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15 Experiences Queer Christians And Their Allies Fought The Good Fight For Equality

It is a testament to the prodigious vigor of homosexual spirituality that, despite centuries of both physical abuse and theological defamation, numerous homosexual beings still have faith.

According to a Pew Research Center survey, about 59 percentage of lesbian, lesbian and bisexual Americans report being affiliated with a religious tradition. Forty-eight percent identified as Christian, while a significant number identified with non-Christian faiths like Judaism and Buddhism.

Those affiliations aren’t easy-going to continue. Overwhelming majorities of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans suggest major American Christian institutions are unwelcoming to their community. Seventy-nine percent of the LGBT adults Pew surveyeddescribed the Catholic church( 79 percentage) as unfriendly towards people who are LGBT, while 73 percentage said the same about evangelical faiths. Queer Americans are also much less likely to be Christian than the general public.

And with vehemently anti-queer religion republicans filling out the ranks of President Donald Trump’s administration, it’s clear that the involved relationship between Christianity and the LGBTQ community will get even more tense.

Still, because the relentless piece of faggot Christian activists and theologians, there is much to be appreciative for. Their activism has revitalized and defied America’s faith community in important, history-altering styles that must not be forgotten.

And the success certainly aren’t contained to Christianity — there have been advances in Judaism, Islam, and other faiths.

In honor of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which falls on May 17 each year, HuffPost has gathered together these 15 iconic instants of hope in homosexual Christianity from around the world. From evangelical religions espousing their LGBTQ members to Christian musicians seeing the choice to come out, these moments from the past five years are reminders of how far we’ve come, and how much more we need to accomplish.

Special thanks to Brandan Robertson, a lesbian Christian activist, John Gustav-Wrathall , of Affirmation: Gay and Lesbian Mormons, Rev. Broderick Greer, an Episcopal priest and homosexual theologian, and Ross Murray, GLAAD’s lead on faith substances, for offering their suggestions for this list.

Christian Musicians See Out As Queer

PA Archive/ PA Images

Being out in the Christian music industry could cost you your occupation. But over the past five years old, a number of queer Christian masters have taken that difficult step — British rock star Vicky Beeching( pictured here ), Everyday Sunday’s Trey Pearson, and country singer Ty Herndon are a few.

Christians Rallied With Other Faith Groups For Transgender Rights

Carlo Allegri/ Reuters

In 2016, progressive religion activists strongly opposedNorth Carolina’s HB2 invoice, which tried to force-out parties to use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at delivery. And this year, more than 1,800 religious leaders from various categories of denominations signed an amicus brief in supporting Gavin Grimm( portrait here ), a transgender boy who was prohibited from employing the boys’ restroom at his institution.

Some Evangelical Churches Pledge To Wholeheartedly Embrace Queer Christians

In January 2015, Tennessee pastor Stan Mitchell was indicated that his congregation, GracePointe Church, would from amply embrace LGBTQ members into its crimp, welcoming them to take up leader roles and celebrate the sacraments. Other evangelical mega-churches have done the same — including Highlands Church in Colorado and EastLake Community Churchin Washington country. While some churches have faced fiscal repercussions and a drop in body, that hasn’t always been that way. When Denver Community Church, an evangelical megachurch in Colorado publicly proved their pro-queer posture earlier this year, its pastor Michael Hidalgo claimed that exclusively a handful of parties decided to leave the church as a result. And some evangelical rector who were knocked out of their denominations for supporting queer Christians now have prospering new flocks. Rev. Danny Cortez( depicted here, left) is one of those pastors. After the former Southern Baptist pastor’s son came out as homosexual, Cortez showed his love for his son in front of his gathering. Cortez afterwards went on to model a new, queer-inclusive religion.

A New, Inclusive Christian College Campus Ministry Is Born

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In May 2016, Christian activists formed a new campus ministry announced Incarnation. The radical is founded on principles of racial equality and LGBTQ inclusion. So far, Incarnation has chapters at five campuses across the country, and has partnered with four other organizations.

The Episcopal Church Denied To Back up On Equality

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In 2015, the bishops of the Episcopal Church decided to allow clergy members to perform same-sex bridals. The church represented that decision in 2016 in front of its international umbrella organization, the Anglican Communion. That resulted in a three-year dangling from the Anglican Communion — but the Episcopalians aren’t backing down. Michael Curry, the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop, told after the suspension that “Many of us have committed ourselves and our religion to being’ a house of prayer for all people, ’ as the Bible replies,[ where] all are truly welcome.”

The Gay Christian Network’s Annual Conference Resumed To Grow

GCN Conference

Since 2005, the Gay Christian Network Conference has brought the thousands of homosexual Christians and their allies together to share legends and replace their sect. Today, the conference greenbacks itself as the “world’s largest annual LGBTQ Christian event.”

The Rev. Karen Oliveto Became The Methodist Church’s First Openly Gay Bishop

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Bishop Karen Oliveto became The United Methodist Church’s firstly marriage lesbian bishop in 2016. The denomination’s top tribunal lately found that she was in violation of a faith rule that forbids clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals, “ but decided not to remove her from her pole . Although she may be suspended or forced to adjourn in the future, Oliveto remains sure that her presence “changes the conversation.” “It’s no longer an issue. It’s about people, ” she told Religion News Service.

A Pastor Who Conducted His Gay Son’s Wedding Is ‘Refrocked’

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Rev. Frank Schaefer, a United Methodist Church minister, had his ministerial credentials rescinded in 2013 after he is president of his gay son’s marry. Schaefer continued to speak out and in 2014, appeal procedures committee rehabilitated him as prime ministers .

Presbyterian Church( U.S.A .) Embraces LGBT-Inclusive Definition Of Marriage

Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc via Getty Images

Since 2014, the Presbyterian Church( U.S.A .), America’s largest Presbyterian sect, has allowed its pastors to officiate same-sex ceremonies. In March 2015, the church adopted a more inclusive description of union in the draft constitution, describing it as a union “between two people.”

Ex-Gay Ministry Exodus International Shuts Down

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Exodus International was a Christian ministry that promoted shift care, which attempts to alter a person’s virility or gender identity to fit with heterosexual or cisgender norms. The harmful practice has been exhaustively discounted by psychologists and medical experts, but it was peddled by Exodus International for 37 times. In 2013, the organization’s chairperson issued an apologyfor the trauma its caused to lesbian beings, and announced that the ministry was shutting down. Although other transition rehabilitation radicals pledged to take up the mantle,Exodus International’s close was a pivotal moment for conservative Christians in America, and since then, many republican chairmen have actually denounced alteration care .

America’s First Catholic Vice President Blessed A Gay Wedding

In 2016, former vice president Joe Biden presided over the nuptials of his White House staffers Brian Mosteller and Joe Mahshie. Biden was America’s first Catholic vice president, and his bles of this marriage was a reminder of the prodigious switching that American Catholicism has knowledge over the past few years on specific topics. Although top Catholic bishops has systematically denounced wedding equality , 58 percent of American Catholicsupport same-sex wedding. And the future is shining — 85 percentof self-identified Catholic millennials speculate homosexuality should be accepted by society.

The Chicago Consultation Met In Africa

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The Chicago Consultation is a group of Episcopal and Anglican clergy and lay people who work toward full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Christians in the Anglican Communion. In 2015, the group had its third meeting in Africa, this time in Elmina, Ghana. The Rev. Broderick Greer, an Episcopal priest and homosexual theologian, described the important effort of these working groups in an email to HuffPost. “Every day, I discovered a new narrative about the inventive methods they were balk stigma around HIV/ AIDS, LGBTQ visibility, and equitable access to health care. Beings from five different countries told floors of mettle and resilience motivated by a nagging sense that their full humanity should and will be affirmed. The small-minded proportion and quiet fix of the reaping is indicative of the manner in which social alteration often takes residence: over a potion, in a squat, or elbow-to-elbow.”

Mormons March At Pride

Jim Urquhart/ Reuters

Mormons Building Bridges brings together members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who want to show support for the gay community. In 2012, this group paraded at Utah Pride for the first time. For John Gustav-Wrathal, a lesbian Mormon activist, this was an iconic time. “Since then, there have been some suppres, traumatizing instants as well … Most of the hope has come from queer Mormons themselves. Attending at Affirmation conferences has quadrupled since 2012, ” he told HuffPost. “LGBT Mormons are coming together in a fantastic method and feeling new ways to provide mutual support and engage with their faith.”

A Gay Couple Became The Pastors Of A Historic DC Church

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The Calvary Baptist Church in Washington DC hired Sally Sarratt and Maria Swearingen as the leaders of their 155 -year-old congregation this year. The Baptist ministers told HuffPost their mission is “to sit at bedsides, to parade for justice, to exclaim’ belovedness’ when the world( sometimes even the religious macrocosm) proclaims’ otherness, ’ and to mount the counter of hospitality for those who need it most.”

Transgender Pastors Celebrate Mass In Cuba

Pekic via Getty Images

As part of a conference on fag theology earlier this year , three clergymen from Brazil, Canada and the United States flew into Cuba to produced an LGBTQ-friendly worship service. The mass is believed to be a first for Cuba. One participant, a 26 -year-old Cuban trans girl called Malu Duardo, told Reuters, “I leave with having learnt a lot of things I can share with other trans, including with regard to that there is a God for everyone.”

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