Ralph Blair is an American psychotherapist and founder of The Homosexual Community Counseling Center in New York City. In 1975, he founded Evangelicals Concerned, Inc. (or EC), a U.S.-wide network of gay and lesbian evangelical Christians and friends. [1] [2]
Blair founded EC to provide hope, encouragement, teaching and fellowship to gays and lesbians seeking to integrate their sexuality with a theologically sound and committed Christian faith. EC uses conferences, publications and other venues to spread the Good News of God's grace and peace in Christ to a people called to lives of grateful service. EC sponsors summer regional conferences, winter Bible study retreats, and fall preaching festivals. The latter focus on contributions from historical Christian leaders such as John Wesley, George MacDonald, John Newton and J. Gresham Machen.[ citation needed ] Blair also publishes a quarterly review of literature published about religion and literature.
For the Eastern and Western EC conferences, Blair invites as keynoters only evangelicals who support monogamous same-sex partnerships. These keynoters are invited only once.[ citation needed ]
Blair is a graduate of Bowling Green State University, The University of Southern California Graduate School of Religion, and The Graduate School of The Pennsylvania State University. He also studied at Bob Jones University, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Westminster Theological Seminary.
Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged in the first millennium AD, and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.
The subject of homosexuality and Judaism dates back to the Torah. The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is traditionally regarded as classifying sexual intercourse between males as a to'eivah that can be subject to capital punishment by the current Sanhedrin under halakha.
The relationship between religion and homosexuality has varied greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and denominations, with regard to different forms of homosexuality and bisexuality. The present-day doctrines of the world's major religions and their denominations differ in their attitudes toward these sexual orientations. Adherence to anti-gay religious beliefs and communities is correlated with the prevalence of emotional distress and suicidality in sexual minority individuals, and is a primary motivation for seeking conversion therapy.
"Gay agenda" or "homosexual agenda" is a pejorative term used by sectors of the Christian religious right as a disparaging way to describe the advocacy of cultural acceptance and normalization of non-heterosexual sexual orientations and relationships. The term originated among social conservatives in the United States and has been adopted in nations with active anti-LGBT movements such as Hungary and Uganda.
Queer theology is a theological method that has developed out of the philosophical approach of queer theory, built upon scholars such as Marcella Althaus-Reid, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Judith Butler. Queer theology begins with the assumption that gender variance and queer desire have always been present in human history, including faith traditions and their sacred texts such as the Jewish Scriptures and the Bible. It was at one time separated into two separate theologies: gay theology and lesbian theology. Later, the two theologies would merge and expand to become the more general method of queer theology.
John J. McNeill was an American Catholic priest, psychotherapist and academic theologian in the United States, with a particular reputation within the field of queer theology. McNeill was awarded the National Human Rights Award in 1984 for his contributions to lesbian and gay rights, and was made the Grand Marshal of the New York City Gay Rights Parade in 1987. McNeill was expelled from the Society of Jesus in 1987 at the request of the Vatican.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+)-affirming religious groups are religious groups that welcome LGBT people as their members, do not consider homosexuality as a sin or negative, and affirm LGBT rights and relationships. They include entire religious denominations, as well as individual congregations and places of worship. Some groups are mainly composed of non-LGBTQ+ members and they also have specific programs to welcome LGBTQ+ people into them, while other groups are mainly composed of LGBTQ+ members.
Justin Russell Cannon is an American Episcopal priest, an author, and a theologian.
Anthony Venn-Brown OAM is a former Australian evangelist in the Assemblies of God now and an author whose book, A Life of Unlearning describes his experience in Australia's first ex-gay program. He is also the Co-founder and previous Convenor of Freedom 2b which is a network for GLBTIQ people from Evangelical backgrounds. He is also the founder and CEO of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International (ABBI).
David P. Gushee is a Christian ethicist, Baptist pastor, author, professor, and public intellectual. Growing up, Gushee attended and completed his college years at College of William and Mary in 1984. After college, he received his Ph.D. in Christian ethics from Union Theological Seminary in 1993. Among the titles listed, Gushee has shown hard work and dedication in different parts of his job and was awarded for his achievements. Gushee is most known for his activism in climate change, Torture, LGBT inclusion, and Post-evangelicalism.
Methodist viewpoints concerning homosexuality are diverse because there is no one denomination which represents all Methodists. The World Methodist Council, which represents most Methodist denominations, has no official statements regarding sexuality. Various Methodist denominations themselves take different stances on the issue of homosexuality, with many denominations holding homosexual practice to be sinful, while other denominations ordain LGBT clergy and marry same-sex couples. The positions of the various Methodist denominations around the globe are outlined in this article.
Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, was an American feminist writer. She is known for her "God of the Breasts" interpretation of El Shaddai. She spent her 44-year professional career teaching college level English literature and language, but developed specializations in feminist theology and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender theology during the second half of that career.
The Q Christian Fellowship (QCF) is an ecumenical Christian ministry focused on serving lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer, and straight ally Christians. It was founded in 2001 as the Gay Christian Network (GCN) by Justin Lee and is currently administered from Denver, Colorado. It was re-branded in 2018 to better reflect the diversity of the ministry and community they serve. According to the re-branding documents, the 'Q' does not correlate to any particular word. Instead, it is just the letter 'Q' open for interpretation.
Many views are held or have been expressed by religious organisation in relation to same-sex marriage. Arguments both in favor of and in opposition to same-sex marriage are often made on religious grounds and/or formulated in terms of religious doctrine. Although many of the world's religions are opposed to same-sex marriage, the number of religious denominations that are conducting same-sex marriages have been increasing since 2010. Religious views on same-sex marriage are closely related to religious views on homosexuality.
The ordination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender (LGBT) clergy who are open about their sexuality or gender identity; are sexually active if lesbian, gay, or bisexual; or are in committed same-sex relationships is a debated practice within some contemporary Christian denominations.
Christian denominations have a variety of beliefs about sexual orientation, including beliefs about same-sex sexual practices and asexuality. Denominations differ in the way they treat lesbian, bisexual, and gay people; variously, such people may be barred from membership, accepted as laity, or ordained as clergy, depending on the denomination. As asexuality is relatively new to public discourse, few Christian denominations discuss it. Asexuality may be considered the lack of a sexual orientation, or one of the four variations thereof, alongside heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and pansexuality.
The relationship between religion and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people can vary greatly across time and place, within and between different religions and sects, and regarding different forms of homosexuality, bisexuality, non-binary, and transgender identities. More generally, the relationship between religion and sexuality ranges widely among and within them, from giving sex and sexuality a rather negative connotation to believing that sex is the highest expression of the divine.
William R. Johnson was the first openly gay minister to be ordained in a historic Protestant denomination. He received his ordination through the United Church of Christ (UCC) on June 25, 1972 in San Carlos, California.
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