The LDS Church announced on Thursday that it would officially endorse The Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) recent proposal to change their anti-gay policies and allow gay youth members, but not adults, to join the organization.
The Community of Christ—an offshoot of the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—voted this week by more than the requisite majority to begin performing marriage ceremonies for lesbian and gay couples in states where it is legal.
Dannika Nash, a junior at the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota, started blogging two months ago. On April 7th, after attending a Macklemore concert, she published her third post, “An Open Letter to the Church from My Generation,” and got 2,377 more comments than she expected. The letter has since gained national attention and has been reposted to dozens of websites.
Nicholas Coppola, the gay Catholic man who was removed from his volunteer ministerial responsibilities at his Long Island parish after marrying his longtime partner, delivered a petition calling for his reinstatement to his bishop. In less than a week, the petition garnered over 18,000 signatures.
Biola University professor Erik Thoennes equated having an LGBTQ identity with being a racist at a school-sponsored panel in September of 2012. Audio of his comments were only recently released. Because LGBTQ students are at risk for expulsion at Biola, it has taken months for them to organize. However, with the help of openly-queer alum Jos Charles, a petition was finally started.
The story of Nicholas Coppola, an openly gay Catholic man who was asked to leave his Long Island parish after marrying his boyfriend, continues to develop and spread to wider media sources.
PFLAG founder Jeanne Manford was honored with a plaque presented by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation for her important work in making communities safer for LGBT people.
This week's religion news summary includes Bishop Timothy Dolan's statement about LGBT inclusion--along with stories of LGBT Catholics who have experienced exclusion. A rainbow house across from the Westboro Baptist Church caused a media stir, and the SCOTUS cases drew the support of faith leaders from across the country.
More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
