Blogs
Greater NW Pride From Closet to Resurrection
4/17/2019
From Closet to Resurrection In a recent Facebook posting (April 16, 2019), from “Friend of Dorothy Book,” there was an entry called “Reasons not to stay in The Closet: 1. It’s dark; 2. It smells; 3. It’s lonely; 4. It’s only big enough for one person; 5. It’s exhausting to lie all the time; 6. You might end up in Narnia." https://www.facebook.com/FriendofDorothyBook/photos/a.343204645768504/2110528405702777/?type=3&theater On “The Rachel Maddow Show” on April 15, 2019, in Rachel’s ...
Greater NW Pride: Publicity! How to Affirm LGBTQ+ People in Our Churches
4/10/2019
Publicity! How to Affirm LGBTQ+ in Our Churches In a recent article published on-line in The Advocate, Sam Brinton, who works with the Trevor Project, wrote an interesting article about the difference of being a “welcoming” community of faith, which simply “welcomes” those of us who are LGBTQ+ , and nothing more. Meanwhile, an affirming church affirms that God created us all—male, female, and non-binary, LGBTQ+ —in God’s image. In other words, God is not only male, female, and non-binary, but...
Spirit Alive: It's Time for a Bit More Jesus
4/4/2019
What Can the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth Teach Us About Our Own Life and Times?
Greater NW Pride: Transgender Visibility Day and Other LGBTQ+ Days
4/4/2019
Transgender Visibility Day and Other LGBTQ+ Days Happy Transgender Visibility Day! After seeing all the rainbow bunting, flags, t-shirts, and stoles on so many United Methodist Church websites, Facebook posting, and Instagram accounts after the vote taken by the UMC General Conference in February 2019, I thought it would be helpful to share with those UMC churches who are supportive of LGBTQ clergy, lay leaders, and lay members other ways of supporting those of us in the LGBTQ+ community. I...
Greater NW Pride: What Does it Mean to be an “Ally” in the LGBTQ+ Movement?
3/25/2019
What Does it Mean to be an “Ally” in the LGBTQ+ Movement? From time to time, in and among my LGBTQ+ friends, we joke about getting our “membership card” when we come out of our respective closets, receiving a list of what is the “gay agenda,” in which we strive for ultimate world power, somewhere between waking up, coffee brewed, showering, going to work, work, lunch break, take over the world, work some more, coffee break, and going home to make a “fabulous” meal before we turn in and go to...
Greater NW Pride: What Does LGBTQ+ Mean? A Primer
3/21/2019
What Does LGBTQ+ Mean? A Primer Language matters. And naming and labeling matters. One’s “sexual orientation” is a social construct and context dependent, which we all use to identify and self-identify just one part of our life. So, I am a gay, cisgender, white, male, Christian, who prefers the personal pronoun “he/him/his;” I am able bodied and hearing. Our gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, age, ability, hearing, being deaf, disability, socioeconomic class, and religion also matter and ...