They have postponed the Pride Parade in Albany this year, due to the pandemic, which is :still going on in the US, people.
I do hope the parade gets rescheduled. LOVE that our church, as part of the Albany Presbytery, has participated regularly. I’ve marched myself, especially when the event’s been on a Sunday. Also, June 7 was More Light Sunday at First Pres, and we were treated to songs by the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus. It was recorded from a previous year, of course, but it was still a joy to experience.
The Wikipedia has a “list of Christian denominations affirming LGBT.” GayChurch.org allows one to find a gay-affirming Christian congregation. That site also addresses the topic of understanding about “homosexuality and the Bible”, including a discussion of the interpretation of various so-called “clobber” passages.
Related: William Love, the Albany Episcopal bishop, continues to oppose “the national church’s embrace of same-sex marriage.” He says it boils “down to conflicting interpretations of church law and doctrine.”
Meanwhile, I’ll settle for looking at historic photos of the New York City parades.
Politics and tricks
No question, the NEED to march continues to be great. LGBTQ rights are “getting chipped away by the people who the administration put in power and their policies.” In honor of Pride Month, it would seem, the regime has reversed access to health protections for transgender people.
The United Nations calls for an end to debunked anti-LGBTQ conversion ‘therapy’ practices, which still exist in parts of the United States.
On the other hand, the Supreme Court rules existing civil rights law protects gay and lesbian workers. “The decision said Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate because of a person’s sex, also covers sexual orientation.” “It is impossible to discriminate against a person for being homosexual or transgender without discriminating against that person based on sex,” Neil Gorsuch wrote. If a boss fires a man for being attracted to other men, he continued, then “the employer discriminates against him for traits or actions it tolerates in his female colleague.”
BTW, you should check out the Congressional Scorecard. “The Human Rights Campaign wants to provide you with information on how your elected officials have voted on issues of equality.” My member of Congress, Paul Tonko, got 100% for the 115th Congress, I’m pleased to note.
Weird. I almost forgot that the United States had its first openly gay Presidential candidate in Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, IN. He dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination on March 1, after he fared poorly in the South Carolina primary. March 1 was also before the massive COVID-19 shutdown. It was only three and a half months ago; why does it feel like ancient history?
In any case, the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, like so many other fights, continues.