Homophobia

NCR Connections: Perhaps you heard about the Baptist preacher in Missouri who used his Sunday sermon to remind wives of the need to lose weight and "not let themselves go."

It was his brother's coming out as a gay man that would free Bishop Thomas Gumbleton from the stereotypes he had. Gumbleton, 89, discusses how to create a more just church and society for LGBT people. 

A network of lawyers, politicians and human rights advocates seeking an end to the criminalization of homosexuality met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

Grace on the Margins: In a new interview, Francis reasserts the criteria for banning gay men from seminaries. No matter how you interpret his words, they harm and denigrate LGBTQ Catholics.

Religious hostility is a major challenge for the estimated 200 self-identified lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender refugees at Kakuma, which hosts almost 180,000 refugees from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Uganda.

Michael Sean Winters rounds up political news and commentary: a DACA priest; advice for the Democrats; homophobia in the Catholic Church; a song to stir the soul in dark times.