As a queer of faith and the product of generations of Jewish people who fought to continue to exist and queer brethren who paved the way for me to live openly, I cannot help but continue to pray for one more moment of courage—one more moment of strength in the battle I need to fight.…
Finding progressive and empowering conceptualizations around dressing and behaving in ways that protect my energy—how I would define modesty—is a challenge. Bringing those resources into a fold that includes non-binary fashion, however, can feel even harder—and super limiting.…
However, from the boundaries of my own lived experience, and despite Christ “ending the old law,” Christians who condemn LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences often cite one Old Testament passage in particular, and there has perhaps been no text with a larger influence on attitudes toward gay people than the biblical book of Leviticus.…
When I was seven years old, I asked for a rather unusual gift—a menorah. Now, if I had been growing up in a Jewish household, this might not have seemed so out of place; but, as a second-grader who was raised between two Baptist and Catholic families—and attended a Methodist church—this was an odd request. Nevertheless, my mom took me to a craft store and we picked out a paint-it-yourself clay menorah with beautiful Stars of David all across it.…
It’s Pride month! And with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots right around the corner, we’re seeing a hot debate around rainbow washing and performative allyship for profit by major corporations. Yet, one place remains, more often than not, unwashed by rainbows—the church. As frustrating as rainbow capitalism can be, it is at least an invitation for dialogue. If you are willing to rebrand for 30 days each summer, then perhaps we can discuss what support for the LGBTQ community…
By Dr. Laura McGuire While I’ve previously written about learning God’s pronouns and my ongoing journey to finding what ministry means to me, I haven’t talked about my interfaith Abrahamic religious identity’s role in my queerness. I was raised as a Christian, and though I have joyously returned to my ancestorial Jewish roots, I still feel that it is part of my calling as an emerging faith leader to shed light on the toxic fallacies that hurt queer folks in…
Today we meet Katie Johnson, a bisexual Muslim who wears the niqab (hair and face covering). As a person of devout and outward signs of faith, Johnson sometimes gets erased from what we think of as queerness. I was excited to speak with her about how her faith and sexual orientation have impacted who she is today, as well as to expand the conversation on queers who cover.…
For as long as I can remember, there’s been a drumming in my heart—a subtle pulse asking me to listen, inviting me to hear its message. This sound has, at times, been a dull murmur, something I can drown out with the distractions of life. At other times, it is a profound drumbeat, silencing everything else. This drumming is the call to ministry, something I have long ignored or made excuses to avoid.…
Last month, I began a journey to tell the stories of fellow LGBTQ people who follow the religious practice of hair covering—an exploration that was born from the need to find and connect with others who are both queer and called to outwardly express their deep-faith practice. I was overwhelmed with the response to my first article on Bailey Gammon, a young, disabled, queer Quaker who covers—numerous other queer folks across the faith spectrum reached out, wishing to share their…
I have always loved God. Yes, at times, I couldn’t stand to be around organized religion. And yes, at times, I even wanted to embrace Agnosticism or Atheism, simply because of the pain I felt from having religion weaponized against me. But even still, I could not escape the joy and validity of my relationship with the divine. As I have made peace with my queerness, I have also begun to re-embrace those aspects of religion and the church that…
