History was made in South Africa this week, when the synod of what was once probably the most conservative church on the planet, the Dutch Reformed Church, in an overwhelming majority, voted in favor of ordaining gay ministers and blessing same sex unions.
Africa: Voices from LGBT Catholics in Western Africa
A report commissioned by the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups showcases the voices of LGBT Christians from Western Africa were not well heard in the on-going discussion about the Family Synod of the Roman Catholic Church. The findings are based on interviews conducted by Davis Mac-Iyalla with Catholic LGBT people in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
From the many interviews conducted, it has become clear that LGBT people in West Africa have a hard life. They are openly persecuted both by the state and the church and feel abandoned. It is sad to say that many LGBTs are “marginalized and hated in life and marginalized and hated in death.” The anti-gay laws in these countries prevent constructive dialogue between the state, church and LGBTs. This isolates LGBTs and propagates fear, hatred and even violence against the LGBT community.
Despite all of this, Catholic LGBT’s do not want to walk away from the Catholic Church. They want to be accepted, to be welcomed by the church, to have dialogue, and education. Above all, they want equality both in their personal lives and in their church to live in a nurturing environment not one of condemnation. Read More via Washington Blade
US: Catholics open to non-traditional families
When Pope Francis arrives in the US, he will find a Catholic public that is remarkably accepting of a variety of non-traditional families, according to a new survey that provides an in-depth look at American Catholics’ views on family life, sexuality and Catholic identity.
Nine-in-ten U.S. Catholics say a household headed by a married mother and father is an ideal situation for bringing up children. But the survey shows that large majorities think other kinds of families – those headed by parents who are single, divorced, unmarried or gay – are OK for raising children, too. Read More via Pew Research
US: Ahead of Pope's visit to US, some friction over LGBT issues
The World Meeting of Families, the central religious event of Pope Francis' first visit to the United States, is intended to convey a message of love and joy as it seeks to promote church teaching on marriage. Yet weeks away from its opening in Philadelphia, friction is mounting as LGBT Roman Catholics lobby for a broader role in the event and organizers move to limit them.
The tensions surrounding the gathering will pose a real-world test of the pope's approach that emphasizes compassion and welcome while upholding Catholic doctrine that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
"We don't want to provide a platform at the meeting for people to lobby for positions contrary to the life of our church," said Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, the meeting's host. Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, an advocacy group for LGBT Catholics, said Chaput and other U.S. bishops "are putting their heads in the sand."
The pope is scheduled to visit an outdoor Festival of Families and celebrate Mass the next day at the conclusion of the Meeting of Families. Among the more than 15,000 Catholics registered for the meeting are 22 people representing LGBT families on behalf of a coalition called Equally Blessed. Though no official speakers will convey their viewpoints, they hope to engage in conversations with other attendees. Read More via New York Times
Brazil: Gay pentecostal pastor leads largely LGBT congregation
With his booming voice and high-voltage charisma capable of working crowds of hundreds into a lather, Marcos Gladstone has all the trappings of a successful preacher. But Gladstone has something that most other Pentecostal leaders don't - a husband.
He and spouse Fabio Inacio are co-founders of the Contemporary Christian Church, one of a handful of Pentecostal denominations in Brazil that welcome gays and lesbians with open arms and was born out of Gladstone's dream to preach "a gospel of love and acceptance for all people."
Barely a presence until a few decades ago, Pentecostals now make up one-fifth of the population in Brazil, which is home to more Roman Catholics than any other nation. They're generally more socially conservative than their Catholic brethren. Some Brazilian Pentecostal churches even offer programs that claim to be capable of "curing" gay people.
Not so at Contemporary Christian, which this week celebrated its ninth anniversary and the opening of its ninth branch with a raucous, theatrical service at a converted movie theater in a gritty Rio neighborhood. Read More via Huffington Post
South Africa: Lesbian minister tells Con Court dismissal was unconstitutional
The potentially ground-breaking case in which a lesbian minister has taken legal action against the Methodist Church of South Africa (MCSA) for firing her was heard by the Constitutional Court.
Ecclesia de Lange was dismissed by the church in January 2010 after she announced to her Western Cape congregation that she would be marrying her same-sex partner at the time. Representing de Lange, Advocate Anna-Marie de Vos told the court that the church “acted unconstitutionally, unlawfully and unfairly” in firing the minister: “The right of freedom of religion does not automatically give the church the right to discriminate unfairly,” she said.
Wim Trengove, the church’s legal counsel, said that its ministers must subscribe to the fundamental tenets of the church, including that “marriage is an institution between one man and one woman.” Read More via Mamba
Denmark: First transgender couple married in the Danish National Church
Isabel Storm and Cecilia Mundt will be the first transsexual couple ever to be married in a Danish National Church. They say in a interview with DR news: "It is important to us that we get married in a church and not by the mayor at city hall. We love each other and it is wonderful that the Danish Church accepts that".
The priest, Henrik Fuglsang-Damgaard, at Sct. Bendts church is happy to be the first priest ever to marry a transsexual couple: "I think it is a nice decision that they want to follow their heart, and are not afraid of showing God and people around them that they stick together. I believe that God it happy about Cecilia and Isabel found each other." Read More via DR.dk
Italy: Prime Minister wants a vote on civil union bill by October
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he hopes to get a long-stalled civil union bill through parliament in October. Renzi vowed early in his term to get make civil unions legal under Italian law before the start of 2014, but the bill stalled in the face of stiff opposition. Renzi was cautious with his new timeline in remarks quoted by ANSA.
Renzi outlined his new timeline as the bill’s lead author, Senator Monica Cirinnà announced a deal with conservative members of the Justice Committee to allow an amendment adding language designed to emphasize that civil unions were not considered equivalent with marriage between a man and a woman.
Opposition from Catholic leaders has helped keep the bill on ice despite the fact that 75% of Italians favored some form of partnership rights for same-sex couples and nearly half backed full marriage equality in a BuzzFeed News/Ipsos poll conducted earlier this year. Read More via Buzzfeed
US: From South Carolina to North Dakota, churches cut ties with Boy Scouts
With the Boy Scouts of America having lifted its blanket ban on openly gay adult leaders, some churches that sponsor scout troops are cutting ties with the organization — even though the BSA’s new policy does not require any church-affiliated troop to accept gay leadership.
The First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in South Carolina sent a letter to parents last week announcing it would no longer sponsor a scout troop, ending a nearly 50-year relationship. The letter, from church member and scout leader Buddy Lever, noted that homosexuality goes against the church’s beliefs, and that staying with the BSA might eventually force to accept gay leaders.
Meanwhile, the Roman Catholic bishop of North Dakota has ordered churches in his diocese to end any affiliation with the BSA: “I cannot permit our Catholic institutions to accept and participate directly or indirectly in any organization which has policies and methods which contradict the authoritative moral teachings of the Catholic Church.” Churches within the diocese sponsor 8 Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs, and they will now look for alternatives. Read More
South Korea: This man’s story explains the emergence of South Korea’s anti-LGBT movement
Jonah Lee, a round-faced 63-year-old with a swoop of graying hair, once spent his days running gay bars and drag clubs in Korea and Japan in the ’70s and ’80s. His flagship, Hot Love, was a hit in both Seoul and Tokyo. Today, Lee is known for something else entirely. He claims, through a ministry he started in the Korean capital in 1994, to have counseled more than 1,200 people seeking to “escape homosexuality.”
Lee’s story — from gay entertainment pioneer to the leading spokesperson for Korea’s ex-gay movement — was made possible by the trajectory of many of South Korea’s Christian churches, which have grown exponentially since Lee first became a Christian almost 40 years ago. Today, many of Korea’s most important Christian leaders have come to preach homosexuality as an existential threat. These churches believe their movement is doing more than just saving people from sin; they believe they are saving the nation itself.
Lee’s path to ex-gay leader is a story in miniature of how homosexuality rapidly went from an almost invisible issue in South Korea to one that is now bringing tens of thousands of shouting protesters to the streets. Read More
Sister Monica’s secret ministry to transgender people
Sister Monica lives alone in a small house at the edge of a Roman Catholic college run by a community of nuns. She doesn’t want to reveal the name of the town where she lives, the name of her Catholic order, or her real name. Sister Monica lives in hiding, so that others may live in plain sight.
Now in her early 70s and semiretired because of health problems, she remains committed to her singular calling for the past 16 years: ministering to transgender people and helping them come out of the shadows. “Many transgender people have been told there’s something wrong with them,” she said. “They have come to believe that they cannot be true to themselves and be true to God. There is no way we can pray, or be in communion with God, except in the truth of who we are.” Read More
Spain: Bishop reverses decree that transgendered person may not serve as godparent
Over 36,000 signed a petition against Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of Cádiz and Ceuta after he decreed that Alex Salinas could not serve as godparent to their nephew because Alex is transgender.
Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of Cádiz and Ceuta said that the parish priest was "kind and understanding" in conveying to Alex Salinas, who identifies as a man, that while he cannot serve as a baptismal sponsor because of canonical requirements that a sponsor live in accordance with the faith, he could spiritually encourage and help the child in living the faith. A transgendered Spanish legislator called for a study of whether the diocese's decision violates national hate-crimes legislation.
Following the backlash, Bishop Zornoza Boy has reversed his decision. Read More