LGBT Religion News Updates for November 16, 2011

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. We appreciate your suggestions, and thank you for forwarding. You may subscribe via faith@glaad.org.

El-Farouk Khaki discusses his Eid experience as a LGBT-identified Muslim in an essay for the Huffington Post. For many LGBT Muslims, “Eid is a time of sadness, guilt and isolation when they must either hide their orientation, or face rejection, condemnation and isolation from family, faith and community.” Khaki celebrated Eid at Masjid el-Twahid, a mosque he helped co-found that holds congregational services that are gender-equal, LGBT inclusive, and religiously non-discriminatory.

Last week, Sikhs all over the world celebrated the birth of Guru Nanak, a mystic poet and revolutionary. In a piece published in the Huffington Post with the aid of GLAAD’s Religion, Faith & Program, Sonny Singh re-interpreted Guru Nanak’s famous phrase “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim,” arguing that perhaps today we could also say, “There is no straight, there is no gay.” Singh concludes that this embodies the Guru’s message that we are all One.

The U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops is meeting in Baltimore this week. According to the Washington Post, the Conference will discuss a number of issues including, “a broader culture moving toward accepting gay marriage; a White House they often condemn as hostile to Catholic teaching; and state legislatures that church leaders say are chipping away at religious liberty.” GLAAD is watching the media coverage of the Conference’s proceedings.

Last Thursday Steven Greenberg, an openly-gay Orthodox rabbi, officiated the marriage of Yoni Bock and Ron Kaplan at Washington, D.C.'s "Historic 6th and I Synagogue." Below are two clips from the wedding ceremony.