Homosexuality

The religious soup we grow up in affects all of us. Sometimes the influences are helpful and favorable, but especially for those off the mainstream, they can be very painful and alienating. Even passages from holy books, initially innocent or positive, can by so badly misconstrued as to become life-threatening. K.

George Lakey has been on the vanguard of nonviolent activism for over 50 years, doing, innovating, and teaching organizing & activism with ever more effective ways of helping humanity forward.

The topic is individual spiritual discernment, and our guests are Jerry Knutson, author of a Pendle Hill Pamphlet on the subject, and Kat Griffith, who is working with Jerry on translating it into Spanish for a Latin American audience, with the prospect of jointly leading workshops on the topic.

Liam Hooper takes on the "gayest" passage in the Christian Bible, the story of the Roman Centurion and the healing of his personal servant. Does this text condone gay sex? Gay relationships? Slavery?

Liam deepens the significance of the passage by connecting it to the narrative that comes immediately afterwards: Jesus raising a widow's only son from the dead. 

North Carolina in 2017 is surely not the most welcoming place for a trans guy, yet it's where Liam Hooper is doing the work he's called to do. As Minister of Welcome & Beyond at Parkway UCC, Winston Salem, NC, Liam delivers a message of inclusion and strength to government, institutions, and individuals all around the state, rabble-rousing, preaching, and lecturing to make a difference.

For much of his life of activism, Bayard Rustin was asked to stay invisible, even as he was a leading organizer behind a number of crucial actions, including the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom, because he was gay. Bayard Rustin, Invisible Activist is a biography for young folks which paints a vivid portrait of Bayard's life.

Reflections on proposed legislation defining marriage as "one man, one woman". What is kind, good and necessary - and what is God's will?

Peterson Toscano, using wit, humor & theater, illuminates non-conforming gender roles in the Bible, reclaiming existence for a variety of folks ignored & silenced by the mainstream. With his winning humor and incisive vision, Peterson found acceptance for his revolutionary insights when presenting at the joint 2012 conference of the Society of Biblical Literature/American Academy of Religion. His newest theater production is Jesus Had 2 Daddies.

There's a sea change going on around marriage equality/homosexuality/alternative sexuality, and one sign is 3 new memoirs.