A Queer Pilgrim

Backlash, according to dictionary.com, is a "strong and adverse reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social or political development." The radio personality on Progress Radio on Sirius XM, Michelangelo Signorile wrote about such a political backlash against LGBTQIA+ people after winning marriage equality and the demise of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in military service. He wrote a book, It's Not Over: Getting Beyond Tolerance, Defeating Homophobia, and Winning True Equality ( Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2015). As a frequent listener, he makes it clear often throughout his broadcast that there would be a tremendous backlash, a reaction, to the social and political development of LGBTQIA+ marriage and life after "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and we are living in that backlash now. Today's example of backlash comes from both the Republican legislature of Florida, and the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS).  In Florida, state Rep...

  A good news story! The living witness of an openly gay, Black Catholic priest who teaches at Fordham University, teaching African American religious approaches to ethics.  In a recent article in religionnews.com, reporter Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu tells the story of Bryan Massingale, who is a Black, gay Catholic priest. He has been open about being gay since 2019, even though he is part of a church, namely the Roman Catholic Church, that treats people who are LGBTQIA+ with dignity and respect, but believes that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered" and sinful. Massingale says that he envisions a world where "the dignity of every person is respected and protected, where everyone is loved," a message that he preached recently at St. Charles Borromeo in Harlem, NY. Massingale is 64 years old, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His mom was a school secretary and his dad a factory worker, whose family was part of the great migration or "diaspora" from the South. Mississ...

  Apparently, Christian nationalists--a kind of Christian who unites extremely conservative theological positions with hyper-nationalism and authoritarianism approaches to modern politics--have decided that book banning and book burning are "in" these days. And they do this with no sense of history or educational awareness that this is the very thing that other authoritarian, fascist governments have done and do, like Hitler's Nazi movement in Germany of the 1930s.  In Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, along with other states throughout the US, there is a movement afoot to ban books, and in some cases, burn them, if the book offends the sensibilities of parents of children. What books are being banned? Books exploring issues of racism in this country, along with LGBTQIA+ young adult novels, because of the "vulgar" language, and discussion of sex, all which disturb some white, middle-class, able-bodied, heterosexuals children and their parents or guardians.  I was d...

According to the UN, almost 90% of Afghanistan's people are facing homelessness and hunger, living below the poverty level. Along with this grim statistic, much attention has been paid to the plight of women, journalists, and people who worked with US and NATO personnel in the last twenty-years of US engagement with the country. Yet there is one more area of concern: the life of LGBTQIA+ people in this war-torn, conservative-Muslim led country. Many who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community in Afghanistan are facing intimidation, torture, or death, simply because of who one is, and who one loves. Neela Ghoshal and Lester Feder report in advocate.com (Jan. 26, 2022), about the story of "Ramiz" (not his real name) who live-in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. For three weeks after the Taliban took control, Ramiz, a gay man, lay low: " Finally, he had no choice: He had to pick up his salary. He made it through the first checkpoint without incident. At the second checkpoin...