Brother Fire

Dan Savage, creator of the It Gets Better Project in response to GLBT teen suicides, has created a new endeavor called Not All Like That (NALT) Christians Project.   This new project encourages Christians who support Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered people to "come out" on video to remind GLBT people, their allies and Christians that not all Christians are like some of the big-name right-wing Christians who rail against LGBT people and seem to get mainstream media attention whenever it comes to the "religious point of view" on GLBT rights issues. Here is my effort in response to this call:

I'm a bit troubled at the conclusion of the Lambeth Conference. Some have declared the conference a success because there was no further splintering or rebellion. How could there be? 250 of the most conservative Bishops were not in attendance, nor was the Bishop who was the focus of the controversy, Bp. V. Gene Robinson. In addition, there were no motions and no church legislation to be voted on. So did anyone leave the Anglican Communion? No. However the victory is hollow considering that nothing was gained during the conference. It seems that the conference was dominated by the American contingency (21% of the Bishops in attendance were from the Episcopal Church of the US). And with alleged "white papers" being distributed by Americans throughout the conference, it seems that their agenda became the focus. What I find most disturbing is that Archbishop Rowan Williams called that there be a moratorium on further consecrations of gay Bishops and that gay-sex is st...

I had the pleasure of meeting Bp. V. Gene Robinson (the first openly gay Bishop consecrated in the Episcopal Church) last month. I was amazed by his positive perspective on the future of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. Despite the fact that he was being deliberately excluded from the Lambeth Conference, it was clear that he saw his presence there (on the outskirts of the conference) as an important opportunity to get to introduce himself to other Bishops. He told us that there would be a number of foreign Bishops who will discreetly meet with him, however he had to promise not to disclose the meetings as the consequences to the visiting Bishops could be dire. I've been trying to follow the debate at the conference regarding the issue of homosexuality -- specifically the ordination of gay men & lesbians, and same-sex marriage, however the coverage in the mainstream media has been scant. Interestingly, Stephen Colbert addressed the issue on the Colbert Repor...

Last week Roman Catholic Bishops from New York released a statement condemning the New York State recognition of same-sex marriage. The NY Bishops' Conference statement was in response to Governor David Paterson's directive that all state agencies must revise their policies and regulations to legally recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states (Massachusetts and California), as well as Canada. The Governor's memo warns that failure to do so could result in sanctions for violations of the state human rights law (You can see an Empire State Pride Agenda video of Governor Paterson announcing the directive, as well as the text of the memo here , on the New York Observer's website). What I find most troubling about the Bishops' statement is not that it condemns same-sex marriage. Such a condemnation is not news coming from Roman Catholic Church leaders. The Church has condemned most things homosexual for centuries. And I wish not to debate the Bishops...

Everyday gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth are bullied, bashed and discriminated against in schools across the country. This Friday, April 25th is an opportunity for students to take action with a day of silence. See the video below for details. Peace.

Jason Wallace recently posted on his blog Hopelessly Blind Tangents an entry entitled "Love the Sinner, Not the Sin." For those of us who have advocated for the rights of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) communities -- you could easily surmise where his post was headed. He quoted verses from Leviticus (18:22 & 20:13) and he expressed frustration that today's society attempts to dictate what he should believe -- especially on TV. He asserts that "God...says [homosexuality] is wrong" and that's what his faith tells him. He continued, "Whether you like it or not that’s the way it is. Those that can’t accept that need to shut their pie holes and understand that it is my right to believe that and not their right to tell me not to." I left him a comment that I believe that homosexuality is NOT a sin, in which he responded with "Don Pratt is clueless." If you recall, Leviticus states that gay sex is detestable [or in...