A manifesto from a group of evangelical leaders is causing controversy for its anti-LGBTQ content.
The “Nashville Statement,” a manifesto from the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), outlines the group’s views on sexuality and gender in order to act as a guide of sorts for churches.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results aren’t favourable towards LGBTQ people.
Comprising 14 articles, it opens with the declaration that “God has designed marriage to be a…union of one man and one woman, as husband and wife.” It adds, “We deny that God has designed marriage to be a homosexual, polygamous or polyamorous relationship.”
“We deny that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes,” the statement continues, adding, “We deny that sexual attraction for the same sex is part of the natural goodness of God’s original creation.”
The statement also notes that transgender individuals should embrace religion to “forsake transgender self-conceptions” and accept the “God-ordained link” between sex and gender identity.
And there’s no hope for those who support the LGBTQ community, as the evangelical leaders consider it “sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism.”
“The spirit of our age does not delight in God’s good design of male and female. Consequently, confusion reigns over some of the most basic questions of our humanity,” Council President Denny Burk said in a statement. “The aim of The Nashville Statement is to shine a light into the darkness — to declare the goodness of God’s design in our sexuality and in creating us as male and female.”
However, the use of Nashville in the name — due to a conference of the leaders in the city — has drawn fire from Nashville’s Democractic Mayor Megan Barry, who tweeted: “The [CBMW’s] so-called ‘Nashville Statement’ is poorly named and does not represent the inclusive values of the city and people of Nashville.”
And elsewhere on social media, users rallied against the views expressed in the manifesto. Comedian Kumail Nanjiani, who has spoken out against transphobic jokes, didn’t hold back in expressing his thoughts:
Fuck the #NashvilleStatement. Fuck the evil shit that people justify using religion.
It takes two to tango, with good reason -- add one, and the footwork gets way more intricate, to say nothing of where all the other parts go. An adventurous couple and an enthusiastic third try out their footwork, and stumble through the dance, in the Brooklyn-set queer indie Throuple, a notable feature debut for director Greyson Horst.
Michael Doshier wrote the script and stars as perpetually single singer-songwriter Michael, who lives too co-dependently with best friend and fellow musician Tristan (Tristan Carter-Jones). She's getting more and more serious with her girlfriend Abby (Jess Gabor), so, essentially, Michael's already playing third wheel in their relationship.
Trans-Latinx DMV is holding a rally on March 31 to commemorate the Trans Day of Visibility.
The rally, to be held in Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle from 5 to 8 p.m., will serve as both a celebration of the Trans Day of Visibility and a show of resistance against the harmful policies currently targeting the transgender community.
The rally's theme, "Por el Reconocimiento de Mi Identidad" ("For the Recognition of My Identity") will honor the resilience of the transgender community and amplify the voices and stories of transgender individuals, especially those within the Latinx community, at a time when transgender existence is under attack.
Russell T Davies, creator of the British TV series Queer as Folk and the current showrunner of the BBC phenom Doctor Who, says gay society is facing dire peril ever since the presidential election of Donald Trump in November, 2024.
"I'm not being alarmist," Davies told the British newspaper The Guardian. "I'm 61 years old. I know gay society very, very well, and I think we're in the greatest danger I have ever seen."
Davies said the rise in anti-LGBTQ hostility is not limited to the United States, where Trump has signed various anti-LGBTQ executive orders, many geared to diminish and seemingly eradicate the transgender community.
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