Huffpost Queer Voices – Spoken Edition

But in the case of John Kelly it never quite fit. And now, in the aftermath of the week-long controversy over Trump’s call to the widow of a soldier killed in an ambush in Niger―a story in which Kelly emerged to defend Trump and make false statements―it’s clear the narrative regarding Kelly has always been absolutely incorrect.

At the annual Values Voter Summit (VVS) in Washington this weekend, former congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who serves on Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board, said in an interview with me on SiriusXM Progress that Donald Trump is now a “committed believer” of Jesus Christ and “man of faith” who has “asked God for help and wisdom.

When Rev. Dee Lundberg joined the United Church Of Christ in Casper, Wyoming, in 2008, the congregation was considering closing its doors. Six years earlier, the inclusive house of worship had announced itself as “open and affirming.”It would welcome everyone, and its clergy would same-sex weddings. But in 2002, the idea of LGBTQ inclusivity was “hugely radical” in Wyoming, Lundberg said.

I have never told anyone this ― not my best friend, not my boyfriend, not my mother, not my brothers:nine months ago I invited a stranger over to have sex and it went further than I wanted it to and it did not stop when I tried to stop it. He was an acrobat on tour in New York City who I met on Grindr and as cliche as it sounds, I was excited by the thought of him twisting and untwisting in my bed.

HuffPost: How are you feeling about what’s happening in America right now? Margaret Cho: It’s crazy. Everything changes so much every day. Politics used to be this very dignified thing and now it just... isn’t. At all. The craziness of what we have now in this president is not good. And it all has an effect and things are shifting ― it’s almost like politics are affecting every other part of society. Like this whole Harvey Weinstein thing that’s happening.

The Trump administration has put in place many of the tenets of an extreme “religious liberty” order that was leaked earlier in the year ― and more is no doubt coming. Let’s review: On February 1 of this year, Sarah Posner at The Nation published a leaked draft of the executive order ―“Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom” ― that Donald Trump apparently was going to sign.

But although these conservative religious voices are often the loudest and most politically influential, they don’t represent allof American Christianity. Progressive Christian denominations and queer theologians have for years been preaching and practicing a gospel of love and inclusion.These leaders are fully aware of the toxic fruit that conservative theology produces in the lives of queer Christians and other queer Americans.

U.S. Senate candidate Doug Jones(D-Ala.) slammed his Republican opponent, Roy Moore, after Moore’s campaign claimed in a statement that Jones’ “embrace” of Joe Biden “reveals his true colors.” Biden, a longtime friend of the former Alabama U.S. attorney, stumped for Jones in Birmingham this week, speaking to a crowd of over 1,100 people.

The First United Methodist Church in downtown Austin announced on its websitethat its congregation had voted 93 percent in favor of the new resolution “to align its wedding policies with its strongly-held principle of full inclusion of all persons.” People who scheduled their weddings before the resolution was announced would still be able to continue them as planned, the church said. But the clergy would not schedule new ceremonies.

The roof of a church-like structure protrudes from behind a highway overpass in one of the quieter parts of Birmingham, Ala.Look closer at the building and you’ll see a Pride flag flapping, dicing the humid air. This is Spike’s — Alabama’s only leather bar. Those not in the community might look to cities like San Francisco as a place where the leather community thrives, especially as it’s home to the annual Folsom Street Fair.