Religion

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Gay Guidance Counselor Sues Indianapolis Archdiocese after being Fired

A gay guidance counselor is suing the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis for discrimination, alleging it fired her from a job at a high school because she’s in a same-sex marriage.

Lynn Starkey, one of two gay guidance counselors who have accused the archdiocese of discrimination, names the church and Roncalli High School — the Catholic school where she worked for nearly 40 years until she was fired in May — in the lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Image: Lynn Starkey
Lynn StarkeyDelaney & Delaney LLC

Starkey alleges that the archdiocese and school discriminated against her on the basis of her sexual orientation, subjected her to a hostile work environment and retaliated against her after she filed complaints of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

She alleges that the environment at the school was also hostile toward homosexual students, faculty and staff.

“Starkey has suffered damages as a result of Defendants’ retaliatory actions, including but not limited to lost back pay, lost front pay, loss of future earning capacity, lost employer provided benefits, and emotional distress damages,” the lawsuit states.

The archdiocese told NBC News in a statement Monday that it has “a constitutional right to hire leaders who support the schools’ religious mission.”

“Catholic schools exist to communicate the Catholic faith to the next generation,” the statement said. “To accomplish their mission, Catholic schools ask all teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors to uphold the Catholic faith by word and action, both inside and outside the classroom.”

According to the archdiocese, Starkey “knowingly violated” her contract by entering into a same-sex marriage, “making clear that she disagrees with the Church’s teaching on marriage and will not be able to uphold and model it for her students.”

Starkey is the second Roncalli High School guidance counselor to raise discrimination complaints against the school and archdiocese.

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Shelly Fitzgerald was placed on administrative leave from her job at the high school in 2018 after administrators became aware of her same-sex marriage.

Fitzgerald said the school gave her an ultimatum: resign or “dissolve” her marriage.

Both women filed charges of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and requested the right to sue, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Starkey was issued a Notice of Right to Sue earlier this month, her lawsuit states.

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Baptist Church Refuses To Host Man’s Funeral Because It Would Be Attended By The Man’s Gay Son

Chattanooga’s ABC affiliate reports:

A dying Tennessee man’s final wish will not be honored. A bereaved son in Sweetwater, Tennessee says his sexual orientation is standing in the way of his father’s funeral service.

Jessie Goodman is engaged to Brandon Smitty. Goodman’s father is very ill and dying. His final wish is that his services be held at the church he first attended. But when the church leadership found out the gay couple would be involved, Goodman says things got complicated.

“As long as I was going to take part in any way, he [Goodman’s father] could not have his service there,” said Goodman. We called Lee’s Chapel Baptist Church’s Pastor Jay Scruggs to see if this was true. Pastor Scruggs had no comment, but did say he would talk with us after Jessie’s father is in the grave.

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Vatican Rejects Trans People, says They ‘Annihilate the Concept of Nature’

The Vatican has issued a statement rejecting trans people, saying they ‘annihilate…the concept of nature’.

In a new document issued during Pride Month, the Congregation for Catholic Education has issued a crushing statement on trans issues.

The office responsible for overseeing education calls trans people experiencing ‘nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants’.

‘Male And Female He Created Them’, was released by the Vatican on 10 June without prior announcement.

It is described as an ‘aid for Catholic schoolteachers and parents’. The document is also signed by Italians Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi and Archbishop Angelo Zani.

Pope Francis has not signed the document.

However, this is the most critical statement on trans people the Vatican has given since the pontiff compared trans people to nuclear weapons.

Vatican rejects trans people in crushing statement

The biological differences between men and women are ‘constitutive of human identity,’ the office claims.

‘Efforts to go beyond the difference, such as the ideas of “intersex” or “transgender”, lead to a masculinity or feminity that is ambiguous,’ the document stated.

If someone is not cisgender, they are aiming to be ‘provocative’, according to the office.

The 31-page document also says ‘gender theory’ forces people to ‘move away from nature’.

It states: ‘In this understanding of things, the view of both sexuality identity and the family become subject to the same “liquidity” and “fluidity” that characterize other aspects of post-modern culture, often founded on nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants, or momentary desires provoked by emotional impulses and the will of the individual.’

Vatican: Doctors should ‘intervene’ on intersex children 

The Vatican also calls on doctors to ‘intervene’ on intersex patients, even when parents do not agree.

Intersex groups are against medically unnecessary procedures intended to ‘normalize’ infants at birth. Many of these procedures may impact a person’s quality of life.

The only saving grace of the document is that it praises educational programs that combat ‘unjust discrimination’.

‘Harmful tool’

A New Ways Ministry spokesperson described the document as a ‘harmful tool’.

They said it will be used to ‘oppress and harm not only transgender people, but lesbian, gay, bisexual people too.’

”The document associates sexual and gender minorities with libertine sexuality, a gross misrepresentation of the lives of LGBT people which perpetuates and encourages hatred, bigotry, and violence against them,’ they said.

‘The document… will confuse those who sincerely struggle with questions of gender identity and sexual orientation. Such confusion leads to self-harm, addiction, and even suicide. The misinformation the document contains will cause families to reject their children, and it will increase alienation of LGBT people from the Church.

‘The only truth that the document reveals is that the Vatican remains ill-equipped to discuss gender and sexuality in the modern world.

‘By ignoring new scientific understandings of gender identity, and by refusing to engage in dialogue with LGBT people about their lived experiences of self-understanding and faith, the Vatican remains in the dark ages, promoting a false teaching that relies on myth, rumor, and falsehoods.’

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LGBT Americans Don’t Identify with Faith Groups, but Most still Believe in God

A new analysis has found that three-quarters of lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans believe in God, but many don’t identify as part of an organised religion.

The finding comes from a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the 2014 Religious Landscape Study.

According to the survey data, 77 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in America say that they believe in God, compared to 89 percent to straight adults.

But despite three-quarters of gay adults believing in God, only 59 percent of LGB respondents identify as a Christian or another non-Christian faith, compared to 78 percent for heterosexuals.

Most LGB Americans believe in God, but only one in six attends church every week
Most LGB Americans believe in God, but only one in six attends church every week (Stock photo)

Although lesbian, gay and bisexual people are twice as likely to identify as atheist or agnostic, the most popular religious identify among LGBT adults is ‘nothing in particular’.

Just 16 percent of gay and lesbian adults adults attend a weekly church service, compared to 36 percent of straight respondents.

LGB adults are also less likely to pray or believe religion is “very important.”

Transgender people are excluded from the analysis as the original 2014 survey did not collect data about gender identity.

LGB people less likely to embrace organised religion

Of course, there are many reasons why LGB people, even those who believe in God, may feel uncomfortable as part of an organised religion.

Few of the largest Christian denominations in the US permit same-sex unions, though some groups including the Episcopal Church have embraced equal marriage

Attempts to push forward reforms in other groups have been divisive, with anger earlier this year when United Methodist Church members voted against allowing congregations to conduct same-sex weddings and hire openly LGBT+ clergy.


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Of course, many of the most prominent religious figures in the US are also anti-LGBT conservatives.

Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds recently made a plea for religious leaders to include LGBT+ people.

He said: “I plead with our religious leaders across the world to stand up for equality together. True equality – not empty words of love – but statements and actions that show our LGBTQ youth that they are ‘sinless’ and perfect just as they are.

“Until these changes are made within the doctrines of orthodox faith, we will continue to see increased rates of suicidality and depression/anxiety amongst our LGBTQ youth.”

Reynolds added: “Until the leaders of all orthodox faiths denounce conversion therapy and accept our LGBTQ youth into full fellowship I believe we will continue to see a great exodus from all orthodox faith.

“We are not a generation that will stand for intolerance, homophobia or racism.

“And to those that say the simple answer is for our youth to just leave religion – it isn’t that simple.

“Many of these LGBTQ youth will be kicked out of the home and put into a more dangerous situation if they denounce the faith of their family.

“Also many find peace in their faith. they love it. it brings them comfort in a sad and oftentimes scary world.”

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Why Do 0% of American Muslims Identify as Gay or Lesbian?

A recent survey has found 0% of American Muslims identify as gay or lesbian.

The ISPU research interviewed 804 American Muslims.

They found not one identified as gay or lesbian.

Around 4% identified as bisexual and 2% said they were ‘something else’. Another 2% refused to answer the question’.D

There are, of course, LGBTI people who identify as Muslim in the United States.

CNN interviewed members of progressive mosques, like Masjid al-Rabia.

The mosque is intended to be women-centered, anti-racist, LGBTI affirming, and welcoming to many Islamic traditions.

Muslims for Progressive Values have eight ‘inclusive communities’ in the United STates.

Berkeley’s Qal-bu Maryam Women’s Mosque, described as the ‘first all-inclusive’ place of worship, opened in 2017.

Liberal Muslims say a future also looks good for LGBTI people of the Islam faith.‘

Dalia Mogahed, director of research for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, said there is a ‘huge division’ right now.

‘There are a lot of  different opinions and, frankly, there is a lack of space to discuss it,’ she said.

‘When you have a community that is so under the microscope and being subjected to litmus tests for civility and tolerance, people become afraid and self-censoring.’

And when asked about the 0% statistic, Mogahed said it can be read a different way.

If 92% of American Muslims identified as straight, she said, then the remaining 8% may be lesbian or gay, even if they’re reluctant say so.

‘The fact that there is a segment of Muslims who identify as something other than straight means that, even though they may not be acting on that inclination or orientation, they have negotiated a space where they can still be Muslim,’ Mogahed said.

‘There is enough space within the theology to be able to do that.’

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Anti-LGBT Hate Preacher James David Manning Faces Abuse Allegations

Anti-LGBT New York preacher James David Manning is facing allegations of abuse against school children.

Manning, the pastor at ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem, has attracted attention online for his outlandish anti-LGBT conspiracy theories.

The preacher famously alleged that Starbucks flavours lattes with the “semen of Sodomites,” while the church sign regularly proclaims anti-gay messages like “Jesus would stone homos.”

Manning has also claimed that God will make fire shoot out of “gay men’s buttholes,”and suggested the US Supreme Court only voted in favour of same-sex marriage because justices were “blackmailed” by their secret gay lovers.

Anti-gay preacher James David Manning faces abuse allegations

The preacher is under scrutiny after an investigation by Huffington Post revealedallegations of abuse at the private fundamentalist school attached to the church, also run by Manning.

One former ATLAH High School student, Tamar, alleged that Manning had sexually harassed her and touching her inappropriately.

Aged 18, Tamar secretly recorded a conversation with Manning in which the preacher makes sexual comments and states he had feelings for her when she started at the school.

He says: “You got an incredible body… In fact, like on Wednesday night you came, and you had on a black blouse and black stockings and a gray or something skirt. All I could think about was, ‘Wow, I sure would like to remove those stockings and that blouse,’ and just look at your body.”

James David Manning at ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem
James David Manning at ATLAH World Missionary Church in Harlem

Another former student told the outlet that he was locked in a basement for three days by Manning as a punishment for having sex with a girl.

Other students said that homophobia was rife at the school, with Manning frequently railing against evil “faggots.” Others likened Manning’s grip over Atlah congregants to a cult leader.

Four attendees at Atlah church also alleged that Manning encouraged them to “defecate in a bag and leave it at gay-owned businesses.”

The private religious school has been operating for years despite its “registration pending” status with New York state.

A spokesperson for the New York Department of Education told Huffington Post: “The Department takes all allegations of misconduct against certified educators extremely seriously.”

“[We] would encourage anyone that believes they may have been the victim of misconduct to contact us with the appropriate complaint information.”

Anti-gay preacher blames ‘LGBTQ mafia’ for abuse allegations

Manning did not comment on the allegations.

However, in a Twitter storm he claimed: “THE LGBTQ MAFIA IS SPREADING LIES ATTEMPTING A HIT JOB ON OUR CHURCH. THEY WANT HARLEM TO BE WHITE AND HOMOSEXUAL.

“THEY SAY HATE ALL WHO PREACH AGAINST THEIR SEXUAL RACISM. IT WILL BE A COLD DAY IN HELL BEFORE THEY TAKE ME OR ATLAH CHURCH DOWN.”

He added: The LGBQT have attacked The Lord’s House And The Lord’s Servant.

“This attack will fail like a pervert news reporter boarding a bus with a student math protractor. He will fall on the needle and die the death when I stand and preach The Word.”

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Church of England Pressed to End Ban on Same-sex Marriage

A new campaign has launched, calling on the Church of England to end its ban on same-sex weddings.

The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the Church of England launched on Friday (April 12), seeking an end to rules that ban same-sex weddings in Church parishes, and an end to rules that target gay vicars for getting married.

The campaign, led by several members of the clergy, launches exactly five years after hospital chaplain Jeremy Pemberton defied the Church’s rules to marry his same-sex partner, which led to the removal of his permission to officiate.

Church of England clergy: It is time to embrace same-sex marriage

Revd Andrew Foreshew-Cain, said: “We congratulate Jeremy and Laurence on their wedding anniversary, and rejoice with the many same-gender couples who have made lifelong, faithful commitments to each other in marriage in recent years.

“The Church of England has spent too many years saying it is sorry for the way that it treats LGBT+ people, whilst continuing its own injustice towards us in marriage and ministry. It is time for what is done to match what is said.”

Church of England Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (Dan Kitwood/Getty)

Revd Canon Rosie Harper, member of church’s General Synod, added: “Marriage ‘enriches society and strengthens community’, as the C of E wedding service says, and the Church should be open to all loving couples who want to make that commitment, regardless of their sexuality.

“I welcome this campaign and look for the day when I can welcome gay and lesbian couples to my church for their wedding day.”

Revd Dr Nicholas Bundock, of St James and Emmanuel, Didsbury, added: “It is time for the Church of England to start to heal the hurt and pain it has caused to LGBT+ people and to welcome and bless their faithful, loving relationships in church.

“Marriage is a gift of God to all people.”

Gay Church of England weddings would require change in UK law

Permitting same-sex marriage in Church of England parishes would require a change in the law, as the 2013 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act explicitly barred the Church of England and the Church in Wales from conducting same-sex marriages as part of a ‘quadruple lock’ to appease religious opponents of same-sex marriage.

Several other churches within the Anglican Communion, including the US Episcopal Church and the Scottish Episcopal Church, have embraced same-sex unions, while the Anglican Church of Canada is also in the process of making reforms.

However, the Church of England has been more resistant to change.

The current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has also previously handed rebukes to the US and Scottish churches for embracing same-sex weddings.

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The Mormon Church still Doesn’t Accept Same-sex Couples

Top leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have reversed a policy that prevented minor children of same-sex married couples from joining the church and participating in its sacred rituals since 2015.

Many conservative churches oppose same-sex relationships and have done so with increased intensity since the second half of the 20th century. In the case of Latter-day Saints, the reasons for opposing same-sex marriage are based in their theology of a “real family,” as willed by God.

However, as a scholar of gender and sexuality in Mormonism, I argue that the 2015 decision to bar children of same-sex parents from the church was tied to the conservative fight against same-sex marriage that was finding an increasing acceptance at the time in courts and elsewhere. 

Mormon theology

Mormon theology is based on a divine heterosexual archetype that sets the pattern for all intimate human relationships. 

Latter-day Saints hold an ideal that heaven is a domestic paradise where families will live together in eternal harmony. In Latter-day Saints’ view of God, there is a divine Father in Heaven, but also a Mother in Heaven, who are believed to be the heterosexual parents of human spirits.

Mormons protest over the 2015 rule change by church officials that bars children of same-sex couple from being baptized. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File

When the policy was adopted in 2015, the church deemed same-sex married Latter-day Saints as “apostate” and excommunicated them. This involved removing their names from the records of the church and nullifying any previous rituals. 

‘Protecting children’

In order to explain why the children were also deserving of official sanction, the church said it was an effort to “protect” them. 

One senior church leader claimed that it was an act of “love” and “kindness” to prevent the children of same-sex families from participating and joining the church. One church leader, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, said, “We don’t want the child to have to deal with issues that might arise where the parents feel one way and the expectations of the Church are very different.”

In the religious practice of Latter-day Saints, a child’s name on church records initiates visits to their home and an expectation of attending church-sponsored activities. Christofferson claimed, that it would not be “an appropriate thing” for a child living with a same-sex couple.

The church even issued an official statement about not wanting to subject children to teachings that their same-sex married parents were “apostates.” 

Mormons and politics

What I argue is that the roots of rhetoric of the focus on family goes back to the emergence of the anti-gay politics of religious conservatives starting in the 1970s.

At the time, several preachers and anti-gay activists such as Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Tim LaHaye and others increasingly spoke out against the gay rights movement as a threat to “family values” that would undermine society. Latter-day Saints joined this opposition.

These conservatives, advocating for “family values,” opposed same-sex marriage. These efforts often relied on claims that same-sex marriage would harm children belonging to same-sex families as well as those children who interacted with them.

In 1977, evangelical activist Anita Bryant launched a national campaign against the gay rights movement, specifically to keep gays and lesbians out of schools, and successfully rallied conservatives to this cause.

Bryant’s campaign was a simple slogan, “Save Our Children,” which depicted gay men and lesbians as pedophiles recruiting young people into “perversion.” Her campaign also suggested that “our children” belonged only to heterosexual people. 

Gay rights activists protest against the Mormon Church’s alleged heavy support of the anti-gay marriage initiative in 2008, AP Photo/Reed Saxon

In the 1990s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints backed campaigns and mobilized members and money to deny same-sex couples the right to create legally protected families. 

The policy on children was a response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier that year that legalized same-sex marriage. 

What’s not changed

When it was first announced, the policy was deeply unpopular among the rank and file. The truth is that many members of the church increasingly support same-sex marriage. 

A Public Religion Research Institute survey found that 55% of Mormons opposed same-sex marriage in 2016. But this number was rapidly declining. In 2015, the same survey had found 66% of Mormons opposing same sex marriages. In one year, it noted, there was an 11-point drop in opposition, with a corresponding 11-point increase in support. 

People holding placards at an annual conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City in 2018. AP Photo/Rick Bowmer

In light of this trend, it was no surprise to see the unpopular policy reversed. 

The reversal of the 2015 policy, however, does not change the status of same-sex relationships in the church. These relationships are still forbidden and subject couples to potential excommunication. Only their children can once again participate fully in the church without sanction. 

In my view, the church faces a real conceptual problem when it comes to imagining same-sex families as “real families” that may include children. How can it support the children of same-sex families when its teachings claim that they are “counterfeit and alternative lifestyles” and not part of the family organization willed by God?

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Pope Francis Criticized for ‘Failure’ to Address Damage to LGBT Youth

Pope Francis has been criticised for his “failure” to address the damage done to LGBT+ youth by the Catholic Church.

LGBT+ humanitarian campaign group Equal Future hit out at the pope after the Vatican released a new teaching document for young people, titled Christus vivit, on Tuesday (April 2).

The pope released the nine-chapter publication in response to an event held by Catholic bishops, called the “Synod on Young People,” in October.

But Equal Future criticised the pope for “airbrushing of the lives and aspirations of millions of young LGBT people from the document,” which it said “compounds the damage being done to young people.”

Campaign group calls out Pope Francis over document for youth ministry

In a statement, Tiernan Brady, campaign director for Equal Future, said: “Given the highly problematic nature of the Catholic Church’s teaching on LGBT…the document represents a failure of nerve to follow through on previous positive statements by Pope Francis.

“The pope does not say anything about shielding children from the damage that any sense that being LGBT would be a misfortune or a disappointment. The document fails to even consider this damage.”

The pope’s document does not include any mention of the “LGBT” acronym. However, it does briefly mention “homosexuality.”

Brady noted that the the publication contained some “positive elements,” including calling for an “inclusive” approach towards the development of its youth ministry.

Pope Francis’ guidance for youth is a “missed opportunity,” says LGBT+ group

Still, Brady added: “But these are only potential pathways to progress and the document is ultimately a missed opportunity.

“The Synod on Young People failed to acknowledge and tackle the problem. Pope Francis has made little headway.”

“The pope does not say anything about shielding children from the damage that any sense that being LGBT would be a misfortune or a disappointment.”

—Tiernan Brady, campaign director for Equal Future

Following the synod in October, the Catholic Church was criticised for dropping the “LGBT” acronym from an official document discussing recommendations on how to welcome young people into the church.

DUBLIN, IRELAND - AUGUST 25: Pope Francis attends the festival of families at Croke Park on 25 August , 2018 in Dublin, Ireland.Pope Francis is the 266th Catholic Pope and current sovereign of the Vatican. His visit, the first by a Pope since John Paul II's in 1979, is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of Catholics to a series of events in Dublin and Knock. During his visit he will have private meetings with victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Pope Francis. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)

The Synod on Youth—a global summit for Catholic bishops—took place over the month of October, with a final 60-page document approved by the end of the month.

The working draft of the document had included the LGBT acronym, making it the first time it had been used by the Vatican in an official capacity.

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Nation’s Largest Christian Charity Has Given Tens Of Millions To Viciously Anti-LGBT Hate Groups

The National Christian Foundation reportedly raised over $1.5 billion in tax-exempt donations in 2017 and a lot of that money is being devoted to groups which advocate for imprisoning LGBT persons around the world.

Alex Kotch reports at Sludge:

The nation’s eighth-largest public charity is pouring tens of millions of dollars each year into a number of mostly anti-LGBT hate groups, a Sludge investigation shows. According to the three most recent available tax filings — which cover 2015-17 — it has donated $56.1 million on behalf of its clients to 23 nonprofits identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups.

By far the biggest recipient of NCF donations is Alliance Defending Freedom, a large network of Christian extremist lawyers who have supported criminalizing homosexuality, sterilizing transgender people, and claimed that gay men are pedophiles. The group recently came out against congressional Democrats’ Equality Act, which would ban discrimination against LGBTQ Americans.

Alliance Defending Freedom took in $49.2 million from NCF from 2015-17. ADF received $46.3 million in contributions and grants during the 2016 fiscal year (from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016). It got $16.8 million from NCF in the calendar year of 2015, meaning that, if these years were aligned, NCF’s donations would have represented over one-third of ADF’s annual contributions.

At the link you’ll see that the NCF also gave over $1.2M to the Family Research Council and smaller amounts to Liberty Counsel, the American Family Association, and other anti-LGBT hate groups. And do hit that link, this is an important exposé, particularly regarding where the NCF gets their money. (Via The Friendly Atheist)

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