Christian and an Ally | Why Being Gay is Okay ✓

In the News: July 2018

9 July 2018: LGBTQ+ soccer fans decide to travel through Russia during the World Cup while subtly wearing rainbow colors.

The group posted their pictures to Reddit once the World Cup was over, and some of the photos are comic gold. This chapter's picture is a prime example.

18 July 2018: US courts continue to hold off Trump's proposed transgender military ban, while other courts' decisions are pending.

The policy, which was first announced via Trump's Tweets last July and has gone through several iterations, has been continually blocked for being unconstitutional.

23 July 2018: Despite opposition from the state attorney general, the Michigan Civil Right Commission will continue to investigate claims of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

Michigan's attorney general, Bill Schuette, claimed a few days before that the law did not cover claims of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, only claims based on biological sex. The Civil Right Commission disagrees, and will continue to uphold the law to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.

28 July 2018: Children's books with LGBTQ+ themes are back on public library shelves in Hong Kong.

After backlash from human rights' groups, the 10 previously-banned LGBTQ+ children's books are back on shelves. The library system is quoted in deeming the books to be "suitable to remain in the library collection for public reading."

14 July 2018: Following in the footsteps of the Supreme Court decision ruling in favor of a religious anti-gay baker, a bed & breakfast in Hawai'i is trying to claim the same exemption.

This is one of the first publicized examples of a business refusing service to a same-sex couple in a case that has nothing to do with same-sex marriage. It raises the question of whether a business is allowed to refuse service on the basis of sexual orientation ("religious exemption"), even if the service has nothing to do with marriage and hence it doesn't go against a specific religious belief.

And anti-LGBTQ+ groups continue to push for transgender and genderqueer people to be forced to use bathrooms that line up with their biological sex, not their gender identity.

The battle rages on in many states, as some lawmakers try to keep transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity and other lawmakers try to change the laws to be more inclusive of transgender and genderqueer people.

Author's Note: This book has gotten popular enough that I no longer have time to reply to every single comment. However, I AM still monitoring the comments and scrolling through my notifications daily, so I read every comment I receive. Please remember to be respectful to me and your fellow commentators! Opposing opinions are always allowed on my works, but hate speech and trolls will be deleted. You have been warned.

This will be the last "In the News" segment and the official end to Christian and an Ally! I hope you all enjoyed this book and were able to get love, encouragement, knowledge, and hope from it! To stay in the loop with current LGBTQ+ news, check out websites like LGBTQ Nation, Human Rights Watch, Beyond I Do, Democracy Now!, GLAAD, The Guardian, US News & World Report, Pink News, and many more. (And no, I'm not being paid to endorse any of these websites :P)

For more information about the LGBTQ+ community; my journey of faith, coming out, and self-realization; and my current doubts about Christianity, I encourage you to check out this work's sequel, Thoughts of a Doubting Christian.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. I love you all.

xoxo,

Katherina Michels