Category Archives: opinion

Gay, Catholic and Proud

Posted on by
Reply

It’s that time of year again. The beginning of summer marks the time of year when every major city hosts its LGBT Pride Parade. The cities will explode in a Molotov cocktail explosion of pink confetti, diva music, and piñatas filled with condoms. Or so I’ve heard.

For the first time I will be participating in the festivities. Not because for the first time in my life I’m gay, but for the first time in my life, I’m verging on something adjacent to pride when it comes to my sexuality.

For the longest time, I didn’t know what that meant. How could someone be proud of their sexuality? Did straight people walk around proud of the fact that they wanted to have heterosexual intercourse? Unlikely.

But really what was there to be proud of when it came to sexuality at all? It is an uncontrollable fact bestowed upon each of us. It’s like celebrating my red hair or freckles. Those don’t bring me a sense of pride. They’re just facts. I’m proud of accomplishments. My graduation from college, my job, the relationships I’ve built with those around me, my dedication to watch all of season 2 of True Detective no matter how bad it got. Those required work.

My gayness didn’t require work. It required being born.

But then I thought again.

Source: Gay, Catholic and Proud

Being gay and Christian isn’t as contradictory as it might sound

Posted on by
Reply

So if I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, does that mean I get to take you out for a drink? 😉

Since reactivating my OkCupid profile two months ago, I’ve received dozens of messages mentioning my religion.

My identity as a Christian is important to me, so I let potential suitors on the Internet know that if they wanted to go to brunch on Sunday, it would have to be after 11 o’clock Mass.

However, most of my potential dates — whether we’re meeting online or off — don’t know what to make of me.

Source:  – The Washington Post

It’s Time to Rethink Religion vs. LGBT

Posted on by
Reply

Despite what it sounds like on the campaign trail, Americans of all religious backgrounds are opposed to curtailing freedoms for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. While Marco Rubio states that “…faith-based people…are being compelled to sin by government in their business conduct” and Ted Cruz is calling 2016 the “religious liberty election,” statistics show a more complicated relationship between American religion and LGBT issues. A majority of Americans – across the religious spectrum – think that people should not be fired from a job, denied housing or evicted from their home simply because they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

While more than 50% of white evangelical Protestants and Mormons do support Religious Refusal bills, every other American religious group – including Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Muslims – oppose them. Moreover, majorities in every single American religious group – including white evangelical Protestants and Mormons – would support legislation protecting LGBT individuals from discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing.

Source: Huffington Post

Families are not the church, should be free to define themselves | National Catholic Reporter

Posted on by
Reply

It’s impossible to find any biblical warrant for the so-called ideal American family of one husband, one wife and 2.3 (or so) children. Families, in fact, always have come in different shapes and sizes and, until modern times, it has been unusual for anyone to claim that this or that version of family is normative for all and exists with the specific blessing of God.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that scholars began to do much academic study of families and their structures throughout history. They found many different models in many different cultures, of course, so to use the phrase “traditional family values” is to raise the questions of whose tradition and what values.In many ways, families should be able to define themselves. That is, if a household containing a mother, father and three children constitutes a family, why can’t a household containing a grandmother, two grandchildren and a cousin? Or a legally married (or simply cohabitating) gay couple with an adopted daughter?

Source: Families are not the church, should be free to define themselves | National Catholic Reporter