United Kingdom

The latest statistics from the Church of England show a two percent drop in attendance between 2009 and 2010.

Average Sunday attendance fell from 944,400 in 2009 to 923,700 in 2010, continuing the long-term downward trend.

The number of children and young people at weekly services also dropped by two percent, from 223,000 in 2009 to 218,600 in 2010. more >>

The secret is finally out after five years that the child Sasha from the United Kingdom is in fact a boy.

His parents, Beck Laxton and Kieran Cooper, have kept the gender of their son a secret all these years to the public, refusing to reveal their child's gender to make a statement against gender stereotypes. Sasha's gender was revealed after he entered school.

"I wanted to avoid all the stereotyping," said the mother Laxton to U.K.-based Cambridge News. "Stereotypes seems fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes?" more >>

A group of atheists at University College London, which posted a cartoon of Jesus and Muhammad with what look like glasses of beer on its Facebook page, is claiming that the student union has withdrawn its call to remove the cartoon.

The University College London Union “can no longer call on us to withdraw the image,” says Robbie Yellon, the president of the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society, on the society’s Facebook page.

The image is taken from “Jesus & Mo,” a satirical British webcomic created by an artist using the pseudonym Mohammed Jones, and shows Jesus and Muhammad with a drink that looks like beer. The atheist society posted the image on its Facebook page as an advertisement for a social event about a week ago. The student union requested it to remove the image last Tuesday, citing complaints from students. more >>

A senior clergyman from the Church of England who claims he was blocked from becoming a bishop because he is openly gay, is apparently preparing to take his employers to court under the country’s equality law.

The Very Rev. Dr. Jeffrey John, the current Dean of St. Albans, is understood to have hired Alison Downie, an employment and discrimination law specialist, to fight his case under the Equality Act 2010, which bans discrimination on the grounds of sexuality, The Guardian reported.

In 2003, John was forced to step down as the suffragan bishop (subordinate to a diocesan bishop) of the town of Reading after conservative evangelicals in the church raised objections. He was the first openly gay priest to be nominated as a Church of England bishop. more >>

Jamie Love, the 17-year-old called the "Govan school transgender" by reports despite his male sex, claims his U.K. school kicked him out of class for showing up dressed in girl’s clothing and accessories.

The sixth form student, who had asked his classmates to call him “Keirny,” showed up Monday to Glasgow’s Govan High with tights, shorts, makeup, and hair extensions, and was promptly told to leave.

Jaimie claims he spoke to school officials about his plans to show up with female clothing on, even stating to teachers that he felt “trapped in a boy’s body,” according to The Daily Record. more >>

Barry and Anne Watson were united nine years ago as husband and wife, but a lot has changed since then. After Barry began pursuing a sex change, the U.K. couple renewed their wedding vows last year and reaffirmed their commitment to one another, this time as wife and wife.

Barry, who now goes by the name of Jayne, told the Sunday Mirror that during a rough patch in their marriage, Anne actually thought he was cheating on her with another woman, when in fact he wanted to be a woman himself. Though Anne was “furious” to learn that Barry wanted to undergo a sex change at first, Jayne explained, she later conceded.

“Anne came to accept me for who I wanted to be and love me as Jayne. Renewing our vows seemed the perfect way to tell the world how happy we are with our new lives,” said Jayne. more >>