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December 11, 2011


1) Acceptance is protection: How can parents support gender nonconforming and transgender children?
Eureka Alert, December 6, 2011
How should parents respond when their four years old son insists on wearing girls' clothes, or their daughter switches to using a male version of their name? These are the questions increasingly being asked of family therapist Jean Malpas who writes in Family Process about a new approach to support parents with gender nonconforming and transgender children.

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2) Take Action: Support Marriage Equality Clergy
Reconciling Ministries, Flashnet, December 8, 2011
More than a thousand United Methodist clergy across the United States have signed statements committing themselves to fulfill their vow to ministry by marrying or blessing couples regardless of their gender. More than a third of the population of the United States lives where marriage or civil unions for gay and lesbian couples are legal. When parishioners come to their pastors to request that they officiate at their weddings, ministers face a conflict between their vow to minister to their whole congregation and their vow to uphold the Book of Discipline which asks them to deny ministry to some of their members.

Join us in showing solidarity with our brave clergy by signing your name to "An Altar for All". Sign today! click here.

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3) Gay Veteran Responds to Rick Perry's Ad
Advocate, December 11, 2011
A gay veteran of the Gulf War, whose husband and two children are featured in an upcoming documentary about LGBT families, joined the growing list of responses to Rick Perry's antigay ad. So far, the Perry video on YouTube has 18,011 likes and 604,266 dislikes. In it, the Texas governor claims it's unfair that gays can come out in the military while Christians supposedly must hide their beliefs during Christmas. "I am not ashamed to admit that I"m an out, gay Christian," says Jay Foxworthy, who lives in California. "My family goes to church every Sunday, and there is something wrong in this country when conservative Christians want to use God to attack my family."

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4) Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King Respond to Margaret Court's Antigay Rhetoric
SheWired, December 12, 2011
Tennis greats and out lesbians Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King have responded publicly Australian tennis legend Margaret Court's antigay rhetoric, according to Tennis Channel.com. Last week, Court, a pastor in Perth's Victory Life Church, railed against gay marriage as an affront to God in an interview with The West Australian.

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5) LGBT Rights, Religious Faith at Odds at Some Colleges
Advocate, December 12, 2011
The relationship between religion and LGBT rights is becoming an issue at some colleges and universities - at liberal schools, administrators are dealing with concerns about student faith groups that are antigay, while some conservatives are decrying the presence of pro-gay groups on Catholic campuses.

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6) Doctor is fighting for transgender community
Ontario, Canada, Hamilton Spectator, November 17, 2011
A doctor who says she is the first transgender to be president of a major hospital medical staff in the world believes the transgender community has to work on its own to have its community accepted. Dr. Carys Massarella told an audience Wednesday night she has committed her life to demystifying transgenders and she works on getting doctors and government officials to understand the community.

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7) Christianity and the LGBT community
Louisville, KY, Loiusvill.com, December 7, 2011
Can you be a member of the LGBT community and still be a Christian? A Louisville online talk show recently discussed this topic. Holly Knight's Round Table show, by Prism Productions, invited guests and audience members to explore this issue at the now-closed bar, Starbase Q. (Look for more about that story later this week.) The show's guests included Maurice "Bojangles" Blanchard, ministry leader of Highland Baptist Church's True Colors Ministry; and Charlena Andrews, a local transgender woman and Christian.

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8) Now Daddy's Out of the Closet, Do You Tell the Kids?
Good Morning America, December 12, 2011
In 1983, after 25 years of marriage and two children, Amity Buxton learned her husband's long-held secret -- he had "jilted" his gay lover to marry her. Her life was turned on its head. "My moral compass was broken living someone else's lie," said Buxton, now 82 and founder of the Straight Spouse Network [click here]. "I didn't know what was true or false. I couldn't trust my own judgment ... My identity was shattered."

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9) Links to more news from Welcoming Church Programs


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Organizational Partners

Affirm United/S'affirmer Ensemble The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists Brethren-Mennonite Council for LGBT Concerns Open and Affirming Ministries of the Gay, Lesbian & Affirming Disciples (GLAD) Integrity Reconciling in Christ Program of Lutherans Concerned/North America
More Light Presbyterians Open and Affirming Program of the United Church of Christ Coalition for LGBT Concerns (ONA) Reconciling Ministries Network Room for All - Reformed Church in America Welcoming Community Network - Community of Christ