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Archangel Gabriel and a sleepy kitty near the gates of Kazanskiy cathedral in the city of Feodosia, Crimea, Russia. August 2023

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Queer Christians Unite!

If you're a queer Christian, would you mind interacting with this post in some way? I would love to get to know more queer Christians in all different walks of life, as at least in my personal life it can feel rather isolating.

If you're not a queer Christian and would like to interact with this post as well, please feel free! Just please be kind, and also recognize that this post is about uniting people in what feels like rather small pockets of society. And please no hate, I understand that different beliefs, opinions, and standpoints/life experiences exist, and the more difficult conversations about those kinds of things can totally happen. However, I also happen to get a lot of difficult comments and hateful sentiments from people irl, and I would like this post to be a safe place.

Thank you and I love you all!

<3 Doodlebug

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My mental state now.

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Growing up in the church and and growing into a queer Christian, I can, without a doubt say that queer/LGBTQ+ Christians have much greater faith than our straight brothers and sisters.

As LGBTQ+ Christians we suffer a lot of disdain and discrimination from other Christians in church. The Church as an institution has hurt, shamed, exciled, and alienated the whole LGBTQ+ community.

Yet, LGBTQ+ Christians still seek God, still seek community, still seek fellowship and a relationship with God.

We actively try to seek God and community knowing that we will be hurt, shamed, exciled and alienated. We know that most likely we won't be accepted.

Yet we still have so much faith in God, that all that doesn't matter. We have faith that God does accept us and loves us. No matter what others say or do. We keep coming back to God and sometimes the church, because of our faith. May we be able to keep that faith and be an example of faith and be blessed!

Tldr: LGBTQ+ Christians have the strongest faith! May we be an example of faith to all! God bless yall!

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Former and current clergymen discuss transsexualism dated 1971!! Source: Religious Aspects of Transsexualism by the Erickson Educational Foundation (link)

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The Little Known History of Transgender Christian Saints

Roland Betancourt, an historian of the first millennium and a half of Christianity, takes a look at transgender Christian saints over at Advocate. 

Given the current religious attacks against transgender people, it might be a bit of a surprise that Christian churches have celebrated gender variance as a sign of holiness. 

They did not use the word “transgender”, obviously, and might not have been supporters of modern day transgender activism. But Betancourt’s story proves that  gender identity  is not such a simple as some Christians would want you to believe.

Roland writes:

From the fifth to the ninth century, a number of saints’ lives composed across the Greek-speaking Mediterranean detail the lives of individuals assigned female at birth who for a host of different reasons chose to live out their adult lives as men in monasteries. 

The popularity of these stories across the Christian Mediterranean is palpably evident as they were translated into Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Armenian, Arabic, Latin, and other European dialects.

For example, the night before her execution, the early-third century Christian martyr Perpetua had a dream about her impending death. There, Perpetua looks down upon her naked body, and exclaims: “My clothes were stripped off, and suddenly I was a man.” 

Similarly, in the early second century Gospel of Thomas, Jesus rebukes Simon Peter for suggesting Mary Magdalene is unworthy of their company, stating that He “will make her male” and that every woman who “makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Roland does not accept that this is solely the result of a negative view of women (although the lack of MTF saints may point in that direction).  There are after all a lot of female saints. – including the most esteemed of them all: Mary, the mother of Jesus. 

Moreover, there are too many details in the stories about saints, whose birth-assigned gender was female, yet lived out their lives as men, for this to be just a dismissal of female spirituality.

Despite extensive late antique prohibitions against women dressing as men, such as in the canons of the Council of Gangra in 345, in the Council of Trullo in 692, or even in Deutoronomy 22:5, these saints were venerated with due respect, demonstrating that even legal or Old Testament prohibitions did not impede the space for their worship and praise.

The potent transformations of the body as well cannot be disregarded, as these stories sought eloquently to describe how the saints’ secondary sex characteristics changed throughout their lives, detailing … the withering of breasts, the ceasing of menstruation, and the darkening of skin.

Roland compares this to medical practices in Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. These were mainly targeting cis people, but there are examples of both “top” and “bottom surgery”.  In other words: The Christians could put their understanding of the gender variance of the saints into a broader medical context.

Roland concludes that we need trans affirming literatures that promote and champion the rich and complex history of gender variance in our world. Not only looking to modern authors, but looking deep into our ancient and medieval pasts to think about the place that trans figures have played in history.

See Roland’s book: Byzantine Intersectionality: Sexuality, Gender, and Race in the Middle Ages

The illustration is of St.Marinos (in red) being brought to a monastery by their father Eugenius. Marinos was assigned female at birth, but lived as a male monk. 14th century French manuscript.

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St dymphna. Saint of mental illness and victims of incest, rest in peace 💕

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Being queer and a Christian is often very difficult. I experience alienation from both sides. Often these two parts of myself feel impossible to reconcile. But, I want to share something beautiful that my priest does that nearly makes me weep every time. The Orthodox Church is not known for its inclusivity or progressiveness. It is ancient and its gears turn slowly. During Holy Communion, those who are not confirmed members of the Church may come forward for a blessing. The blessing is done by gender.

"The servant of God [Name] is blessed..." for men,

"The handmaid of God [Name] is blessed..." for women.

The first time I went up for a blessing, I was hesitant. My gender is no secret and I do not try to hide my queerness. Which blessing would I receive? With sadness, I concluded the priest would do what was simplest and default to my assigned gender.

I stood before him and bowed my head, arms crossed over my (noticeably growing) chest. He raised the golden chalice over my head and lovingly said:

"The beloved of God Quinn is blessed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen "

He has done this ever since and with this simple action, preaches one of the main, if oft forgotten pillars of Orthodoxy: It does not matter who you are, what pronouns you use, what colour your hair is, what clothes you wear, what mistakes you've made, what trials you have overcome, where you came from or where you are. You are beloved of God just as you are. You are created in the Image of God and are a sacred vessel of beauty, and there is a place for you here.

This is true inclusivity. Not the white liberal veneer placed on so many churches where the cishet, boomer congregation pats themselves on the back for the rainbow flag outside while actively misgendering the trans person sitting in the pew. My priest has not given any big speeches talking about how everyone is loved here. He doesn't have to. His genuine kindness and that of my fellow parishioners are the only sermon marginalised people need to hear. In these moments, the two parts of myself become one and I truly believe that the God I love delights in me.

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Fundraiser masterpost

This is a masterpost for the evacuation fundraisers I've vetted so far, a few other fundraisers I find trustworthy but have not been able to vet (inability to communicate with the organizer), and a few semi-completed fundraisers or fundraisers for a different purpose (like house rebuilding, or aid distribution). The numbers next to the names have no significance beyond ease of navigation for me for when I check their progress in the future. You should look at the disclaimers instead and focus on those. Occasionally I will update these with new info, including new fundraisers, and the amount of cash that's been raised. Check in regularly on the original post when you see it being reblogged. In all likelihood once its reached you it's already outdated. Also please don't overlook the Sustainable Aid options near the bottom! The brain drain is already creating problems but having another way of keeping or creating new knowledge and key members of a functioning society is important.

VETTED FAMILY ESCAPE FUNDRAISERS

Walaa Abusamra (1). 10 family members. 24.2k out of 80k €.

Ezzideen Shehab (2). 6 family members. 7k out of 32.5k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Madleen Abu Jayyab (3). 4 family members. 18.7k out of 70k USD.

Jehad Shehada (4). 1 individual. 3.5k out of 15k CAD. LOW ON FUNDS.

Aser Alassar (5). 5 family members. 405k out of 550k SEK. Or 37k out of 51k USD.

My friend Mona Abu Hamda (6). 9 family members. 59.5k out of 75k USD.

Mohammed Shamia (7). 7 family members. 8.9k out of 35k USD.

Abdullah Al-Saghir (8). 9 family members. 67.3k out of 100k €.

Randa Abubakr (9). 6 family members. 14.6k out of 17k €. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Fadi Alshrafi (10). 9 family members. 54.5k out of 85k USD. (1 evacuated)

Osama Abdelrahman. (11). 9 family members. 35.2k out of 45k €. (1 CHRONICALLY ILL CHILD, NEEDS TREATMENT)

Alhaw family and the Albittar family (12). Between 18 and 12 family members. 8.8k out of 90k €. (EXTREMELY LOW, NEEDS FUNDS)

Verified Fundraiser by Palestine Asdiqa to help a malnourished baby with cerebral palsy. (13) 7.7k out of 31k USD. (URGENT + CHRONICALLY ILL CHILD, NEEDS TREATMENT)

Rana Abu Ahmed (14). 6 family members. COMPLETED ✅

Mohammed Abu Matar (15). 6 family members. 9.9k out of 34k CAD.

Moataz Abu Sakran (16). 3 family members. 12.4k out of 20k $ ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN COMPLETE, NEEDS TRANSFER FEES COVERED. 629$ out of 5k needed.

Ayah Abu Sidu (17). 10 family members. 15.8k out of 50.4k USD.

Said Fadel (18). 7 family members. 19.7k out of 50k USD.

Tasneem Nabil Musa (19). 7 family members (ALL INJURED, NEED MEDICAL CARE.) 10.5k out of 50k USD

Belal Azmi Msallam (20). 14 family members. 7.1k out of 160k AUD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.

Mortaja Family (21). 11 family members. 28k out of 70k €.

Abu Ramadan family (22). 14 family members. 10k out of 148k €.

Mai Rajab (23). COMPLETED ✅

Amal Abu Shammala (24). 4 family members. 33.7k out of 42k €.

Maryam & family (25). 30.3k out of 50k USD.

Haneem Abdelhalim (26). 8 family members. 31.8k out of 40k USD raised.

Ahmed Masoud (27). 12 family members. 10k out of 60k €.

Mohammed Fareed (28). 30.2k out of 60k CAD.

Lena Nofal (29). 40.6k out of 44k € (NEARLY COMPLETE, original family registered to evacuate, extended family are being helped now)

Rasheda Alfaiomy (30). 6+ family members. 27.5k out of 65k USD.

Ula El Hindi (31). 1+ individuals. 8.6k out of 15k €.

Muhammad Safi (32). 5+ family members. 4.5k out of 30k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Yazan Khalaf (33). 18 family members. 16.9k out of 40k USD.

Afaf Masoud (34). 5+ family members (2 evacuated). 83.8k out of 110k €.

Motasem Khayal (35). 5 family members. 1k out of 43k € (26.5k needed for escape.) EXTREMELY LOW, NEEDS FUNDS.

Youseff Abu Saeed (36). 3 family members (1 is already out for treatment). 155k out of 200k USD.

Abdulaziz & Abdullah, escape & surgery (37). 2+ family members (1 has already been treated, 1 NEEDS TREATMENT). 96.3k out of 150k BP.

Nadine Abdullatif (38). 8 family members. 113k out of 130k AUD (NEARLY COMPLETE).

Sami Salhab (39). 6 family members (5 already evacuated). 16.9k out of 26k €. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Jehad Al Ghandour (40). 5 family members (1 already evacuated). 31k out of 100k USD

MORE VETTED FAMILY ESCAPE FUNDRAISERS (tumblr has a character-per-block limit, there's no difference between the following fundraisers and the previous ones).

Mahmoud Algharabli (41) COMPLETED ✅ (check last section for more info)

Dr. Marah & family (42). 2+ family members. 7.2k out of 40k USD. LOW ON FUNDS.

Khaled Alshabrawi (43). 5 family members. 1.5k out of 35k € (25k needed for escape, but will begin with 10k for stable housing). LOW ON FUNDS.

Muhammad Osama Alzaq (44). 5 family members. 3.1k out of 60k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Mohammed Wishah (45). 7 family members + 1 pet. 7.9k out of 71.5k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Muhe Ayman (46). 5+ family members. 6k out of 60k €. (CAUTION: If you scroll down in the GFM there are photos of mutilated and dead babies.) LOW ON FUNDS.

Abdallah Animal Rescue (47). 1 individual + lots of pets. 34.5k out of 40k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Haya Orouq (48). 5 family members (1 injured, NEEDS TREATMENT). 35.9k out of 50k.

Retaj Abu Abdo (49). 8 family members. 9.1k out of 60k USD.

Mohammed Zyad (50). 9 family members (1 MISCARRIAGE). 5.6k out of 40k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.

Souad Al-Kurdi (51). 5 family members (1 DIABETIC W/O INSULIN, CRITICAL, 1 INJURY). 3.7k out of 50k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Mahdy Zourob (52). 1 individual. 622 out of 20k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Ahmed Alboji (53). 5 family members. 78.4k out of 100k USD. (TIME SENSITIVE)

Sama Lulu (54). 7 family members. 5.4k out of 80k USD. LOW ON FUNDS. (CAUTION: PHOTO OF INJURED CHILD IN GFM)

Fadel Moghrabi (55). 4 family members. 33.3k out of 40k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Qosai Hani (56). 2(+?) family members. 28.2k out of 40k USD.

Khaled Khraizim (57). 14 family members. 32.6k out of 100k €.

Ahmed Raida (58). 3 family members (1 INJURED, NEEDS TREATMENT). COMPLETED ✅

Rozan family (59). 6 family members. 3.6k out of 38k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Samah Oudh (60). 5 family members. 30k out of 35k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Qasim Al-Kafarneh (alternatively: gfm) (61). 33 family members. 1st one, 5.7k out of 80k AUD. 2nd one 86k out of 94k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)

Mahmoud Qassas (62). 42 family members. 6.9k out of 200k CAD. (ONE CHRONICALLY ILL, NEEDS TREATMENT)

Ottawa4Palestine’s vetted fundraiser spreadsheet (76 different families with listed fundraisers)

UNVETTED, BUT HIGHLY LIKELY LEGITIMATE ESCAPE FUNDRAISERS:

Rasha family (1). 5 family members. 1.3 out of 15k € (EXTREMELY LOW, NEED FUNDS)

Natasha Matar (2). 14 family members. 20.8k out of 200k CAD (140k needed for escape). LOW ON FUNDS.

Islam Daher (3). 6 family members. 2.6k out of 50k CAD. LOW ON FUNDS.

Ahmed M. Saleh (4). 4 family members. 8.3k out of 35k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Salwa Zarifa (5). 4 family members. 2.1k out of 50k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Moutasem Quffa (6). 6+ family members. 7k out of 65k €. LOW ON FUNDS.

Alaa Nidal (7). 4 family members. 12.6k out of 22k BP (original goal met, family evacuated ✅. Extended family being helped now, 2 INJURED, 1 OF THEM ELDERLY)

Zeina and her family (8). 3 family members (1 evacuated, 2 NEED TREATMENT). 6.4k out of 90k $. LOW ON FUNDS.

Jamila Begum (9). 7 family members. 35k needed. UNKNOWN STARTING AMOUNT. Zelle 347-738-0257, and Venmo @/merilm

OTHER FUNDRAISERS:

Mohammad Qadas. NEEDS TREATMENT + FOOD. EXTREMELY URGENT! HAS CHILDREN TO FEED!!

Help Yousef Replant Family Farm & Greenhouse. 2k out of 50k BP. SUSTAINABLE AID.

Rebuilding Developers Plus and Gaza’s community. 2.4k out of 47k €. SUSTAINABLE AID.

Samar Elrayih Hydoub. It seems that most family members have been evacuated, but they need an emergency 1.5k for medical expenses.

Eman Abdel Rahman. Need help rebuilding home and access to food. 7.1k out of 42.6k USD.

Ibrahim Adil Osman. All intended beneficiaries have escaped, they just need some financial support to start being stable enough to make money to get more family members to escape.

Anonymous Palestinian-Canadian woman. She was doxxed and harassed by zionists until she got fired. She's in a very precarious situation and needs funds to survive daily life. NEEDS FUNDS.

Abd Al Karim Adnan Alakklouk. Most intended beneficiaries have escaped, they just need some financial support to start a new life and send more family members money to survive.

Bana AZ. All intended beneficiaries have escaped, they just need a bit of support in establishing a new life. (only 866 € left to meet goal)

Kareem Abu Samra. All intended beneficiaries have been able to escape. They just need support to establish a new life.

Mahmoud Algharabli (previously no. 41). All intended beneficiaries have been evacuated. They just need support to establish a new life.

Al Hitana Omdurman soup kitchen.

Helping the People of Gaza – Mutual Aid Fund (run by my friend Mona)

Supporting Displaced Families in Gaza (CareForGaza)

Emergency Medical Relief for Gaza Refugees.

Help Sudan Tarada Initiative.

Amer Qudaih’s Relief efforts in Gaza.

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OUR LADY OF GAZA illustration

Ronza’s fundraiser ‼️

Ronza is a Palestinian refugee living in Brazil. She is gathering funds to evacuate seven members of her family to Egypt. Including:

Her father, Dr. Sameer Abujayyab. He is 59 years old. He is a doctor and chairman of the non-profit organization, Society of Physically Handicapped People since 1994. He was afflicted with polio at the age of two, so he decided to become a specialized doctor in spinal cord injuries. He returned to Palestine in 1992 and began his work as a doctor.

Her mother, Nawal (59 years-old)

Her grandmother, Refa became a refugee for the first time in 1948. She was 11 years old, now she is 86. Before October 7, she was still strong, but now because of difficulty finding good food, clean water, and her medication, her health has deteriorated. She left her house in agony, crying - Ronza is worried that she can’t bear this severe situation.

Ahmed, Ronza’s youngest brother, is 22 years old. After graduating from University in 2022, he dreamed of building his own startup, and now his goal is just to survive.

Ronza’s other siblings Zuhdi (27) and Lozan (26) are recently graduated Architectural Engineers.

Ronza’s cousin, Doaa (28) is a software engineer. “She is very smart and motivated; this war cost her a lot, her dreams, and her job.”

The costs to evacuate through the Egyptian borders are exorbitant. The expenses of travel for 7 people is $6,000 per person to leave Rafah crossing. They are requesting our help to raise $44,000 to get Ronza’s family out to a safe place.

Again, send me an email ([email protected]) with a $10+ donation to Ronza’s fundraiser, and I will send you a PDF of “Our Lady of Gaza” with no extra cost. This is urgent.

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WOAH

I didn't really notice this before but it's interesting how in the dispute over whether Jesus is casting out demons because he himself is on the devils payroll in Matthew 12 - there's the famous bit about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which lots of people get hung up on (and understandably so, esp if you struggle w scrupulousity and OCD - very inflammatory thing to put in the Bible @ God).

but Jesus then goes on to talk about good and bad fruits, and this line struck me: "Either make the tree out to be good and its fruit good, or make the tree out to be rotten and its fruit rotten; for the tree is known by its fruit."

you can kinda sense his frustration here. "make up your minds! either I'm doing something wrong or I'm not; can we not try to claim that I have some evil hidden ulterior motive that makes all the good things I'm doing secretly bad."

now sure, there are circumstances where people can do or support good things for bad reasons (nazis using anti Zionist sentiment as a dogwhistle; terfs making a song and dance about feminism - altho id argue neither of these groups are particularly 'doing' good things just hijacking them, but there are also just homophobic conservative churches that do run soup kitchens and food banks and yet that doesn't counterbalance the bad they do) or do bad things for what they perceive to be good reasons. but seems like what Jesus is talking about is again his old maxim of judge trees by their fruit; don't decide a priori that since X person is wrong therefore everything they do is tainted with wickedness.

blasphemy of the Holy Spirit happens when people see God at work doing good things and decide, in order to preserve their preconceived ideas about the way things are and what's good and bad, to call good evil.

and I think the reason that's an 'unforgivable' sin isn't necessarily because it's a particularly heinous one, but because it fundamentally warps your ability to interpret the actions of God. If you see God's goodness and mercy and grace at work in the world and decide well actually that's the Devil - how are you supposed to ever break out of that and truly recognise God? it's like when someone is hyped up on flat earth, creationism, anti vaxxer, protocols of the elders of Zion conspiracy theories; they've kinda destroyed their ability to even consider any alternative simply by loudly insisting any counterpoint is propaganda, any evidence to the contrary is fabricated, science itself is a hoax. blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the same; people have destroyed any external benchmark (such as the harm and suffering being created) for judging their interpretations of scripture and faith.

and I can't help but think a bit on queer christians (as usual; I need to start finding other topics to get on my soapbox about), bc when we offer the fact that gay relationships or gender transition cultivate love and joy and peace and kindness and goodness, we get very much the same answer as Jesus' critics gave. "Pff. It's the work of the Devil." People a priori reject the good and life giving things we find in queerness because they don't want to deal with the implications of that. and so we get people insisting that bad trees can bear good fruit.

now in fairness they often do try for consistency and insist that actually this good fruit is a hollow lie and truly LGBTQ people are suffering underneath from living against God's will. but I think this view is losing its power bit by bit bc people understand it's asserting ideology over reality. it's a hard sell and not an intellectually serious position. either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad

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SHES JUST LIKE ME FOR REAL ;-; I love Jesus so much. If I could Grab onto Jesus and never let Go I would. If he was right in front of me I'd never let go. I am in some ways an Orphan and My only Home is In Jesus. My Grandparents are Gone My mom and dad are divorced and barely ever talk to me. I was tossed from guardian to guardian with my brother abandoned and neglected. I have been forced to move out of necessity. The only place I feel at home is at church. Jesus Is what makes me Joyful. He is all I truly Have that Matters. I live in poverty. But Jesus is there for me ;-; He renews me. The only thing that hurts is the way others treat me. My own mental illness adhd and autism make life so hard sometimes. But I know Jesus understands what I go through. I also ask Apa St.Herman of Alaska for Help as he is a grandpa for orphans I sometimes want to move to Kodiak Alaska I have a transgender Orthodox sister there she wants to create a retreat building for trans Christians someday. I ask St.Theophylactus of Ohrid who defended our ancestors to also pray for my trans siblings. Sometimes I feel apprehension about prayer. But when I do pray and I can let myself cry. It heals so much. I'll always be healing. But Jesus is there and he God understands. I hope I can seek confession soon. I was worried that for a while my priest would not absolve my sins. But I think with a few recent things he may be kinder to me. But being openly trans in an orthodox church is dangerous if you are not careful. I am also scared that even with confession that I might be barred from communion due to being transgender. If he keeps these things. I will find another church to attend. But I am giving him another chance because I know he is not evil.

Starting a collection of trans-affirming Jesus memes (not trans myself, I just think it's neat)

#transgender #transgender chri #Orthodox #mental illness #faith in jesus #queer christian #lgbtq christian #orthodox christian

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I'm so sick of queer spaces being so heavily anti religion to a comical degree. We always preach intersectionality or to look at nuance but then when religion is brought up it's all black and white "hur dur religion bad, you're bad because religion all religious people are going out in the streets murdering trans people and eating gay babies" like do none of us see the irony here? I'm trans, bi and religious and I've gotten hate for it but since I'm a pagan I get less hate than I've seen trans Christians or Muslims get. Not everyone who is religious is bigoted, not every religious person is the strawman in your head. Religion is not inherently bigoted, most of the time the stuff actual bigoted religious people use as justification for bigotry is mistranslations or blatantly wrong interpretations of religious texts. I'm not trying to convert anyone to any religion I'm just begging other queer folk to stop being hypocrites and to stop harassing other queer people for being religious

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