Trigger Warning: Discussion of suicide and depression

As our collective consciousness was recently focused on the themes of depression, suicide and suicide prevention, I wish to express what many of us in our community know: LGBTQ+ people are at an increased risk for dying by suicide. Here’s my story of self-destruction, spiritual obedience and renewal.

Ask CeCe Garrett why her craft shop, SewNerdyGifts, carries a selection of Pride items geared toward the LGBTQ community and allies, she is quick and unflinching in her answer.

“It’s important that my brand reflects my life and what’s in my soul. Your brand is the soul of your business. I’ve always had LGBTQ items in the shop, and I’ve always been an activist.”

LGBTQ Jews have long been on the front lines, fighting for social justice. We are found on every page of the LGBTQ movement, from Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to office in California, to Avram Finkelstein, who co-founded the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP.

When a person begins to unravel the various meanings in the Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd., et al v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission decision, recently rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), it becomes quickly obvious that what this ruling means in legal terms and what it means in the daily lives of LGBTQ+ American citizens is incredibly different.

Holiday seasons, including Holy Week and Easter, are generally tough for everyone. For many of us in the LGBTQ+ community, holiday seasons can be even tougher, but on the other side of our deepest heartache lies our deepest breakthrough. This is because what we cannot hold alone forces us to either go mad, or go to God.

A Pastoral Letter to the PCUSA: For some time, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (PCUSA) has been working to reflect in the life of our church the place of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people (LGBTQ) in God’s heart. This is all good. It is also a process.

I believe God empowers each of us to look at the most complicated problems with Divine simplicity. That is the beauty of the dissent written by Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Monday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd., et al v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Justice Ginsburg lays it out clearly and simply.

My journey to self-acceptance as a brown queer God-loving woman has been a long one, with many hurdles and wrong turns.  I was raised as a non-denominational Christian.

For some people, religion has no influence their way of living. For others, religion is as important as breathing. Whichever way you experience religion, there’s no denying that it is a main topic of discussion, from the media to family dinner tables.