Homosexuality

A United Methodist Church minister who is also dean of Yale Divinity School will face an ecclesiastical court for officiating his homosexual son's wedding in New York last year.

After the Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Ogletree officiated his son's gay wedding, Methodist leaders demanded he be charged with violating the UMC's ban on clergy performing same-sex marriages.

"I was inspired … I actually wasn't thinking of this as an act of civil disobedience or church disobedience. I was thinking of it as a response to my son," said Ogletree to the New York Times. "Sometimes, when what is officially the law is wrong, you try to get the law changed … But if you can't, you break it." more >>

In the weeks since New Zealand passed legislation that would legalize same-sex marriage in the country, a pro-family charity in the country was notified that it will lose its charitable status because it offered support for traditional marriage.

The New Zealand charity, Family First NZ, was recently notified that it will lose its charitable status by the end of the month unless it appeals the decision.

Representatives for the group have claimed the move is solely political, aimed at quieting voices that advocate the maintaining the traditional notion of the family structure and silencing those who disagree with the current popular political culture. more >>

Pat Brady, the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, revealed on Tuesday that he will be stepping down from his position in order to focus on his family and his wife who is battling cancer.

"I've been going hard for six years. It's time to move on," Brady said, according to The San Francisco Chronicle, adding that his wife has been in a serious fight against cancer for the past two years, and he needs to spend more time with her and their four children. His full letter of resignation can be found on the Illinois GOP website.

Brady has been mixed up in a gay marriage controversy ever since he opposed the party's platform and expressed support for including same-sex couples in Illinois's definition of marriage in January. more >>

[UPDATE: Monday, May 6, 2013 4:50 p.m.

Joseph Zwilling, director of Communications for the Archdiocese of New York, released this statement to The Christian Post in response to the gay rights supporters' protest:

"Yesterday, prior to the 10:15 a.m. Mass at Saint Patrick's Cathedral, a small group of individuals approached the Cathedral with blackened hands, as a form of protest in response to Cardinal Dolan's blog post, 'All Are Welcome.' Although organizers have attempted to call yesterday's events by another name, it is clear that they were trying to make a statement, had hoped to get media attention to spread their message, and were using the setting of the Mass in Saint Patrick's Cathedral as their forum. more >>

The state of Rhode Island has become the tenth state in the United States and the last state in New England to legalize same-sex marriage after Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the bill Thursday.

Rick Jacobs, founder of the progressive advocacy group CourageCampaign.org, said in a statement that the Rhode Island bill represents one of many successes in recent months.  "Across the country we are seeing rapid and historic shifts towards equality and freedom for all. With 10 states down, and 40 to go, Rhode Island is leading the way into the double-digits of states that support marriage equality," said Jacobs.

Rhode Island joins Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia in recognizing same-sex marriage. more >>

The mainstream media and critics of historic Christianity are at it again-Christians who have done nothing but articulate what the Bible says about homosexuality are being vitrified.

Chris Broussard, an ESPN commentator who stated what he as a Christian believes about homosexuality, has received nothing but vitriol from critics. ESPN apologized for his comments, but Broussard has not. In fact, Broussard hoped that people would express tolerance for his beliefs. He said, " In talking to some people around the league, there's a lot [of] Christians in the NBA and just because they disagree with that lifestyle, they don't want to be called bigoted and intolerant and things like that. That's what LZ [Granderson] was getting at. Just like I may tolerate someone whose lifestyle I disagree with, he can tolerate my beliefs. He disagrees with my beliefs and my lifestyle but true tolerance and acceptance is being able to handle that as mature adults and not criticize each other and call each other names…" Unfortunately, his critics have not expressed any tolerance towards him.

Greg Laurie, the Senior Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., who led the May 2 National Day of Prayer, was also criticized for his position on homosexuality and found himself under pressure to step down. He didn't. He said, "We're in a time in our country now where I'm attacked because I believe what the Bible teaches." And he's not alone. more >>