Jason and Philip in Minneapolis

St. Thomas' Parish in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC......

....Believes Out Loud with their video on It Get's Better.

Trinity Church Boston Believes Out Loud with "It Gets Better" project

Five weeks ago a national video campaign, "It Gets Better," began to address the rash of recent news stories about bullying and the suicides of gay teenagers and young adults. What began as one entry on YouTube has now become thousands of people telling their stories and offering hope to help gay teens who feel isolated and who may be contemplating suicide. What is largely missing from this remarkable collection is the voice of faith communities like Trinity Church. The Rev. Rodney Hudgen is inviting LGBT parishioners, friends and families to take part in creating a video entry from the people of Trinity Church. Rodney says, "Ours is an important story that needs to be told. The attitudes of society will change, and the attitudes of some churches have already changed, but many have no way of knowing that truth. We need to help these young people live long enough to know that the church can be a safe place for them, can offer a spiritual home they may have never known existed. Trinity is just that kind of place. My hope is that other faith communities may follow our lead and create their own videos to the collection." Filming will take place on Sunday, October 31. If you want to be a part of this project, please send an email to Lauren Lukason.

A Blessing for those who are being bullied

If you are a GLBT boy or girl, man or woman, who is being bullied, then this blessing is for you. Carry it with you. Keep it near you at all times. Let it shield you from all harm. Let it be a light through any darkness as you find your path to the dignity and respect you deserve as a child of God.

My Name Is ______________________.

What ever others may try to call me, My Name Is ______________________.

God knows me by My Name because God gave me life.

God calls me by My Name because God has a purpose for my life.

God remembers My Name because God loves me just as I am.

Therefore I will not be afraid. I will not be intimidated. I will not be denied my dignity. I will not harm myself.

I will not be called by any other name than My Name.

My Name is _______________________.

And I am beautiful and precious in the eyes of the Lord.

This blessing was written by the Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, a Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Bishop Gene Robinson: "How Religion is Killing Our Most Vulnerable Youth"

"It's time for "tolerant" religious people to acknowledge the straight line between the official anti-gay theologies of their denominations and the deaths of these young people. Nothing short of changing our theology of human sexuality will save these young and precious lives."

[You'll want to read all of Bishop Robinson's excellent piece in today's Huffington Post, but here's an excerpt:]

Despite the progress we're making on achieving equality under the law and acceptance in society for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people, why this rash of bullying, paired with self-loathing, ending in suicide? With humility and heartfelt repentance I assert that religion -- and its general rejection of homosexuality -- plays a crucial role in this crisis.

On the one hand, Religious Right hatemongers and crazies are spewing all sorts of venom and condemnation, all in the name of a loving God. The second-highest-ranking Mormon leader, Boyd K. Packer, recently called same-sex attraction "impure and unnatural" in an act of unspeakable insensitivity at the height of this rash of teen suicides. He declared that it can be cured, and that same-sex unions are morally repugnant and "against God's law and nature."

Just as many gay kids grow up in these conservative denominations as any other. They are told day in and day out that they are an abomination before God. Just consider the sheer numbers of LGBT kids growing up right now in Roman Catholic, Mormon, and other conservative religious households. The pain and self-loathing caused by such a distortion of God's will is undeniable and tragic, causing scars and indescribable self-alienation in these young victims.

You don't have to grow up in a religious household, though, to absorb these religious messages. Not long ago I had a conversation with six gay teens, not one of whom had ever had any formal religious training or influence. Every one of them knew the word "abomination," and every one of them thought that was what God thought of them. They couldn't have located the Book of Leviticus in the Bible if their lives depended on it yet they had absorbed this message from the antigay air they breathe every day.

Add to that the Minnesota Family Council's Tom Prichard recently saying that the real cause of the suicides is "homosexual indoctrination," not antigay bullying, and that the students died because they adopted an "unhealthy lifestyle."

Susan Russell from All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, California, points out how ludicrous these statements are in her "An Inch at a Time" blog:

Thirteen and fifteen year olds are not 'adopting a lifestyle,' they're trying to have a life! They're trying to figure out who they are, who God created them to be and what on earth to do with this confusing bunch of sexual feelings that they're trying to get a handle on. They need role models for healthy relationships -- not judgment and the message that they're condemned to a life of loneliness, isolation and despair.

On the other hand, what's the role of more mainline, more progressive denominations such as mainstream Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in these recent tragedies? Mostly silence. And just like in the days of the AIDS organization Act Up, "silence equals death."

It is not enough for good people -- religious or otherwise -- to simply be feeling more positive toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Tolerance and a live-and-let-live attitude beats discrimination and abuse by a mile. But it's not enough. Tolerant people, especially tolerant religious people, need to get over their squeamishness about being vocal advocates and unapologetic supporters of LGBT people. It really is a matter of life and death, as we've seen.

The Reverend Lori Johnson: Flushing, Michigan

"There is something wrong and something needs to change"
The Reverend Lori Johnson | Trinity Episcopal Church, Flushing MI - Oct 10, 2010

Today I’m Outing myself. I’m outing myself as an ally to the LGBTQ Community – that is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Questioning community. What is an Ally? An ally is someone who supports these people, who loves them. I want you to know that on this issue I am a safe place for you, your family and your friends and so are many, many of my clergy colleagues.

I am a member of PFLAG (PFLAG stands for Parents Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and have signed their Straight for Equality pledge and I am a member of Integrity USA. Integrity’s mission is: to be a witness of God's inclusive love to the Episcopal Church and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
community.

Read the rest here.

Listen to the sermon here.

The Right Reverend Gene Robinson: Bishop of New Hampshire