“Prejudices are breaking down. Walls are breaking down. Pastors are rethinking their entrenched positions. Parents are choosing their child over learned doctrine that doesn’t reconcile with their lived experience or with the heart of God.” I wanted to share this, from a Mom who is part of my private Facebook support group for Moms of LGBTQI children. I’m pretty sure there are a lot of moms — and dads — who feel the same way. Being only two years into... Read more
“You want to shove those words back in and put the lid on. But you can’t. Your child is gay. This goes against everything you’ve been taught. It was not what you had in mind, and you instantly wonder where you went wrong.” When you become a parent, you know to expect the unexpected. But for many Christian parents, nothing can prepare them to hear that their beloved child is gay. This is the child you have cradled, spoon fed... Read more
With all this conversation about who we pee next to, I wondered if you could tell who was actually a transgender woman. Can you spot her? Can you tell? Do you care? Unfortunately, many seem to care, and have responded with fear-mongering and vicious lies, trying to make this about the safety of our children. Honestly, they should be ashamed of themselves. Anyone who takes an authentic look at this knows there is no connection whatever between transgender people and... Read more
What do you when the bully in a school is the teacher? What impact does it have on a child’s life when those he thought were there to protect him, turn out to be the biggest threat? J.D.’s mom, Shawna DiCintio, recalls J.D. as a happy, carefree kid, an up-and-coming advocate for youth, a leader determined to bring acceptance and awareness to LGBTQI youth. She was a competitive cheerleader who trained 12 hours a week and dreamed of going to... Read more
She was so upset. Almost to the point of tears. And nearly an hour later, you could still see the shame on her face. But why? Her voice. Her beauty. Her charm. She plays to sold-out stadiums. She delights her fans and moves people to tears. I am simply mesmerized as I watch her—including her outstanding performance last week on the Grammys. But as she started the tribute to the late George Michael, something was wrong, it wasn’t quite on,... Read more
One of the biggest lies perpetrated throughout Christendom is that God is primarily interested in our obedience. Not true. Patently false. To say our first responsibility to God is to obey is a big fat lie and distortion of the relationship God wants with us. God’s paramount interest in us is a relationship. Didn’t Jesus say simply, “Follow me!”? How quickly we complicate things by adding cherry-picked list of right and wrong behavior and focus our attention on that. By... Read more
Well, here you are! You’re gay or bi or lesbian or transgender or intersex or queer in some way or other. You may be or agender or pansexual. Or you may not yet be sure what the heck is going on! I understand. I really do. You may even be in a straight marriage and now you realize you’re not straight. Believe me I’ve heard that dilemma many times in private conversation. Wherever you are, I am here for you—to... Read more
November 20th was the Transgender Day of Remembrance. A day to remember the beautiful lives of precious, courageous, brave people. I was honored to be a speaker at the Austin TDOR event and wanted to share with you my talk at this special, emotional event. If you prefer to watch the video, you can just click here. Freeing Hearts to Love and Be Love. By Susan Cottrell I’m a mom of 2 queer kids and 3 straight/cis kids. But tonight... Read more
Well here we are, caught in a maelstrom. The fear has never felt so intense, the fracture never so deep. Stephen Colbert said 50% of people on both sides feel terror of what the other side might do. Abject terror. Those who fervently voted for their candidate, and those who merely voted against the other candidate. Everyone believes “their side” is right, “the other side” is wrong—and they believe it with all their heart. My daughter said, “I just don’t... Read more
Beloveds, it’s a strange day, isn’t it? I don’t even mean the outcome of the election, I mean the aftermath. Regardless of whether or not your candidate won, it is likely that the whole thing feels vaguely gross. Like waking up someplace you should never have been, and now you just want to get home and take a shower. Uck. But we need to take a little pause here. A big pause. Let’s take a big pause. We need to... Read more
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