Camille is a twentysomething working in the LGBT nonprofit industry. She runs an LGBT news blog at gaywrites.org.
This weekend, the New York Times uncovered a popular, if ethically questionable, tax credit program gaining traction in Georgia. The program transforms state money into scholarships for low-income students to attend private schools — including many heavily religious schools where strict policies keep out LGBT students. The program supposedly seeks to limit conflicts of church and state because the scholarship money is “collected and distributed” by nonprofit organizations rather than being directly funneled from the state to the schools. The Southern Education Foundation counts that at least 115 religious schools in Georgia have “severe antigay policies,” with the actual number likely being much higher; public information about the scholarship program is limited by law, and oversight is minimal. Read more
Former presidential contender Rick Santorum and the conservative Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins chatted this week on the radio program “Washington Watch” about the supposed moral decline of America. And why are we in such bad shape? You guessed it: Feminists, gays, and non-Christians are ruining the U.S. of A. Read more
Minneapolis just ordained its first transgender priest this week, but you probably won’t be reading a statement from the Pope about it. The North American Old Catholic Church, an independent branch of Catholicism not affiliated with the Vatican, ordained Shannon T.L. Kearns to the priesthood on January 19th. Kearns is a transgender man with a track record of advocating for LGBT people in interfaith circles. Kearns will start a new Minneapolis parish called House of the Transfiguration, according to a… Read more
The progressive political site AMERICAblog has uncovered a strange and not-so-accidental glitch in the Department of Defense’s computer system, one that’s been around for a while. The Pentagon reportedly blocks a number of LGBT-related websites from being accessed by DoD computers, while allowing access to right-wing powerhouses like the American Family Association and Ann Coulter. Read more
