*Queer – originally meaning odd, used as a term of homophobic abuse, reclaimed by activists as a defiant act of liberation, now interpreted to mean radical transgression of norms – see my comments on Keith Sharpe’s book The Gay Gospels below. IT’S BEEN an extraordinary couple of weeks since my last post about the Bishop of Liverpool’s visit to the monthly… Read more »
IT’S LATE – my phone rings. It’s someone I haven’t heard from in a while. I answer. His greeting is warm, but it sounds like he’s been drinking. He chats about Facebook – he says he doesn’t use it much but he’s logged in and noticed the rainbow filter on my profile picture, the only one among his list of… Read more »
In at least 76 countries around the world, loving someone of the same sex is illegal and, in ten countries, it is even punishable by death. In many more countries citizens are denied their right to live as their preferred gender identity. As well as legal discriminations, social homophobia, biphobia and transphobia daily serve to deny millions of people across the world… Read more »
LAST WEEKEND, director of Changing Attitude Colin Coward came to our church to give a series of reflections inspired by twenty years working towards a more inclusive church around the world. Colin is an Anglican priest who originally trained as an architect and subsequently as a psychotherapist. He ministered for 19 years in inner-city parishes. In 1995 he founded Changing… Read more »
Be brave enough to start a conversation that matters. This was the aim of last week’s two-day conference Open Church: The church, sexuality, mission and the future hosted by Steve Chalke, Baptist minister and founder of international charity the Oasis Trust. Steve hit the headlines two years ago when he called for an ‘open conversation’ around same-sex relationships and marriage in response to the… Read more »
BY POPULAR REQUEST, members of the community that meets monthly at St Bride’s Church, Liverpool for the Open Table LGBT service spent a day away again this month, six months after our first away-day last October. Following the theme of identity and individuality we explored in last month’s service, we developed and deepened this at St Joseph’s Prayer Centre in… Read more »
FEBRUARY is LGBT History Month in the UK – marked every year in the UK since 2004 to remember and celebrate the lives and achievements of LGBT people past and present. It was set up by Sue Sanders, founder of Schools Out, a group for LGBT teachers since 1974. LGBT History Month is a wonderful opportunity to explore the lives of people who… Read more »
A YEAR AGO I trained as a volunteer with Diversity Role Models, a charity which offers workshops in schools featuring positive LGBT or straight ally role models who speak directly to young people about their experiences, to challenge bullying by promoting empathy. They began in London in 2011 and are now expanding across the UK, including Merseyside where I live and… Read more »
Wednesday 10th December is Human Rights Day. In celebration, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is launching Speak OUT: 5 ways to fight back against homophobia and transphobia. Watch and share the video with your friends and family. Unchecked prejudice often leads directly to discrimination, violence and the denial of basic human rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. You… Read more »
OPEN TABLE, the monthly service for Liverpool’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* (LGBT) community at St Bride’s Liverpool, held its first Retreat Day last weekend. Twelve regular participants in the Open Table service came together at the Cenacle Convent in Liverpool for a time of reflection on where we have come from as individuals and what it mean to be an… Read more »
