GLAAD’s Religion, Faith & Values program works to elevate LGBT-affirming voices of faith in mainstream, regional, and community media. To find out more, visit www.glaad.org/faith. For additional religion and faith updates, be sure to check out our blog. Thank you for forwarding. You may subscribe via our online registration form. We welcome suggestions at faith@glaad.org.
In an effort to promote equality for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations, the United Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO)is launching an event titled “Love Beyond Borders: Equality and Acceptance For All.” During the event, the UU-UNO intends to remind the world’s most powerful policymakers of the countless LGBT voices around the world who deserve equal protection from multi-faceted oppression. GLAAD encourages all those committed to promoting acceptance and equality for all to join in the movement and help shape the future of global equality by attending and sharing this event. Tickets are available for sale now.
The breaking news as we put the finishing touches on this newsletter is the ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals which has ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional. While news about the Washington marriage bill, the New Jersey marriage proposal, and North Carolina’s equal marriage ban are pouring in, many media sources are covering the religious opposition to such measures. Others, though, offer nuanced approaches to the intersection of faith and LGBT legal movements. Ross Murray, Director of Religion, Faith, and Values at GLAAD, suggests that media outlets cover more stories of pro-equality religious stances in order to reflect the reality that more and more people of faith are supportive of LGBT rights. Jay Michaelson, a Religion Dispatches associate editor, argues in his new book God vs. Gay: The Religious Case for Equality that people of faith should not feel the need to view religion and LGBT equality as oppositional.
Discussion of marriage equality and religion is not popular only in the U.S. Sadia Kruger and Zukayna Leonard, reportedly the first lesbian couple married under South African marriage equality legislation five years ago, are ready to take the next big step – the couple plan to get married by Islamic rites to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary. Their story proves that the continuing dialogue surrounding marriage equality in Muslim circles is hopeful.
