay person, and then discovers a person’s sexuality, which is often not obvious right away. “That, I think, is very different from something like age, or race, or body weight that just presents itself immediately upon seeing a person for the first time.”

But for much of the United States, the tipping point in the gay rights movement was something more obvious: marriage equality itself.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, several states had already begun legally recognizing same-sex marriages. A 2015 study found that residents of states with a same-sex marriage policy had the greatest reduction of anti-gay attitudes, when compared with residents of states where same-sex marriage was illegal.

The institution of marriage put a stamp of legitimacy on same-sex couples that allowed straight ones to see them as a family unit, just like theirs, said Andrew Flores of American University, a co-author of the study.

Despite the rapid progress of the gay rights movement, members of the LGBTQ community continue to be targets of violence and hate crimes. The Trump administration has rolled back a number of transgender protections at the federal level and emboldened a conservative base pushing for religious liberty — a backlash that Haider-Markel says parallels the rise of anti-gay movements in the 1970s, such as singer Anita Bryant’s anti-gay “Save Our Children” campaign in Florida, and the Briggs Initiative, a ballot measure in California that would have mandated the firing of any teacher who was gay or pro-gay rights.

“Look at the fact that in many states, if a gay or lesbian couple gets married and has their marriage in the local newspaper, they might lose their jobs,” Haider-Markel said. “That’s not trivial.”

And attitudes about same-sex marriage have remained mostly frozen since 2017. “The positions are hardened,” Haider-Markel said. Statistically, once support for an issue reaches a majority like this one, movement toward 100 percent becomes much more difficult . . . In conservative evangelical circles like the Augustines’, the work of changing minds happens even more slowly.

As for the Augustines, the family left their old church, a conservative evangelical megachurch, for Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Laurel, Md., which calls itself “an affirming community of faith.”

After the service, Teri met with a group of about 10 mothers of LGBT children. Fanning themselves while sitting on floral-printed couches, they went around sharing their stories to a newcomer.

There was the mother whose father, grandfather and uncles were all conservative pastors, and whose daughter recently came out as gay, though none of the extended relatives know. There was the mother of a transgender son who lost touch with her parents after they told her, “If you don’t disown your child, we’ll disown you.”

 As I said, "conservative" religions remain a toxic evil that sow hate and division.

Evangelicals with Gay Children Belatedly Challenge Church

We have made it past Thanksgiving, but still have the rest of the holiday season before us.  As noted before, this is often a terrible time of year for members of the LGBT community - the holidays were torture for me the first year or two after I came out - but especially so for LGBT youth.  Too many parents continue to literally throw away their children in acts of unspeakable child abuse, listening to the anti-gay screeds of vicious pastors in pulpits instead of listening to their hearts and what I see as human instinct to protect one's child.  Some such unfit parents learn they have erred and make amends with their discarded children while some never do.  Others do so only after it is too late and their child has died ultimately because of their rejection of that child.  Rob and Linda Robertson fall into this last category and, as CBS News reports, they are now working to help other evangelicals to accept their LGBT children and say no to the hate and bigotry that is the stock and trade of their churches.  Here are article highlights:

Rob and Linda Robertson did what they believed was expected of them as good Christians.

When their 12-year-old son Ryan said he was gay, they told him they loved him, but he had to change. He entered "reparative therapy," met regularly with his pastor and immersed himself in Bible study and his church youth group.

After six years, nothing changed. A despondent Ryan cut off from his parents and his faith, started taking drugs and in 2009, died of an overdose.

"Now we realize we were so wrongly taught," said Rob Robertson, a firefighter for more than 30 years who lives in Redmond, Washington. "It's a horrible, horrible mistake the church has made."

The tragedy could have easily driven the Robertsons from the church. But instead of breaking with evangelicalism -- as many parents in similar circumstances have done -- the couple is taking a different approach, and they're inspiring other Christians with gay children to do the same.

They are staying in the church and, in protesting what they see as the demonization of their sons and daughters, presenting a new challenge to Christian leaders trying to hold off growing acceptance of same-sex relationships.

"Parents don't have anyone on their journey to reconcile their faith and their love for their child," said Linda Robertson, who with Rob attends a nondenominational evangelical church. "They either reject their child and hold onto their faith, or they reject their faith and hold onto their child. Rob and I think you can do both: be fully affirming of your faith and fully hold onto your child."

Linda Robertson, who blogs about her son at justbecausehebreathes.com, said a private Facebook page she started last year for evangelical mothers of gays has more than 300 members. And in the last few years, high-profile cases of prominent Christian parents embracing their gay children indicate a change is occurring beyond a few isolated families.

"I think at some point moms and dads are going to say to their pastors and church leadership that you can't tell me that my child is not loved unconditionally by God," said Susan Shopland, the daughter of a Presbyterian missionary who, along with her gay son, is active with the Gay Christian Network.

Kathy Baldock, a Christian who advocates for gay acceptance through her website CanyonwalkerConnections.com, said evangelical parents are speaking out more because of the example set by their children.

The collapse of support for "reparative therapy" is also a factor, Shopland said. In June of last year, Alan Chambers, the leader of Exodus International, a ministry that tried to help conflicted Christians repress same-sex attraction, apologized for the suffering the ministry caused and said the group would close down.

At a conference on marriage and sexuality last month, a prominent Southern Baptist leader, the Rev. Al Mohler, said he was wrong to believe that same-sex attraction could be changed. Baldock, The Marin Foundation and the Gay Christian Network all say Christian parents have been reaching out to them for help in notably higher numbers in the last couple of years.

Much work needs to be done.  Personally, I view religion as one of the principal forces of evil on the planet and believe it best if parents simply walk away from their churches.  But, if they feel they can't do that, then they need to stay and challenge the hate, bigotry and ignorance that are the hallmarks of conservative Christianity.  

This undated photo provided by Linda Robertson shows her son Ryan, who died in 2009.

Family Reflections - My Father-in-Law's Funeral

My husband lost his father on Wednesday unexpectedly and today was the visitation/funeral/internment.  It was a long day to say the least and the husband held up well throughout it even as he delivered his father's eulogy which referenced our marriage in April in which my father-in-law co-officiated.  The outpouring of support from our friends in the gay community and his clients and their friends conspicuously filled the church.  The church pastor, those who assisted with the reception after all of the other events, and other church members were kind and accepting and no one even raised an eye brow as I was introduced to those I did not now as my husband's "husband."  It goes without saying that such an accepting church had long ago left the Southern Baptist Convention.

My father-in-law was a kind and loving man.  Equally loving was his late wife, my husband's mother.  They truly lived the Gospel message and always understood that we are all God's children and that none of us are loved more or less than any other.  It's a message that is lost on the Christofascists and hate peddling professional Christian crowd.    I will miss them both and will be forever grateful for the acceptance they extended to me and the love they demonstrated to me.  I feel honored to have known them.

Baptist Church Goes Rogue By Accepting Gays

The New Heart Community Church Congregation

I recently wrote about the Southern Baptist Convention's steady decline in membership over the last seven years under the increasingly toxic leadership of ultra-conservatives who make hating gays a number one priority for the denomination.  These membership loses stem not only from younger Baptists drifting away from the SBC but also from entire parishes deciding to leave the SBC as did my father in law's church some years back.  The reason?  The SBC is too extreme and is on the losing side of the culture war that many no longer wish to fight.  Now a Baptist church in California has committed the ultimate SBC heresy of accepting gays - even those in committed relationships.   The story also underscores the power of coming out to friends and family as the way to open hearts and minds.  The SBC's Albert Mohler and Richard Land must be having apoplexy. Here are details from Queerty:

A Baptist church in Southern California has done the unthinkable: Its members have voted to welcome the gay community, going against the Southern Baptist Convention’s strict views on homosexuality.

“We will accept the LGBT community even though they may be in a relationship,” pastor Danny Cortez recently wrote in a letter to Patheos blogger and founder of Unfundamentalist Christians, John Shore. “We will choose to remain the body of Christ and not cast judgement. We will work towards graceful dialogue in the midst of theological differences.”

Cortez is the pastor at New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, CA. Earlier this year, he told members of his congregation that he did not believe homosexuality was a sin, and pleaded with them to consider changing their views as well.

[I]t turns out the change wasn’t all that sudden. In his letter to Shore, Cortez writes that it took him 15 years to reach the decision.

“I recently became gay affirming after a 15-year journey of having multiple people in my congregation come out to me every year,” Cortez explains. “It was especially the testimony of my gay friends that helped me to see how they have been marginalized that my eyes became open to the injustice that the church has wrought.”

But what finally did it was Cortez’s 15-year-old son, Drew, who came out to Cortez last August. In his letter, Cortez writes:

In August of 2013, on a sunny day at the beach, I realized I no longer believed in the traditional teachings regarding homosexuality.

As I was trying to figure out what to tell my church, I was driving in the car with my 15-year-old son Drew when a song on the radio came on. I asked Drew who sang it, and he said, “Mackelmore.” And then he asked me why I was interested in it. I told him that I liked the song. He was startled and he asked me if I knew that the song’s message was gay affirming. I told him that I did know and that’s why I liked the song. I also told him that I no longer believed what I used to believe.

As we got out of the car, I could tell he was puzzled. so I asked him what he was thinking. In the parking lot, he told me in a nervous voice, “Dad, I’m gay.” My heart skipped a beat and I turned towards him and we gave one another the biggest and longest hug as we cried. And all I could tell him was that I loved him so much and that I accepted him just as he is.

Though the majority of New Heart Community Church members voted to change their official views, many have refused to accept the decision, and plan to separate from the church on June 8.

The church is also at risk of being excluded from the Southern Baptist Convention being held in Baltimore later this week.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Affiliated College Opens the Door to Gay Wedding

Eric Palmer, left, and Ethan Tarvin plan to get married in Augustana College's Ascension Chapel. (Anthony Souffle, Chicago Tribune / January 10, 2013)

As regular readers know, I am very hard on many Christian denominations, especially the Roman Catholic Church of which I was once a member, for the hate and bigotry that they promote daily against LGBT individuals with no regard whatsoever for the lives that are damaged or ruined or lost to suicide.  Likewise, I often criticize the "good Christians" as I call them who do too little to counter the incessant hate and nastiness spewed by the Christofascists.  But there are some denominations that are working for LGBT equality albeit not at the rate I would want.  One such denomination is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") of which I now count myself a member.   Highlighting the ELCA's pro-equality agenda are developments at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, an ELCA affiliated college, which has opened its chapel doors to same sex weddings.  The Chicago Tribune looks at the development.  Here are article highlights:

When Eric Palmer came to Augustana College four years ago, he wasn't expecting to fall in love. And he certainly wasn't expecting to be a pioneer when he requested to use the chapel to declare his devotion to his fiance.

But his betrothed is Ethan Tarvin, also a senior at the liberal arts college, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. When the Rock Island, Ill., school recently decided to allow its chapel to be used for the blessings of same-sex unions, another barrier quietly fell.

"I didn't have to wrestle with this. ... It was a matter of integrity," said President Steve Bahls, citing the school's anti-discrimination policy. "If you say you don't discriminate based on sexual orientation but you can't use our chapel, then you're a hypocrite."

A decade ago, Bahls said he would have rejected such a request. Even if he did agree, he would have faced swarms of angry alumni — instead of the overwhelming support he received for what is believed to be the first of 26 ELCA colleges nationwide to take such a stand, he said.

For Palmer and Tarvin, their choice of venue for a fall 2013 wedding wasn't about activism, but deep ties to the campus where many life-changing experiences occurred.  "Augustana is just a very sentimental place for us," said Palmer, who met Tarvin in 2011, when he registered him to vote. The two hit it off and got engaged last April Fools' Day.  Said Tarvin: "I met Eric on campus, proposed on campus and it seemed only logical to have the ceremony in the chapel. ... It really represents my personal, professional and religious life."

In a 2009 statement, the churchwide assembly acknowledged that consensus on this dmatter doesn't exist in the ELCA and allowed congregations that choose to do so to find ways to recognize and support same-sex, monogamous relationships, according to the Rev. Mark Wilhelm, program director for ELCA colleges.

"The statement acknowledges that members of our church hold various convictions — and Augustana is reflecting one angle on this," Wilhelm said.

Because the college is affiliated with the ELCA, but not a congregation, the final decision rested with the 58-year-old Bahls. "I asked myself: Is this consistent with church doctrine? Yes. Is it consistent with Augustana's doctrine. Yes. So, to give life to our anti-discrimination policy, I had to make it available to all."

Bahls informed the local bishop and the board of trustees, but did not issue a press release. The news leaked out in November and he braced himself for a firestorm — which never happened.  "That was probably the biggest surprise is how this has been overwhelmingly accepted — not unanimously, but for every negative comment, I received a dozen that were positive," said Bahls, who called each critic to discuss his verdict.

I am proud to be a member of the ELCA and once again urge those looking for a church home - especially those raised Catholic - to check out their local ELCA parish (make sure it is ELCA affiliated and not an affiliate of the anti-gay Missouri Synod Lutheran Church).  The services are nearly identical to a Catholic Mass and one will no longer be associated with the morally bankrupt child rapist enablers and protectors in the Catholic Church hierarchy.

National Cathedral Opens To Same-Sex Weddings

I can already hear the Christofascist heads exploding and envision spittle flecked professional Christians hyperventilating at the news that Washington, D.C.'s National Cathedral is going to begin performing same sex weddings.  Indeed, Maggie Gallagher and Tony Perkins will likely go into convulsions and wet themselves.  Oh the horror!!   The move by the National Cathedral should be applauded and it is further evidence that in the longer term the Christofascist forces of hate and bigotry are losing the so-called culture wars.  Unfortunately, as with interracial marriage, Virginia will be among the rear guard fighting against modernity.  Think Progress looks at this welcomed change in policy.  Here are some excerpts:

Washington, DC’s historic National Cathedral has announced that it will now host same-sex weddings, making it one of the first Episcopal congregations to implement a new rite for same-gender blessings. The Cathedral’s dean, the Very Rev. Gary Hall, explained that the change is an “important symbolic moment” for fulfilling Christian faith:

HALL: I read the Bible as seriously as fundamentalists do. And my reading of the Bible leads me to want to do this because I think it’s being faithful to the kind of community that Jesus would have us be. As a kind of tall-steeple, public church in the nation’s capital, by saying we’re going to bless same-sex marriages, conduct same-sex marriages, we are really trying to take the next step for marriage equality in the nation and in the culture.

For us to be able to say we embrace same-sex marriage as a tool for faithful people to live their lives as Christian people, for us to be able to say that at a moment when so many other barriers toward full equality and full inclusion for gay and lesbian people are falling, I think it is an important symbolic moment.

Same-sex marriage is legal in both DC and now in neighboring Maryland, as well as eight other states. Such weddings will likely not take place in the National Cathedral anytime soon due to its busy schedule. In addition, for couples to wed there, one member of the couple must be baptized into the Church. Still, same-sex weddings might take place before the end of the year. All couples wed in the Cathedral commit to a Christian marriage of “lifelong faithfulness, love, forbearance, and mutual comfort.”

The Shrinking Church

This blog often looks at the decline of Christianity in America and some of the underlying causes that in my view include (i) changing demographics, (ii) the constant message of hate and hypocrisy associated with the "Christian Right" in particular, (iii) the all too typical silence of the more progressive denominations in countering the extremes of Christianists, and (iv) the growing conflict between scientific knowledge and the Bible story line, especially the Old Testament.  Some denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention and the Roman Catholic Church try to pretend that the decline isn't happening and/or in some fantasy world belief system think that even more extremism and clinging to an inerrant Bible is the answer.  Others such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America of which I am now a nominal member admit the phenomenon of the shrinking church is occurring and seek to find ways to deal with the reality.   A piece in The Lutheran describes what is happening based on objective numbers, and summarizes the situation in part as follows:

Nearly 30 percent of ELCA churches reported an average worship attendance of fewer than 50 people in 2010. From 2003 to 2011, average weekly worship attendance dropped 26 percent. And from 2009 to 2010, ELCA membership decreased 5.9 percent, the sharpest rate of decline among mainline denominations, according to the National Council of Churches.

"Since the inception of the ELCA, we've seen decline every year, and it has accelerated over the last five years," said Elizabeth Eaton, bishop of the Northeastern Ohio Synod. "It doesn't matter where a congregation is situated, we have congregational decline in every demographic, every geography."

What we're seeing is not just a backlash against hymnals and potlucks. Nearly every U.S. Christian denomination has seen membership declines in the past two years, including Southern Baptists, who seemed invincible in the '70s, '80s and '90s.

And in 2012 the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life reported for the first time that the number of Americans identifying as Protestant dipped below half, to 48 percent. Only Roman Catholics seem to be hanging on, which experts attribute to a growing Latino population.
When it comes to actively practicing religion, which includes worship attendance, the numbers are down across the board. "Of every measure or religious tradition or practice we track in surveys, none of them is going up," said Mark Chaves, professor of sociology, religion and divinity at Duke Divinity School in Durham, N.C.

"Part of the story is changes in family demographics. The main group that attends church is traditional families and older people. People are marrying later, having fewer kids or having no kids at all. That means the demographic subgroup that typically attends church is a smaller subgroup of the population," he said.  .  .  .  .  "Eighteen- to 35-year-olds aren't seeing church as really relevant to what they need to get done. They want meaning in their lives but don't necessarily see the church as providing that."

In a related piece, a list of questions is presented for parishes to use for self-examination.  Several jumped out in particular: Over the years, how did the community change and why? Who lives in the community now? Where do they work?  What do they do for fun? How does the church fit into their lives?  My home parish in Norfolk is wonderful in many ways and often displays the positive attributes that Christians should demonstrate.  But sadly it seemingly does not want to ask itself these questions.  The surrounding Ghent community still is home for many traditional families, but the larger neighborhood has become in many ways a liberal young hipster community and home to may in the LGBT community and arts community.   A 1970's style traditional parish that still clings to hymnals full of hymns from the 1800's or earlier simply no longer appeals to many even though the ECLA is one of the most moderate mainline denominations.  Symptomatic of this failure to change, the parish still has done no outreach to the LGBT community that surrounds it.  Why?  Out of fear of offending the sensibilities of olde,r conservative parishioners.  That's fine and good if the parish wants to die when the old folks die, but it is not a long term strategy for survival.  And from reading the letters to the editor in The Lutheran, my parish is all too typical of many ELCA parishes.

But at least the leadership of the ELCA recognizes the problem even if it doesn't know how to respond in a meaningful way.  In contrast, the Roman Catholic Church seems heel bent under the Nazi Pope to return to the 1950's.  And while younger Catholics flee, Catholic Church hierarchy is spending millions of dollars to deprive LGBT Americans marriage equality and fight contraception even as church buildings are literally falling into disrepair and facing demolition.  A case in point is  St. James Catholic Church, a 132-year-old Gothic structure in the South Side Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago (pictured below), which may soon face the wrecking ball.  This from the Chicago Tribune:

The city pressed the Archdiocese of Chicago to do something about the church, which has been cited for building violations. Shortly after Christmas, the archdiocese got a permit to tear down the building, which preservationists want to save and congregants are reluctant to give up, even though the sanctuary is in such poor condition that Mass hasn't been celebrated there for more than two years.

The archdiocese asked for a demolition permit last fall, but it was automatically deferred because the 1880 building is on the city's list of historically significant structures. That deferral expired Dec. 23, clearing the way for demolition.

With what the Church hierarchy, NOM and the Knights of Columbus have spent attacking gay rights, churches like St. James and shuttered Catholic schools might be facing a different fates.  To me, given the totally perverted priorities of conservative denominations, it is little wonder Christianity is in decline in America.   The best argument for leaving Christianity is the "godly Christians" themselves. 

Illinois Clergy Voice Support for Gay Marriage

In a good first step some 250 members of the clergy in Illinois have signed a declaration in support of the gay marriage bill that will be introduced in the Illinois legislature on January 6, 2013.   In my view, theses clergy members need to take an additional step: openly condemn the Christianist forces that will be loudly shrieking and disseminating spittle flecked lies in their effort to continue to fore every Illinois citizen to submit to their hate and fear based version of Christianity.   Simply supporting the gay marriage legislation is not enough.   No longer can gay accepting and affirming denominations allow the the Christofascist to be the public face of Christianity which I believe will ultimately die if the Christofascist to drive more and more of the younger generations away from religion entirely.  The Chicago Tribune looks at this development.  Here are some excerpts:

More than 250 Illinois clergy -- most of them in the Chicago area -- have endorsed a gay marriage bill that could come up for a vote in Springfield before Jan. 9.

On Sunday, rabbis and pastors from denominations that support gay rights in varying degrees unveiled a declaration supporting equality for same-sex couples. Fostering faith, justice and compassion is a key component of their jobs, they said.

"Standing on these beliefs, we think that it is morally just to grant equal opportunities and responsibilities to loving, committed same-sex couples.," the declaration stated. "There can be no justification for the law treating people differently on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity."

Earlier this month, Sen. Heather Steans and Rep. Greg Harris announced they would take up the measure as the current General Assembly winds down in January and before a new set of lawmakers are sworn in Jan. 9.

The legislation would allow same-sex marriage and protect the right of religious institutions to either consecrate or not consecrate such weddings. Opponents to the bill say gay marriage violates Scripture, natural law and basic moral principles.

What truly violates basic moral principals is the self-congratulatory Christians who are best defined by hate and bigotry.  They are the modern day heirs to the Pharisees so thoroughly condemned in the Gospels.  Increasingly, when I see or hear people or advertisements talking about Christian this or Christian that, my initial reaction is what a bunch of hypocrites.  If one is a true Christian, how one treats others ought to be the sign that one follows Christ's Gospel message.  Yet instead, we see heinous conduct and hubris and arrogance.

Episcopal Church Approves Same-Sex Service

That the laws and state constitutional amendments that bar same sex marriage and civil unions are illegal restraints on the religious freedom of same sex couples is coming into even harsher focus.  These laws and amendments have enshrined one set of religious beliefs - i.e., those held by hate filled and bigoted conservative Christians - in the CIVIL laws.  In follow up to a development previously mentioned on this blog, the Episcopal Church has now formally approved same sex blessing services for same sex couples who seek civil unions and domestic partnerships (both of which are illegal and not legally recognized in Virginia).  The move brings the Episcopal Church in line with some other denominations that have come to allow such unions and in some cases full religious marriage.   It is long past time that these laws and amendments be struck down for what they are: illegal religious based discrimination and a denial of equal protection under the CIVIL laws.  Here are highlights from CNN on the move by the Episcopal Church:

Episcopal priests will be allowed to conduct services blessing same-sex relationships under a policy approved Tuesday at the church's national convention in Indianapolis.

The convention's House of Bishops approved the provisional policy 111-41 with three abstentions Monday, clearing it for consideration by the House of Deputies, which approved it Tuesday evening.  The policy was approved in the House of Deputies, following more than an hour of debate, by 78% of the voting lay members and by 76% of clergy.

With the vote, the Episcopal Church becomes the largest U.S. denomination to officially sanction same-sex relationships. The Episcopal Church has about 1.95 million members in the United States . . . . 

"We have authorized a blessing, and a blessing is different than a marriage," she said. "A blessing is a theological response to a monogamous, committed relationship."  Marriage requires the additional involvement of civil authorities, and many states do not allow gays to marry.

The only major U.S. denomination to endorse same-sex marriage across the board is the United Church of Christ, which did so in 2005.  In 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America allowed member churches to recognize same-sex relationships, but stopped short of creating a churchwide policy or crafting a specific blessing service.

Randall Balmer, a Dartmouth University religion professor and an Episcopal priest who supports the change, said he expects little fallout from the policy within the American church. Most of the most conservative Episcopalians who oppose blessing same-sex relationships have probably already left the church, he said.

"In many ways, the church is tracking public sentiment," which is increasingly supportive of same-sex relationships, Balmer said ahead of Tuesday's vote. "The Episcopal Church is merely part of that trend."

One can just imagine the spittle that must be flying among the self-congratulatory professional Christian set and conservative Anglican leaders, at least some of whom are suspected of having ordered the massacre of Muslims, including women and children.   I believe that God is on the side of the Episcopal Church as opposed to the merchants of hate and bigotry.

Episcopal Church Expected to Approve Same-Sex Couple Liturgy

In a move that will no doubt cause the spittle to fly among the Neanderthal elements of the Anglican Communion, especially in arm pit of the world nations in Africa where anti-gay rhetoric is used to distract the ignorant and gullible populace from the abysmal failures of the political and religious leaders, the Episcopal Church is poised to approve a liturgy for ceremonies solemnizing same sex relationships.  While the unions are not expected to be called "marriage" the recognition of same sex love and commitment will drive the Bible thumpers berserk for certain.  I can just imagine the volumes of spittle and vitriol that will be flying in local congressman Scott Rigell's break away Anglican coven of haters - I mean church.  The Los Angeles Times reports on the development.  Here are excerpts:

Sixteen years after allowing gays and lesbians to become priests, the Episcopal Church appears poised to introduce a rite that would specifically bless the unions of same-sex couples.  If the liturgy is approved, which is expected, Episcopalians will become the first major denomination to endorse such a ritual for homosexual couples.

On its face, the blessing seems similar to that of a marriage rite -- including “I do,” “we have gathered together today” and an exchange of rings. Notably absent are the words “husband,” “wife” and “marriage.”

Supporters of the liturgy emphasize that the rite would acknowledge and bless same-sex unions, but would not sanctify them as marriage in most states. Churches in states where gay marriage is legal -- six, as well as Washington, D.C. -- have had the option of blessing gay marriage, but do not currently use a formal liturgy.

“While the liturgy we have developed is not called ‘marriage,’ we recognize significant parallels,” the committee wrote in its handbook on blessing same-sex marriages, called "I Bless You, And You Will Be a Blessing." “Two people publicly make a lifelong, monogamous commitment to one another with the exchange of solemn vows in a ritual that pronounces God’s blessing on their life together.”

Passing official recognition for gay couples would be a major advance for gay congregants, Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. of the Diocese of Pennsylvania told the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Bennison is a member of the legislative committee that will present the measure. A 300-member House of Bishops and a 800-member House of Deputies must both approve the same-sex liturgy for it to become official.

A commission on liturgy and music spent three years putting together the proposed blessing, which includes a script for responses from the congregation, a series of faith reflections for the couple and a discussion guide for congregants who are curious or upset.

In my view, those who look down on gays and want to keep us inferior under the civil laws not to mention religious dogma are the today's Pharisees.  The turn the Gospel message into a message of hate so that they can find a means to feel superior and better about themselves. They'd be better served getting some good psychiatric help.

Minneapolis ELCA Leaders Vote to Oppose Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment

I have noted many times before on this blog that gay Catholics who want to remain church goers but who aren't masochists need to check out the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA"). The services are virtually identical to a Roman Catholic mass - in fact, more like the Catholic masses of my youth than current Catholic services - and the ELCA is LGBT accepting. This was recently demonstrated in Washington State where the ELCA bishop went on record and testified before the Washington legislature in support of passage of same sex marriage. Now, in Minneapolis, the ELCA leadership of the Minneapolis Synod has voted to oppose the anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot in November. That the ELCA and Episcopal Church among others support same sex marriage underscores the reality that the Mormon and Catholic Churches and fundamentalist Christians are seeking to deprive other denominations and individuals of their religious freedom. Here are highlights from KAAL-TV on the ELCA action:

Evangelical Lutheran Church leaders in Minneapolis have decided they will not endorse a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Minnesota. One out of every four Minnesotans belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

700 voting members of the Minneapolis synod, representing 160 churches, gathered at Shepard of the Lake Church in Prior Lake Friday night to decide what their collective opinion should be about gay marriage. According to one member, Pastor Justin Lind-Ayres of Bethany Lutheran Church, "I see the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community as those people who are being pushed to the margins, particularly through this marriage amendment."

In part, the resolution states, "Resolved, that the Minneapolis Area Synod meeting in assembly oppose the Minnesota state constitutional amendment on marriage proposed for the 2012 general ballot that would prevent one group of committed couples and their families from pursuing ordinary legislative or legal means to gain the support and protections afforded to all other(s)."

In the end, the resolution overwhelmingly passed. Members of Minnesota's five other Evangelical Lutheran Church synods are expected to vote on similar gay marriage amendment resolutions this spring.

But what does it all mean? The voting members of the synod say their decision has no political implications. They simply want to spread the word to all the members of all their congregations, and to the general public, that the synod's official stance is to oppose the amendment.

Pastor Brad Froslee of Calvary Lutheran Church explained, "We are encouraging the civil rights of all citizens of the state and are against people being signaled out or targeted by a particular constitutional amendment or legislative action."

What a contrast from the Roman Catholic Church which seeks to deprive LGBT citizens of equality under the civil laws and to inflict its supposed dogma on all citizens of Minnesota. It is encouraging to see that some of the "good Christians" are finally beginning to find their voice.

A Lutheran Bishop's Challenge to Catholic Bishops

As long time readers know, one of the first things I did at the beginning of my coming out journey was to distance myself from the Roman Catholic Church in which I had been raised. Why remain in a faith tradition that denigrates you - especially when that same denomination is controlled by those who would rather protect child rapists than turn them over to the police. By coincidence, I ultimately found myself in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ("ELCA") in a parish that for the most part actually seemed to want to practice the Gospel message of Christ. Power, control and manipulation of others, and of course money - the truly sacred things to the Catholic Church hierarchy - seemed to way down the priority list. Then in 2009, after considerable controversy, the ELCA took the step of allowing partnered same sex clergy. Sadly, some of the modern day Pharisees within the parish ranks fled the ELCA and the denomination suffered from "doing the right thing." Now, with the Roman Catholic Church spending millions of dollars to denigrate LGBT individuals, the former presiding bishop of the ELCA has issued a challenge to a group of Roman Catholic bishops. Will they accept the challenge? Probably not. But Bishop Herbert W. Chilstom's op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune clearly sets the standard of what Christian leaders ought to be about in the debate over same sex marriage. Here are some highlights:

May I share a word with all of you who now lead the Roman Catholic community of faith in Minnesota? First, I would go to the wall to defend your right to work for the adoption of the so-called marriage protection amendment. Having said that, I must tell you that I believe you are making a significant mistake.

Over my 35 years as an active and retired bishop I have come to know hundreds of gay and lesbian persons. I have yet to meet even one who is opposed to the marriage of one man and one woman. After all, they are the daughters and sons of such unions.

What they cannot understand is why church leaders would oppose their fundamental desire and right to be in partnership with someone they love and respect who happens to be of the same gender and sexual orientation. They don't understand why they should not enjoy all the rights and privileges their straight counterparts take for granted.

More than a half century ago Father Francis Gilligan spoke out for equality for African American citizens of Minnesota. Though many argued on the basis of the Bible that these neighbors were inferior to others, Gilligan fought tirelessly for justice for these brothers and sisters.

In our generation homosexual persons are subject to the same discrimination. Their detractors often use the Bible and tradition as weapons of choice.

Is it not time for religious leaders, walking in the footsteps of Father Gilligan, to do the same for another minority, neighbors who are as responsible as our African American sisters and brothers?

Let me put out a challenge to each of you brothers. Invite 15 gay and lesbian persons from your respective areas, one at a time, to spend two hours with you.

Thirty hours are a pittance compared to the time you are investing to promote adoption of the marriage amendment. Use the time, not for confession, but to listen to them describe what it is like to live in our culture in Minnesota.

Hear as they tell you what it means be a child of God and a faithful member of your church, persons who happen to be gay or lesbian through no choice of their own. I can promise you, based on my experience, that your heart will be deeply moved by what you hear.

When you have finished your time with these sisters and brothers in Christ, spend a quiet hour reflecting on a single question: "As I understand the heart of my Savior Jesus, how would he treat these sons and daughters of my church?"

Charlottesville Episcopal Church Recognizes Same Sex Unions

Charlottesville - home of the University of Virginia and the huge UVA Medical Center - continues to be among the most progressive cities in Virginia. Now, St. Paul's Memorial Church, an Episcopal parish, has taken things up a further notch in the progressive movement by announcing that it will begin to recognize same sex relationships and joins six other Episcopal parishes in Virginia to do so and accept the reality that committed same sex couples exist and deserve church recognition. WVIR-TV 29 has coverage on St. Paul's historic and welcomed decision. Here are some highlights:

A Charlottesville Episcopal church is taking steps toward recognizing same-sex unions. "It is another step along the road that this church has had in opening its doors to people. Particularly people on the margins," said Rector James Richardson.

St. Paul's Memorial Church sits right across University Avenue from the UVA Rotunda. And after months of deliberation, it's decided to stand up to officially recognize same-sex relationships.

"What we are doing is not in a vacuum, it is part of the wider church, not every part of the church is doing the same thing," Richardson said. "In the end it came to me to ask permission of the bishop about whether we could bless these relationships."

The church joins six other Episcopal congregations in the Diocese of Virginia approved to perform similar ceremonies.

'The Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, has authorized seven congregations to provide a generous pastoral response to faithful same-sex couples in the context of a church service. "I am convinced – both theologically and experientially – that committed, monogamous, same-sex relationships can be faithful in and to the Christian life," noted Bishop Johnston. He also reiterated his firm commitment to supporting all congregations in the Diocese of Virginia, including those congregations who object theologically to same-sex blessings.

In his decision to bless and recognize same sex unions, Richardson turned to his congregation, his clergy, and even the Bible itself. He says the decision reflects the fact that the definition of marriage is changing.

"The Bible has a rather large latitude on marriage," Richardson said. "We think of it now as primarily for the mutual joy of husband and wife. That has led to an inevitable question - is it only men and women who can have the mutual joy of a committed, supportive, loving relationship?" Richardson doesn't think so.

"The steady progression of the episcopal church has been to open our arms of love and welcome more people and provide for them all of the blessings that the church provides," he said. "We can celebrate - you are in a loving, committed, faithful relationship. We celebrate it. You are welcome here and we bless it. And god blesses you."

Kudos to St. Paul's and the Diocese of Virginia. By this action, it gives testimony that not all Christians embrace fear and hatred of others. Would that more churches followed this example.

Letting Go of Your Internalized Homophobia

AUTHOR COMMENT: This post is a re-posting of a piece I posted over two years ago. I was prompted to republish it based on an e-mail I received from a reader yesterday who finds himself in territory I once knew: married with children, unable to any longer keep up the denial of the truth about himself, and contemplating how to find the strength/courage to tell his wife he's gay. It's a horrible place and is frightening in so many ways as one wonders how they will survive the coming out journey and what will be the reaction of loved ones, friends and colleagues. Because of the response the post originally received, I wanted to re-post the piece for the benefit of newer readers. This is a message which so many individuals - both those still in the closet and those struggling with religious instilled guilt - need to take to heart. It took me a long time to let go of the homophobia I had internalized over many years. Here's the post:

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The battle over Proposition 8 in California has not surprisingly made me think a great deal about the homophobes who are pushing for the measure's passage so as to deprive LGBT citizens full equality under the civil law. Those who hate us - they disingenuously claim that they don't but let's be honest, they do hate us - have been saying all kinds of hateful and divisive things about gays including how allowing us to marry "threatens western civilization." Or at least so says Tony "Klu Klux Klan" Perkins of the deceptively named Family Research Council.
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With all the hate being disseminated, I've also found myself thinking about the effort it was for me to finally put my internalized homophobia and self-loathing behind me as I made my journey through the coming out process. Suffice it to say, it was not an easy journey and included one nearly successful suicide attempt. But I survived it and now I can rightfully look with disdain/contempt on those who continue to preach hate and loathing against gays. Their goal is to not only make others hate us but to try to make us hate ourselves as well. So, how does one finally let go of the ingrained homophobic baggage accumulated over many years. For me, there were a number of things that I think allowed me to finally let go of my internalized homophobia. I will share them since I know I have many readers still going through the coming out process or living in the closet based on the e-mails I receive.
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1. If you haven't already figured it out on your own, do some reading and get yourself up to date on the fact that sexual orientation is not a choice. If you are religious, accept the fact that God/Allah (or whatever deity you worship) made you gay and it's not going to change. Why did it happen? You'll never know, so move on with your life and make the most of the hand you have been dealt.Most importantly, do NOT let others try to make you feel guilty about your sexual orientation.
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2. If you belong to a strongly anti-gay religious denomination, leave it. The sooner the better. Having been raised a Roman Catholic, other than being a Muslim, Mormon or Evangelical Christian, it would be hard find a less gay friendly denomination - particularly under the current Nazi Pope (not that the less than sainted John Paul II was any better). For me, the concurrent timing of the explosion of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal made it all the more easy for me since it highlighted the moral bankruptcy and hypocrisy of the Church's leadership. In my case, I found the ELCA to be a much better church home for me. While it's not perfect, it is far better than remaining in a denomination that calls me "inherently disordered."
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3. Related to the second item, if you are from a strong religious background, do your own reading and research. There are many other interpretations of the Bible besides the ones claimed by the anti-gay Christianists. In addition, do some reading on Bible history and you will soon learn that there were all kinds of political and non-religious issues that shaped the Bible. It's not inerrant and it's not the literal word of God, so learn the historical facts to throw back in your detractors' faces (it will have the added bonus of driving them crazy).
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4. Get a good therapist. It's most unlikely that you can make the coming out journey all alone. In my case, I found two great individuals. The first, who is actually an ordained Presbyterian minister with a Ph.D. in psychology helped me deal with the religious guilt issue. The second helped me come to see that there was a future even after a horrific divorce where I was largely put on trial for being gay. Leaving you former life is not easy - especially when you do not know what will ultimately replace it. If you don't like one therapist, then find a different one who can help you with the transition.
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5. Make gay friends - and not just the bar and/or chat room crowd. Better yet, get involved in some gay causes and organizations where - based on my experience - you will meet some amazing people. Getting to know them and observing how at peace they are with themselves and who they are will help you to further let go of the indoctrination you have received in terms of what gays are like. I can honestly say that I have met more truly genuine and decent people in the gay community since I have come out than I knew in my closeted life in my artificial and supposedly perfect former neighborhood and social circles.
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6. If possible, live your life totally out. Remaining semi-closeted be it at work or with family will continue to subconsciously tell you that being gay is bad. After all, the message you receive is that being gay is so bad that your boss/fellow employees will not want you around. Likewise, thinking that "it'll kill my parents" or that "they won't love me anymore" is giving yourself a constant message that it's wrong to be gay. Admittedly, I was lucky in that my entire extended family accepted me and treated my ex-partner as part of the family. They are likewise embracing the new boyfriend. As the father of three children, I cannot understand any parent who would disown their child because they are gay. If your parents were to disown you, remember that it is THEM, not you, who has the problem.
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7. If you feel anger at times, do not direct it at your self. Harness it for constructive purposes whether it be in working on gay rights causes, writing a blog (which I find to be good therapy), or something else.
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8. Always remember that you are a good, decent person entitled to all the rights and respect that others receive and that the fact that you are gay doesn't change that. The goal is to be able to stand in front of a mirror and say to yourself "I'm gay and that's OK and I'm proud of who I am."

The Need for Good Christians to Act Against Homophobia

The title of this post involves a topic I have written about before both on the blog and on The Bilerico Project. Now, You Tube has a clip of Dan Savage addressing the same topic at Rhodes College. It's not enough for LGBT accepting churches to quietly allow LGBT members full inclusion within the church. Rather, they need to directly and vocally call out gay hating so-called Christians to whom they time and time again yield the field and who they allow to define Christianity as an anti-gay religion. Here's the video clip:
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In addition to Tony Perkins, Savage needs to call out Pope Benedict XVI who is a major font of anti-gay rhetoric.
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Interestingly enough, dozens of Omaha, Nebraska pastors are acting in the manner that Savage advocates. These pastors are issuing a simple but powerful proclamation: Being Gay Not A Sin. Churches and pastors across the country need to take similar action and cut the Maggie Gallaghers and Tony Perkins of the world off at the knee caps and make it clear that a message of hate and intolerance is not the true face of Christianity. Here are highlights from Omaha KETV-7 on the pastors' proclamation:
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OMAHA, Neb. -- Omaha area ministers will publicly unveil a proclamation on Wednesday calling for an end to religious and civil discrimination based on sexual orientation.
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Rev. Eric Elnes, pastor of Countryside Community Church, said the proclamation was created because, “we were just fed up with the popular notion that the Christian point of view is anti-gay.”
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Elnes, who leads an Omaha church of 1,500 members at 87th Street and Pacific Street, said more than 100 ordained Christian ministers have signed the proclamation, including leaders from Lutheran, Episcopalian, United Church of Christ, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.
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The ministers will join together on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge to publicly unveil the proclamation and show full acceptance of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender people.
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“We believe homosexuality is not a sin. It’s not a birth defect or a choice. God created people this way. And if God created them this way, they need to be honored for who they are, and fully included in church life and wider society,” said Elnes, whose words are reflected in the document.
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Elnes said after sharing his point of view, he’s learned that many Christians hold the same beliefs, but have not openly expressed them. That’s the reason the proclamation also includes an apology to the gay community. “We felt it was important for us to apologize for the times when we ourselves have been silent. Some of us have not always been on this side of the issue,” Elnes said.

Faith and Gay Rights

Having joined the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church and other denominations that now allow partnered gay clergy in committed relationships, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. is finding itself roiled with dissension in the ranks of its membership who are showing themselves to prefer a religion based on ignorance, hate and division as they threaten to leave the national church because of its acceptance of LGBT people. Why these dissenters don't outright say it, their reaction - in my view - is the result of their weak, house of cards faith system which cannot remain standing if a few passages of the Bible applied to demonize gays are found to be wrong. Never mind, of course, that these same people ignore on a wholesale basis other passages of the Bible that condemn their exclusionary mindset. Indeed, they are the Pharisees of the Bible reincarnated. A Presbyterian pastor from West Virginia of all places has an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times that makes the case as to why acceptance and inclusion are the truly Christian thing to embrace. Here are some highlights:
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Last week, a majority of the 173 presbyteries making up the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. voted to amend the church's constitution and allow openly gay and lesbian members to become ordained ministers, elders and deacons. The vote followed decades of debate and more than six months of voting.
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In taking this action, I believe our church moved a step forward and brought itself closer in line with Christ's all-embracing love. But it's not a step all Presbyterians welcome. I know this because for years, I was on the other side.
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I don't know what swayed every vote, but I know what made the difference for me. It was one crucial question: "Would Jesus ever call a 25-year, faithful relationship of love and care unholy?" For many of us, the answer was obvious.
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After the vote, my anxieties vanished, replaced by great joy. The reflections and conversations around Sally's ordination had vanquished our collective anxieties. We came out of it feeling that our decision was indeed a celebration of God's infinite love.
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The decision wasn't embraced by the whole church immediately. It would take time for my congregation and the larger church to see this as a divine opening.
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The decision triggered amazing things at our church. Yes, a few members left. But many estranged believers and formerly "un-churched" people have walked through the door. Our Sunday school is bursting at the seams. Our youth group keeps growing. The congregation is proud to be part of a church that is open and affirming. We have added staff and undertaken several building projects.
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So, to pastors and others who dread the consequences of openly gay and lesbian people serving as ministers, elders and deacons, I would simply say: This is a sacred moment, and a time for rejoicing. The church's action last week recognized an important teaching from the book of Galatians: "We are all one in Jesus Christ."
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Sadly, I suspect many will reject this view finding it preferable to look down on others as a means to feel better about their own sad, ignorance embracing lives. WWJD?

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Approves Gay Clergy

Yet another mainline Christian denomination appears headed towards allowing partnered same sex clergy. It's a triumph of modern knowledge and understanding of sexual orientation over ignorance, bigotry and mindless clinging to ancient writings that lacked such information and were aimed in part in maintaining the "otherness" of non-Jews. It will be interesting to see how many separate parishes within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will act like the white segregationists of old and seek to break from the national church body. I'm sure many of the professional Christians will lament the change in policy as they show about as much Christian love as George Wallace did when he said "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever." I find it sad that increasingly Christianity's main attribute seems to be hate and bigotry towards others. I am pleased that LGBT Christians now have another potential church home. Here are highlights from denomination's website:

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While the Office of the General Assembly awaits official tallies, it appears that a majority of the 173 presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have approved a change in PC(USA) ordination standards.
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At its meeting on Tuesday, May 10, 2011, the Presbytery of Twin Cities Area became the 87th presbytery to approve an amendment that will remove the constitutional requirement that all ministers, elders, and deacons live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness”
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The effect of the new language also opens up the possibility that persons in same-gender relationships can be considered for ordination.
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The 219th General Assembly (2010) of the PC(USA) approved Amendment 10-A last summer, but required a majority of presbyteries to ratify the provision for it to become part of the church’s Constitution.

The change will take effect July 10, 2011, one year after the adjournment of last summer’s assembly.
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In response to the vote, denominational leaders issued a letter to all congregations of the PC(USA), calling the debate about ordination standards “a Presbyterian family struggle.” The letter goes on to say that Presbyterians have “sought to find that place where every congregation and every member, deacon, elder, and minister of the Word and Sacrament can share their gifts in ministry while, at the same time, the integrity of every congregation, member, deacon, elder, and minister is respected.”