{Book 1 in the Journey of Faith series}
❝Being gay is okay, and I think God thinks so, too. Won't you join me?❞
Of all the hot button topics in Christianity today, homosexuality is arguably the hottest. Just Googling "gay and christian" can return u...
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15 June 2018: The transgender military ban has been blocked once again while the lawsuit against it is pending.
Until the verdict of the lawsuit against Trump's transgender military ban is received, the federal courts have continued to block the ban from going into effect.
18 June 2018: The World Health Organization (W.H.O) announced that it will no longer classify transgender people as mentally ill.
W.H.O. released its 11th International Classification of Diseases (ICD), where it moved "gender incongruence" (not identifying with one's birth sex/gender) out of mental disorders and into the category of sexual health. It is scheduled to go into effect in 2022 and is expected to help lower the stigma around transgender and genderqueer people.
22 June 2018: The Czechian government backed a same-sex marriage bill that, if passed, will legalize same-sex marriage in the Czech Republic.
It will also open up the possibility of child adoption for same-sex couples. The bill needs a simple majority in Parliament to pass.
25 June 2018: Marvel confirms that their upcoming films will include at least two LGBTQ+ characters.
Fans are very excited to see which characters will fall under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. (My money is on Valkyrie.)
26 June 2018: This month marks three years since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage.
Three years ago, Obergefell won Obergefell v. Hodges in a 5-4 decision. The Court ruled that no state can withhold marriage rights from same-sex couples, legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 states and the U.S. territories.
And Jared Polis is making history as an openly gay man running for governor of Colorado.
If he wins in November, he will be the first openly gay man elected as governor. This comes as a continuation of LGBTQ+ progress in politics, including two transgender women elected to public offices in 2017 and other openly gay and bisexual officials.
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4 June 2018: The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a baker who refused service to a same-sex couple who wanted a wedding cake.
Though Colorado has an anti-discrimination law in place to prevent public businesses from refusing service on the basis of sexual orientation, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the baker 7-2. It is unknown how this will affect future rulings.
8 June 2018: LGBTQ+ World Cup fans are cautioned to be careful after receiving death threats from Russian fans.
It is well-known that Russia is not a gay-friendly place, so LGBTQ+ fans should be on the alert during the World Cup games.
15 June 2018: Children's books with LGBTQ+ themes were taken off of the public library shelves in Hong Kong.
The perpetrator, an anti-gay-rights group called the Family School Sexual Orientation Discrimination Ordinance Concern Group, wants to go even further and make the books only available upon request at the upcoming annual book fair. (Social activist Lee Tak-hung has filed a judicial review application to challenge the ban.)
26 June 2018: Three years after the legalization of same-sex marriage, anti-gays and opponents of same-sex marriage are still determined to block marriage equality in any way they can.
In Alabama, some counties have stopped issuing marriage licenses altogether so that they don't have to serve anyone, gay or straight. This isn't just an Alabama problem — it's part of a larger country-wide movement to get rid of marriage licenses and replace them with another system so that religious officials don't have to sign same-sex licenses. Some anti-gay groups are actively encouraging government bodies to illegally enforce anti-LGBTQ+ laws, while others are trying to blur the line between the church and the state. Anti-gay bakers, florists, and other business operators are currently fighting for the right to refuse service to same-sex couples. And it's not just wedding-related businesses who can pull the "religious exemption" card. Adoption agencies and foster care systems can turn couples away solely because they are both the same sex or gender.
27 June 2018: Report says half of all LGBTQ+ Americans are in the closet at work.
This is due to many factors, including the fears of being fired, losing connections with colleagues, making other people "uncomfortable," and being unfairly stereotyped. Other workers mention workplace discrimination, people making inappropriate comments, or even having people refuse to be served by them. This leads to a tremendous amount of negative mental health effects on LGBTQ+ workers.
And Trump continues to roll away protections for the LGBTQ+ community, especially for transgender people.
The Trump administration has been especially unfriendly to the LGBTQ+ community. This includes Trump's repeated attempts to ban transgender people from enlisting in the military, arguing that it is legal to fire people for being gay or transgender, protecting health care officials who refuse to serve LGBTQ+ patients, deciding not to collect data on LGBTQ+ people in the upcoming census, refusing to acknowledge June as Pride Month, and rolling back prison laws protecting incarcerated transgender people (which happened only a month ago).
