Church members charged with beating gay man

For Matthew Fenner, a crowd of parishioners gathering around him in a church sanctuary after a prayer service was a sign of trouble. Within minutes, he said they began to berate him because he was gay. One woman told him he was "disgusting." Then for two hours, they pushed and hit Fenner, screaming at him as they tried to "break me free of the homosexual 'demons,'" he said in a police affidavit. 

Nearly two years later, five Word of Faith Fellowship church members have been indicted for kidnapping and assault in connection with Fenner's beating. But the case has opened new wounds in the rural North Carolina community where the church has been a lightning rod of controversy.  Read More

Why it is not a sin to be gay

Nigerian pastor Elizabeth Funke Obisanya explains why Jesus loves gays but African Christians do not:

To win the struggle to change men and women’s hearts and minds, one must consider what the Bible calls strongholds – ideologies, views or thinking that have been held on to for a long time. When that thinking is wrong, the challenge is great.

Many African strongholds include the view that homosexuality is paganistic and paganism is bad. The second is that gay white men want to pollute black children (see the justifications for Uganda's anti-gay laws). The issue is not whether one agrees with them or not, but that these perceptions are there and need to be dealt with. Read More  

UCCP approves LGBT policy statement, stresses ‘Let Grace Be Total’

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) approved “Let Grace Be Total,” a policy statement on lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender people in its 10th Quadrennial General Assembly and 66th Founding Anniversary. “This affirms that all of us regardless of any category are under the grace of God. The statement means that LGBTs should not be discriminated but should be unconditionally accepted in the fellowship and membership of the Church,” says Bishop Reuel Marigza, UCCP General Secretary. Read More

Jamaica: Church Members Upset Over Priest's Embrace Of Gays In Worship Service

A decision by the Reverend Father Sean Major-Campbell to openly embrace and show love to members of the lesbian, gay and transgender community during a service at the Christ Church in Vineyard Town, Kingston, caught members of the congregation by surprise, with some saying afterwards that they felt betrayed by their spiritual leader.  Read More

US: Michigan House Just Passed a Bill with Truly Devastating Results for Gay People

What if you were evicted because you were gay, but there was nothing you could do about it? Denied service at a restaurant because you're a devout Sikh? Refused Plan B at the only drug store in town because the pharmacist on duty is an evangelical Christian?

The state’s House of Representatives passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) this week, and if it passes the Senate it would enable those with “deeply-held religious beliefs” to withhold basic services from LGBTI people, inducing life-saving healthcare and medication. Read more

Some US conservatives urging right not to serve gays on religious grounds

Conservative lawmakers in states nationwide are pushing to expand the right of individuals and businesses to not provide certain services to same-sex couples on religious grounds. Critics of the bills say they could set far-reaching precedents. For example, they say, a man charged with domestic violence could argue that it is part of his religion to keep his wife in line or a taxpayer-funded homeless shelter could be permitted to turn away a Muslim family.

They argue, however, that gay and transgender people are the primary targets of these bills and that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is particularly vulnerable because many states do not explicitly ban discrimination against them. Read More

Church of England bishop: Church has a legacy of serious institutional homophobia

The Bishop of Buckingham has recorded a Christmas sermon for the LGBT community in which he condemns the Church of England’s treatment of gay people. The full video was recorded by the Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Rev Dr Alan Wilson.

In it, he congratulates all same-sex couples who have married or converted their civil partnerships to marriage this year, and condemns the Church of England for its treatment of gay people. He says: “Christians believe God is love and those who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. But, you may say, churches have a funny way of showing that sometimes. Read More

Pastor Calls for LGBT Holocaust to Eradicate AIDS by Christmas

In the U.S., even the most right-wing of religious fundamentalists, even if they believe Scripture condemns LGBT people as deserving of death, usually pull their punches (or stones) and stop short of actually calling for the execution of anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

But one Baptist minister in Arizona has not only called for an LGBT holocaust but put forth the claim that such a mass killing would wipe out AIDS by Christmas. Read More

Rights and repercussions: The paradox of LGBT life in Georgia

Former Russian republic makes progress on paper as discrimination continues. “It is becoming a dangerous trend in Georgia to condone and leave unpunished the acts of violence against religious and sexual minorities if they are perpetrated by the Orthodox religious clergy or their followers.

It is simply unacceptable for the authorities to continue to allow attacks in the name of religion or on the basis of anyone’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” said John Dalhuisen, Europe and Central Asia program director at Amnesty International, in the aftermath of the chaos. Read More

Pope Francis Speaks Up on Synod Process: ‘It Isn’t Over’

Pope Francis held an in-flight press conference on his way back to Rome in which he opened up about the debate surrounding last month’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family. When asked about the synod’s controversial phrasing regarding persons with homosexual orientation: 

“The synod is a path; it is a journey, firstly. Secondly, the synod is not a parliament. It’s a protected space in which the Holy Spirit may speak,” the Holy Father told journalists. Read More 

Lesbian's Muslim Dad Inspires With Example of Love, Acceptance

A new video challenges the idea that Islam and tolerance are incompatible. Although ultra-orthodox, extremely conservative sects of Islam dominate today's news, recently there has been a short string of headlines that reveal examples of more progressive, more tolerant practice of the one of the world's largest religions. 

The progressive values that MPV champions include gender equality, LGBT rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of (or from) belief. According to Muslims for Progressive Values founder, Ani Zonneveld, who is straight, those ideas are not new to Islam. There have long been female scholars, artists and singers in Islamic tradition, she says, and antigay laws in modern Muslim states are the legacy of British colonization.  Read More

Lesbian MEP gives Pope rainbow scarf

Ulrike Lunacek, head of delegation of the Austrian Green party, said she offered the Pope the present "for gays, lesbians, and for peace" during the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg. Lunacek is co-president of the European Parliament Intergroup on LGBT Rights, and is the first openly lesbian politician in the Austrian Parliament. She was reportedly attacked with butyric acid as she was giving an interview during the annual Rainbow Parade in Vienna earlier this year. 

No one was injured in the attack, but Lunacek said: "These kinds of isolated cases [show] that the fight for tolerance, acceptance and respect in Austria [is] not over. People who spread fear and hate [need] to be opposed. Read More