SALT LAKE CITY (AP) | The father of Utah kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart has come out as gay in a heartfelt letter that reveals he has struggled throughout his life with pain and guilt.
“The decision to be honest and truthful about my orientation comes with its own set of challenges, but at the same time it is a huge relief,” Ed Smart wrote in a letter posted on his Facebook page Friday.
PLOCK, Poland (AP) | LGBTQ activists held a central Polish city’s first pride parade with only minor incidents on Aug. 10 amid a deep divide in the country over gay and lesbian rights.
The parade in Plock, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Warsaw, came three weeks after anti-gay violence marred the first pride march in the eastern city of Bialystok. Far-right radicals attacked march participants with rocks, glass bottles and firecrackers on July 20, causing injuries and riot police to intervene.
Julieanne Hough publicly discussed her sexuality for the first time in an interview with Women’s Health.
The “America’s Got Talent” and “Dancing with the Stars” judge posed nude on the cover of Women’s Health’s “Naked Strength” issue and got candid about when she came out as “not straight” to her husband, hockey player Brooks Laich.
ST. PETERSBURG | Drag Queen Story Hour Tampa Bay and its host venue Community Cafe are the latest targets of the anti-LGBTQ vlogger Elizabeth Johnston, also known as “The Activist Mommy.”
Drag Queen Story Hour Tampa Bay began in Sept. 2018. The majority of the monthly events—which exist to entertain and inspire children—have been held at the cafe in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District, affectionately referred to as “The Gayborhood.”
“Fuller House” star Juan Pablo Di Pace has come out as gay.
Di Pace, who hails from Argentina and was raised Catholic, opened up about his sexuality during a Ted Talk at a TedX event. The talk, titled “The Story of Your Life,” was recorded in March and recently uploaded to YouTube.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) | A private high school is firing an educator to avoid having its ties cut with the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
The Indianapolis Star reports Cathedral High School announced Sunday it’s terminating a gay teacher to avoid a split with the archdiocese, which last week stripped Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School of its Catholic identity over its decision to employ a teacher in a same-sex marriage.
“Rocketman,” the fantasy musical biopic about Elton John, has been banned in Samoa by the country’s censor Leiataua Niuapu Faaui over its depiction of homosexuality.
Faaui told newspaper Samoa Observer that the film conflicted with Samoa’s “culture and our Christian beliefs” and that it is “not good for public viewing and violates laws against same-sex marriage.”
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) | A priest is asking parishioners not to leave his church over a tweet by Rhode Island’s bishop urging Roman Catholics to not support or attend LGBTQ Pride Month events.
The Rev. Edward L. Pieroni begged gay and lesbian parishioners not to leave the church during Sunday services at St. Raymond’s Roman Catholic Church in Providence, The Boston Globe reported.
Years ago, in one of my seminary classes, someone posed the question, “Why do we trust people with our bodies who we wouldn’t trust with the keys to our car?” This was in a class on queer theology (yes, you find classes like that in seminaries, at least in the seminaries that are worth attending.)
The question was not an attack on queer life and it was not a critique of the sexual freedoms so many people in LGBTQ spaces enjoy. Instead, it questioned where in our lives we assign value and how we choose to protect our bodies, our possessions and our hearts.
I’ve had an “it’s complicated” relationship status with organized religion since I was a child. My mother converted to Judaism, the religion my father’s family raised him within, and on Friday nights and many holidays, took us to synagogue. We were far from orthodox and we celebrated Christmas with my maternal grandparents annually.
I also frequently attended Catholic church when spending Saturday nights at my best friend’s home growing up. Overall, I would say I’ve flirted with religion but never fully committed.
NEW YORK (AP) | There’s at least one area of agreement among conservative, centrist and liberal leaders in the United Methodist Church: America’s largest mainline Protestant denomination is on a path toward likely breakup over differences on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ pastors.
The differences have simmered for years, and came to a head in February at a conference in St. Louis where delegates voted 438-384 for a proposal called the Traditional Plan, which strengthens bans on LGBTQ-inclusive practices. A majority of U.S.-based delegates opposed that plan and favored LGBTQ-friendly options, but they were outvoted by U.S. conservatives teamed with most of the delegates from Methodist strongholds in Africa and the Philippines.
Presidential candidate and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg calmly dismissed anti-LGBTQ hecklers with the help of his supporters during his first visit to Iowa April 16.
The initial heckler confronted Buttigieg at a town hall in Fort Dodge, the AP reports, after Buttigieg discussed marriage equality. “You betray your baptism!” the protester said before being escorted from the gathering.
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