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Would St. Patrick Let People Carry A Rainbow Flag?

Last updated on: March 17, 2014 at 11:00 am By Susan Cottrell

Ah, St. Patrick’s Day, with the tradition of wearing green, drinking beer, and excluding LGBTQ expression in the celebratory parades. Um… wait. What? Oh yes, that seems to be the topic for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parades as Guinness, Samuel Adams, and Heineken have withdrawn support of the New York and Boston parades. You can read the articles for yourself, but as usual, the sides are pretty committed to what they want. One side wants full equality of LGBTQ people, period. That movement has gained... Read more

God’s Babysitters?

Last updated on: March 13, 2014 at 11:27 am By Susan Cottrell

“Some people find fault like there’s a prize for it.” – Zig Ziglar I’m baffled at the fervor with which people tell others what God wants for them. It reminds me of my kids. Rob and I had a full house for many years: two boys and three girls. We regularly left the kids with a babysitter while we escaped, er, went out. It was for our own sanity, okay?? 🙂 When they were old enough, we let them stay... Read more

My Conversation With a Gay Man in Uganda

Last updated on: March 12, 2014 at 11:09 am By Susan Cottrell

Uganda is in trouble. As we sit in the comfort of our homes debating the Gay-Christian issue, Ugandans fear daily for their lives. For Hitler to round up six million Jews, gays, handicapped or other “undesirables” and send them to concentration camps to die, a lot of people had to look the other way… to their shame. Are we looking the other way now? Deo Accept is the Program Director at Born This Way Uganda. His real name is Mugerwa... Read more

You Love Gay People? That’s great. Prove it.

Last updated on: March 11, 2014 at 11:03 am By Susan Cottrell

“When conservative Christians find out I’m gay, they almost all say the same thing: ‘I know gay people think Christians hate them, but I don’t. I love gay people. I may not agree with them, but I love them.'” (Today’s post is from Justin Lee, Author of “Torn”, and the Executive Director of The Gay Christian Network.) You’d be surprised how often I hear this. Christians are constantly telling me how much they love me. If they treat me disapprovingly,... Read more

The Child You Hate May Be The One You Love

Last updated on: March 10, 2014 at 2:32 pm By Susan Cottrell

Today’s post is from Rachel Hockett, someone who has become a dear friend to FreedHearts. Rachel is the founder of the Equality Mantra on Facebook, an organization with 117,000 members that advocates for global LGBT rights and marriage equality. Co-founding artistic director of the Homecoming Players, she studied with Lynne Meadow, Walter Dallas, and Nikos Psacharopoulos as a member of the first class of women at Yale. She co-founded OOBA West-Park Theatre in New York, which produced classics and new... Read more

Moms & Dads… Are You Speaking or Listening?

Last updated on: March 6, 2014 at 11:05 am By Susan Cottrell

Lent has never been part of my tradition, but I went to our church last night for Ash Wednesday. It was like an open house, so you could walk in and pray in your own time, take communion, and let the pastor put ashes on your forehead. As I went in, I went straight to the large cross and stood before it, praying. I poured out my heart for Rob, our kids, our futures. Then I just looked at the cross.... Read more

Kids Are Dying – It’s Time To Speak Up!

Last updated on: March 3, 2014 at 11:17 am By Susan Cottrell

“My son came out to his dad and I last night. His dad kicked him out. So I am now in a hotel with my son. Home is where the heart is and tonight that makes Motel 6 home.” Kicking your LGBTQ child out in love is a ludicrous idea. No definition of love includes throwing out your gay child. That’s more like hate. I know, we mix them up sometimes. Kids are dying out there, and I felt it was time... Read more

Can Gays Be Christians – Yes or No?

Last updated on: February 27, 2014 at 11:41 am By Susan Cottrell

“This morning in my adult Sunday School, someone said ‘I don’t understand how homosexuals can say they are Christians.’ How do I respond to this? I am a Christian, raised our gay son in a Christian home.” This statement from a reader came in an email and is commonly asked as a real concern for people, as if being a Christian means being free from difficult issues they personally don’t understand or find reprehensible. Where do I begin? I hear... Read more

Don’t Lose Hope – We Are ‘Not All Like That’

Last updated on: February 26, 2014 at 10:57 am By Susan Cottrell

When our adult child told us they had same-sex attraction, we were shocked. The usual questions flooded us: what would this mean for their life? Would they be safe? Would they ever have children? We truly had no idea what lay ahead. But here’s the realization that smacked us: we were now the “others.” Whether we shared this information or not (we thought we would not), the church was no longer our home. In our twenty-plus years at some great,... Read more

Being “Right” is a Mistake – A Fresh Look at Arizona

Last updated on: February 24, 2014 at 12:17 pm By Susan Cottrell

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:43-45 Do you remember Disney classic Sleeping Beauty — when the fairies clean house, make a cake, and design a dress for Sleeping Beauty? These fairies have been charged to protect the princess from the evil Maleficent, who has cursed her to die.... Read more

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