Sometimes, the world renews my faith in it. Back in July, I wrote about the First Church Congregational in Rochester, New Hampshire, which had two Pride flags stolen within a week. Here’s what happened when the pastor then asked people to send in rainbow flags to cover the building.
The First Church Congregational in Rochester, New Hampshire, part of the United Church of Christ (UCC), has had two rainbow Pride flags stolen in the past week. In response, Pastor Eliza Buchakjian-Tweedy, who is raising two children with her spouse Marcey, is asking for people to send them rainbow flags so they can cover the church building and lawn with them.
Religion and LGBTQ equality are often portrayed as incompatible. That’s why I was so happy to see people of several faith traditions take part in Blogging for LGBTQ Families Day, reminding us that faith and being LGBTQ (or loving and supporting someone who is LGBTQ) can, for many, go hand in hand, even if it may take some effort. Here are some of their posts.
Tonight is the first night of Passover, when Jews around the world gather to celebrate freedom from slavery in Egypt, under the leadership of a man who had two mommies.
Here’s your must-read pair of essays for the day, by two sisters: one an observant Mormon and one a lesbian activist. Oil and water? Only at first.
One of the more delightful recent picture books featuring a child with LGBT parents is Elisabeth Kushner’s The Purim Superhero, about a child with gay dads celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim. I wrote about the book last year when it was first published — and am pleased to see that PJ Library, a project that sends free children’s books to Jewish families, is offering free copies of the book to subscribers who request it.
Jewrotica, “a relationship and sex ed resource for the Jewish community,” has released its annual “Sexiest Rabbis” list, and two of the 10 honorees are lesbian moms.
A Catholic educators’ group responsible for developing Catholic school curricula based on the Common Core State Standards has removed three books from its first-grade plan because they include same-sex and/or divorced parents.
Yesterday, I wrote about Julie Silver, a well-known Jewish singer-songwriter and lesbian mom. As we approach the start of Yom Kippur this evening, it seems only appropriate to post a clip of her singing. The first song, “This Train,” is a beautiful metaphor about social justice that people of all traditions should appreciate. And for extra-special lesbian goodness, it’s the song of hers that Ellen DeGeneres said was her favorite, according to a blurb on Silver’s Web site.
It’s the season of the High Holidays for Jews around the world—and that means that Julie Silver, one of the most popular singers and songwriters of Jewish contemporary music — and a lesbian mom — is very busy. She took time, however, to speak with me about being a mom, balancing family and work, coming out, living as an interfaith family, and doing good in the world.
