Equality Act: US House passes legislation protecting LGBT rights

 BBC 25 February

The US House of Representatives has passed sweeping legislation that prohibits LGBT discrimination, but it is unlikely to pass the Senate.

The Equality Act was previously passed by the Democratic-led House in 2019, but was killed by Senate Republicans.

The debate has laid bare the ideological battle between liberals who support the act and conservatives who say it infringes on religious freedom.

The act expands on a 2020 Supreme Court ruling protecting some LGBT rights.

What does the act do?

The Equality Act expands on the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

But what does that actually mean?

• The act provides non-discrimination protections for LGBT people
• It would extend into all areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, jury service, and public services
• It makes existing state protections federal and consistent across the nation

The act would also federally codify into law the 2020 June Supreme Court ruling that said employers who fire workers for being gay or transgender are violating civil rights law.

Advocates for the act have argued that the current "patchwork" of state anti-discrimination laws does not provide enough comprehensive protection, and leaves many LGBT individuals at risk.

Biological Male Crowned Miss Silver State USA

Breitbar 18 Mar 2021

Kataluna Enriquez, a biological male who identifies as a woman, has been crowned Miss Silver State USA, which is described as the “biggest preliminary competition for the Miss Nevada USA pageant.”

Enriquez bested the biological females in the competition, putting him in the position to compete for the state’s competition, Miss Nevada USA, with hopes of competing in the bigger contests, Miss USA and Miss Universe.

“Miss Silver State was a great experience,” Enriquez told local outlet FOX 5, describing it as a “celebration of womanhood and diversity and this celebration of being your true self.”

Enriquez detailed his experiences competing in other pageants outside of the state, one of which asked for documents from a doctor. The competitor described the request as “invasive.”

Pope Francis became the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions

AP October 21, 2020

Pope Francis became the first pontiff to endorse same-sex civil unions in comments for a documentary that premiered Wednesday, sparking cheers from gay Catholics and demands for clarification from conservatives, given the Vatican’s official teaching on the issue.

The papal thumbs-up came midway through the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which premiered at the Rome Film Festival. The film, which features fresh interviews with the pope, delves into issues Francis cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.

“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said. “You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”

The “Positive” Jesus In The Scandinavian Church

Breitbart 18 Sep 2020

 The Scandinavian church, which is notionally Evangelical Lutheran, earned a substantial backlash for the stunt, with social media users claiming to be former congregants citing such “woke” virtue-signalling as their reason for leaving its dwindling flock.

But Petur Georg Markan, the Church’s media representative defended the advert, saying that it supports diversity and suggesting that having Jesus depicted in different ways is positive, according to MailOnline.

“In this [advert], we see a Jesus who has breasts and a beard. We’re trying to embrace society as it is. We have all sorts of people and we need to train ourselves to talk about Jesus as being ‘all sorts’ in this context,” he insisted.

“Especially because it’s really important that each and every person see themselves in Jesus and that we don’t stagnate too much. That’s the essential message. So this is okay. It’s okay that Jesus has a beard and breasts,” he added.

'Onward' introduces the first LGBTQ character in Disney animation history

Yahoo. February 21, 2020

It’s been a long wait, but a Disney heroine finally has a girlfriend… and it’s not Elsa. Months after The Rise of Skywalker featured the first same-sex kiss in the Star Wars galaxy, the new animated film Onward introduces the first self-identified lesbian character into the Disney-Pixar universe. Her name is Officer Specter, and she’s a Cyclops cop voiced by openly gay screenwriter and actress Lena Waithe. While Specter’s inclusion in Onward is a major first for Disney, it’s treated almost matter-of-factly in the movie itself, which the filmmakers say is by design. “It just kind of happened,” Onward producer Kori Rae tells Yahoo Entertainment. “The scene, when we wrote it, was kind of fitting and it opens up the world a little bit, and that’s what we wanted.” Adds director Dan Scanlon, “It’s a modern fantasy world and we want to represent the modern world.”

Specter only appears in one scene in Onward, which opens in theaters on March 6, but her role is vital to the emotional arc of the story. Written by Scanlon, Jason Headley and Keith Bunin, the film takes places in a magical universe whose fantastical citizens — think elves, dragons and manticores — have lost their connection to the magical arts. Onward’s heroes are two elven brothers, Ian and Barley (Tom Holland and Chris Pratt), who lost their father at a young age before either had a chance to properly say goodbye. On Ian’s 16th birthday, their mother (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) hands them a present left behind by dearly departed dad, which turns out to be a 24-hour resurrection spell. Due to their limited experience with magic, the spell immediately goes haywire, forcing the duo to embark on a ticking-clock quest to find a replacement element before their father vanishes again. Meanwhile, Mom and her new boyfriend, centaur cop Colt Bronco (Mel Rodriguez), try to catch up with the boys to protect them from a curse that their mission threatens to unleash.

“Born That Way” No More

John Peck   November, 2019

A new study adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that the dominant narrative about sexual orientation—that it is genetically determined—simply cannot be true. Instead, the science shows that a person’s sexual orientation and choice of partners depends heavily on the development and expression of personal autonomy regarding one’s own sexual possibilities. People with same-sex attractions should be legally and culturally free not to identify with or act on them.

Late last month, a team of MIT and Harvard scientists published a landmark study of the genetic basis for sexual orientation in the journal Science. The study, which was based on an examination of the genetic material of almost half a million individuals, definitively refutes the idea that being gay is an innate condition that is controlled or largely compelled by one’s genetic makeup.

The study contained two key findings. First, it found that the effect of the genes we inherit from our parents (known as “heritability”) on same-sex orientation was very weak, at only .32 on a scale from 0 (none) to 1 (total) heritability. This means that a person’s developmental environment—which includes diet, family, friends, neighborhood, religion, and a host of other life conditions—is twice as influential on the probability of developing same-sex behavior or orientation as a person’s genes are. More

The Federation of Protestant Churches of Switzerland announced that it supports civil marriage between same-sex individuals.

The Local   8 November 2019

Church leaders already came out in favour of same-sex marriage in August, but officially endorsed it this week during their national assembly held in Bern.

"The diversity of sexual orientations reflects the fullness of the divine act of creation. God wants us the way we were created. We cannot choose our sexual orientation," the Church Council said.

The Federation stressed that its support does not mean the church intends to actually introduce religious marriage for same-sex couples, as this decision belongs to local parishes.

It did, however, propose to include a provision in the church's regulations giving its pastors the freedom of choice on whether to marry same-sex couples in a religious ceremony.

Peter Schneeberger, president of the Association VFG Free Churches Switzerland, criticized FEPS's decision.

"Marriage between men and women, because of their potential, has a special status in our view and is based on God's order of creation," he told Livenet.ch, a web portal for Switzerland's Christian community. 

Switzerland allows civil unions between same-sex couples, but not full marriages.

However, a proposal called "Marriage For All", introduced by the Liberal Green party, is currently in the parliament. Deputiesare expected to discuss it during the spring 2020 session.

Same-sex marriage is now legal in most Western European nations. Italy, where these unions are still prohibited, started to recognize them in 2016.

Kellogg’s introduces new gay cereal to teach children how to become transgenders while they eat processed breakfast junk food

Natural News October 21, 2019

Do you ever wake up in the morning and think to yourself, gee, I wish my breakfast cereal was just a little bit more gay. Well, never fear, Kellogg’s is here with a brand new gay breakfast cereal that the company hopes will encourage more children to “be themselves,” including by getting sex changes to become “transgenders.”

According to reports, the new “All Together Cereal” by Kellogg’s combines Corn Flakes, Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Frosted Mini Wheats, Raisin Bran, and Rice Krispies “exclusively together” in a bright purple box with the word “Together” emblazoned on both the front and back in an LGBT rainbow color display.

Timed to coincide with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defemation’s (GLAAD) recent “Spirit Day” on October 17, the release of All Together Cereal by Kellogg’s is an effort to promote “equality and inclusion in the workplace, marketplace and in the communities where we work and live,” according to Kellogg’s chief diversity officer Priscilla Koranteng.

According to Koranteng, Kellogg’s has also donated $50,000 to GLAAD to continue promoting the LGBT agenda to children, which presumably includes having drag queen perverts read to children at public libraries.

“We all belong together,” Kellogg’s says on its website about its new gay cereal, emphasizing the LGBT theme of coexistence as part of its marketing tactic.

“So for the first time in history, our famous mascots and cereals are offered exclusively together in the same box for All Together Cereal,” the website goes on to explain. “It’s a symbol of acceptance no matter how you look, where you’re from or who you love. We believe that all people deserve an environment where they can be their best selves.”

The UN pushes guideliness to help teachers instruct kindergarteners in LGBTQIA, ideology and practice.

NEW YORK, March 20, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) -- The United Nations published new “comprehensive” sex-ed guidelines for schools, taking its cues from Planned Parenthood to help teachers instruct kindergarteners in LGBTQIA+ ideology and practice.

The U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) revised and renamed its 2009 “Comprehensive Sexuality Education” (CSE) document, pushing contraceptive-based sex ed in what the New American calls “a full-blown assault on parental rights and traditional morality” that “could devastate a generation of young people.”

Despite the objections of various member states, the “International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education” takes U.N. abortion promotion a step further, indoctrinating children in pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality, pro-transgenderism, and pro-fornication propaganda starting at age five.  

Critics say these sex-ed standards sexualize kindergarten children and advocate masturbation, abortion, gender confusion, homosexuality, homosexual parenting, contraception, and premarital sex.

“Comprehensive Sexuality Education is a radical, graphic, sexual-rights, pleasure-based approach to sex education that promotes promiscuity, abortion, and diverse sexual practices and identities to young children,” Family Watch International president Sharon Slater said. “This is an all-out frontal assault on the health and innocence of the world’s children from some of the most powerful and well-funded institutions.”

'Outspoken' Short Film Series Celebrates Voices and Contributions of LGBT+ Adventists

Daneen Akers and Stephen Eyer today released the first installment of a new ten-part series of short documentaries called “Outspoken” that features stories of LGBT+ Adventists. This is the third major project for the husband-and-wife team dealing with the intersection of sexuality, gender and the Adventist faith.

Their first film, the feature-length documentary “Seventh-Gay Adventists” (Watchfire Films, 2012) followed the lives and spiritual journeys of three Seventh-day Adventists in same-sex relationships as they struggled with tensions between the distinct cultural markers of their faith community and their identities as lesbian or gay individuals. After screening at film festivals and in and around Adventist communities, the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray, followed by a wider online release.

Akers and Eyer followed “Seventh-Gay Adventists” in 2014 with “Enough Room at the Table,” a film intended to model for the Adventist Church a process the filmmakers called “the sacred act of listening.” “Enough Room” brought together a diverse group of Adventist pastors, thought leaders and congregants—some LGBT+, some not—to talk with one another over the course of a weekend retreat. The film that documented those conversations provided a framework for congregations that might have had preliminary talks about homosexuality and sexual identities, but that might have lacked resources for moving the conversations forward.

I spoke with Daneen Akers about this new project—how it came to be and what links it to and separates it from past projects.

“This new series is a shift for us,” Akers told me. “We’ve journeyed from thinking that we as allies are doing something helpful to realizing that we are the ones who are deeply blessed by getting to witness and share the stories of our LGBT friends.”

The “Outspoken” series of short films will be released exclusively online on the first Friday evening of each month, starting today.       More

A new children’s fairytale honours LGBT celebrities

Lane Sainty

BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

Bo Moore & Christine Luiten

Promised Land, released on Valentine’s Day, is the first children’s book from Wellington, New Zealand, authors Chaz Harris and Adam Reynolds. It is aimed at children aged from five to 10.

The book tells the story of Jack, a farm boy, and Leo, a prince, who meet in the enchanted forest and slowly fall in love. But their budding relationship hits a hurdle when the Queen’s evil husband, Gideon, attempts to seize the enchanted forest, which is on land belonging to Jack’s family.    BuzzFeed

The Loma Linda LGBT agenda

The Seventh day Adventist church must grant the same rights to LGBT individuals as the United States supreme court did June 2015.  (Minute 2:25)   James Walters, PhD, professor of religion - Ethical Studies. 

I've always felt gay, born gay, grew up gay. I read my bible, prayed, preached sermons in churches but the desire of homosexuality did not go away. (Minute 22:45, 26:00, 1:44:22)  Admitted practicing homosexuality (Minute 1:50:40) Han Von Walter, MD Psychiatrist

The SDA  church must accept LGBT individuals as members, because they are Seventh-day Adventists, believe in Jesus, committed to the bible and core teachings of the church. Pope Francis is our model; his words must be our guide.  (Minute 33:00) 

The bible cannot be taken literally, especially Leviticus 18:22  (Minute 1:19:30)  Grace Oie  MD, Pediatric Critical Care.

 

Jesus had two fathers; we affirm the LGBT lifestyle  (Minute 1:32:06) 

We must see in everyone the image of God, even LGBT individuals  (Minute 2:04:00)  Daneen Akers, MA, Film Director: Seventh-gay Adventist.

 

The Bible does not address the LGBT lifestyle. Paul knew nothing about our sexual orientation today, because he lived in a different era. Leviticus 18:22 and Romans 1:26-28 must be studied more because they are not as conclusive as they appear to be on the surface. The Bible cannot settle every question. (Minute 58:00 - 1:03:55)  Jonathan Paulien, PhD, Professor of Religion - Theological Studies.

What should I do if I am a gay Seventh day Adventist? Answer: here are seven options. 1) Commit suicide, 2) Stay in the closet, 3) Marry a person of the opposite sex, 4) Seek change therapy by praying, reading the bible, getting counseling, 5) Engage in promiscuity, 6) Celibacy, 7) Form a loving, lasting union akin to marriage.  Mr Larson stated that he only agrees with the last 2 options.   (Minute 40:30, 47:00)

There is a change happening in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination to affirm the LGBT lifestyle at the grassroots, due to the work of people like Daneen Akers.  (Minute 49:30) 

The six texts that are usually to clobber (to condemn) people who practice the LGBT lifestyle should be removed from the bible. Then let us just love everyone.  (Minute 1:22:00, 1:27:00)  Davis R. Larson, DMin, PhD, Professor of Ethical Studies. 

The LGBT Agenda

New Workshop Tool Helps Congregations Open Conversation with LGBT Adventists

From News Release, March 9, 2016:    Can Adventist congregations create safe spaces for positive, healing, informed and authentic conversation on a topic often ignored? A Sanctuary for Conversation: Listening, Loving, and Learning is a three-hour workshop that helps to answer that question. Through this workshop, congregations will be introduced to a model for engaging in conversations that lead to clarity, hope, and healing.

This workshop responds to the Statement on Human Sexuality, from the denomination’s North American Division (NAD). The NAD stated, “The vital and opportune role of the Adventist Church is to educate its members about sexuality and purity within the context of grace.”

A Sanctuary for Conversation also addresses the Call for Peace, from the General Conference (GC). The GC stated, “There needs to be dialogue and discussion in place of diatribe. In particular, Christians should always be ready to ‘reason together,’ as the Bible says.”

The workshop opens with active learning activities and includes interviews with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and parents of LGBT children. Also, a professional psychologist defines terms and answers questions about orientation and gender. Participants will learn better listening skills, statistics about LGBT youth, the difference between acceptance and agreement, and signs of safe and unsafe churches. At the end of the workshop participants brainstorm practical ways to transform their church into a sanctuary for Jesus and for God’s Holy Spirit.

For more information or to purchase copies of the leader’s guide and workbook, visit OpenDialogueResources.org or email OpenDialogueResources@gmail.com.

A Sanctuary for Conversation has been tested with pastors, youth ministries leaders and local churches. Here is some of the feedback from people who were part of the workshop:

“I have grown because of the time I spent listening to the presentations, discussions, and panel. As a result of this workshop, I have taken away an understanding of how to become a better minister to all.”

“The spirit of loving, humble discussion was filled with opportunities to sense and share God’s Holy Spirit.”

“We asked [those who attended] to become more empathetic, not to change their beliefs.” (a presenter)

“During my 27 years in Adventism, I have never seen such a spirit of humility expressed from the leaders of the church. No one came to prove ‘I’m right, you’re wrong,’ or to ‘school’ someone else on their theology. Instead, we all came to learn, be honest, and work together to improve the lives of our LGBT youth.”

“If you want your church to be a true community that is loving and compassionate, then do this workshop—it will make everyone more aware of their humanity.”     AToday

New stamps promoting LGBT equality worldwide unveiled at UN

UN Free and Equal postage stamps – promoting LGBT equality worldwide. Source: UNPA

4 February 2016 – The United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) today unveiled a set of six commemorative stamps to promote UN Free & Equal – a global UN campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality launched and led by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The new stamps, which celebrate the diversity of the LGBT community, mark the first time the United Nations has issued stamps with this theme. The set, which features two in English, two in French, and two in German, will be available as of tomorrow at UN Headquarters in New York, Geneva and Vienna. They can also be purchased online.
In an interview, the artist who designed them said he was very influenced by art from the first quarter of the 20th Century. Sergio Baradat, who is of Cuban background, explained that his style stems from his appreciation for French Art Deco and growing up in Miami.
“One of the stamps represents someone who is transgender,” Mr. Baradat told UN Radio, referring to the stamp that depicts a person with butterfly wings, an image he says represents a person “becoming who they really are, blossoming,” he said.
“We live in a world where even though [developed] nations have embraced marriage equality [and] LBGT equality, we still have a far, far, far way to go, but we are making some strides,” he added.
“There are some countries in the world right now where not only are we not celebrated or respected, but we are beaten and killed. And I thought that it would be a wonderful opportunity using art, to use postage stamps as a vehicle – using art to change hearts and minds.”
He also stressed that LGBT rights are human rights and that all individuals deserve to be treated equally and fairly under the law.
The series is co-sponsored by the permanent missions of Argentina, Australia, Chile, El Salvador, Germany, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uruguay, the delegation of the European Union, in addition to OHCHR and UNPA.
United Nations stamps in United States denominations are valid for postage only if mailed at UN Headquarters in New York. Stamps in Swiss franc denominations are valid for postage only if mailed at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Stamps in euro denominations are valid for postage only if mailed at the Vienna International Centre, Austria.          UN