Gender & Sexuality
Whitworth University’s new hiring policy will allow LGBTQ faculty
By Yonat Shimron — June 30, 2023
(RNS) —The school in Spokane, Washington, joins a sliver of Christian colleges and universities that have bucked a largely sturdy resistance to hiring married gay faculty.
The Supreme Court rules for a designer who doesn’t want to make wedding websites for gay couples
By Jessica Gresko — June 30, 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a defeat for gay rights, the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled on Friday that a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples.
US Jews mourn the anniversary of the fall of Roe with a yahrzeit
By Yonat Shimron — June 23, 2023
(RNS) — American Jews lit a candle made to burn for 24 hours to remember the souls of people who have died in forced births.
Meet Natalie Drew: Christian, trans woman, veteran and pacifist
By Kathryn Post — June 23, 2023
(RNS) — 'I get asked a lot, why do I stay?' said Drew, a wife and mother of two. 'I stay because I truly believe Jesus Christ came, died and rose again the third day.'
Photo of first US ordained woman rabbi to be exhibited in National Portrait Gallery
By Yonat Shimron — June 23, 2023
(RNS) — Rabbi Sally Priesand, who is now 76 and retired, was ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1972.
Meet the LGBTQ activist who challenged his Caribbean country’s anti-sodomy law and won
By Luis Andres Henao — June 12, 2023
ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (AP) — Such laws used to be common in former European colonies across the Caribbean but have been challenged in recent years.
As Christian Reformed synod opens, one church awaits its fate
By Yonat Shimron — June 9, 2023
(RNS) — Last year, the synod voted to declare sexually active gays and lesbians 'unchaste.' This year it will revisit the issue and may take action against a church that ordained a gay deacon.
Poll: Most religious Americans believe there are only two genders
By Yonat Shimron — June 8, 2023
(RNS) — Americans’ views of trans people have hardened over the past two years, a new PRRI survey shows.
Seattle’s Quest Church leaves ECC as church affirms LGBTQ Christians
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 5, 2023
(RNS) — The Seattle megachurch’s move to disaffiliate from the denomination comes as the ECC was prepared to vote this summer on expelling Quest and Awaken Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, over the churches' support for LGBTQ Christians.
North Carolina clergy demonstrate against legislature’s new abortion limits
By Yonat Shimron — May 12, 2023
(RNS) — Their aim was to signal that not all Christians oppose abortion. A new state bill bans abortion after 12 weeks, down from the current 20.
Their church is leaving the UMC fold. They found refuge in a nearby ‘Lighthouse.’
By Yonat Shimron and Emily McFarlan Miller — May 4, 2023
(RNS) — The United Methodist Church is turning its attention to taking care of those who want to remain and rebuilding and fortifying its ranks.
UMC clergy reportedly face complaint, church trial after marrying nonbinary couple
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 19, 2023
(RNS) — The Rev. Paige Swaim-Presley and the Rev. Elizabeth Davidson say they were informed in late February a formal complaint has been filed against them, allegedly for officiating a same-sex wedding.
Abortion pill rulings undermine religious freedom, interfaith leaders say
By Yonat Shimron — April 14, 2023
(RNS) — Multiple faith groups object to Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk’s ruling on mifepristone, saying it is motivated by a sectarian version of Christianity that tramples over their beliefs.
Amid attacks on trans people, a queer yeshiva offers a path to liberation
By Yonat Shimron — April 12, 2023
(RNS) — At Svara, LGBTQ Jews are reinterpreting and reshaping Jewish tradition by copying the methods used by the rabbis who compiled the Talmud.
Judge dismisses lawsuit by 36 United Methodist churches
By Yonat Shimron — March 21, 2023
(RNS) — The North Carolina churches sued in state courts to leave a denomination they view as having strayed from its theological moorings on LGBTQ issues.
