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Historically, churches havent been very welcoming towardLGBTQ+ people.
Queer people have often been othered in religious communities, branded as sinners.
Luckily, not all churches are like that, and this story is a great example.
User u/Toon_Lord recentlyshared a storyfrom the past about the way his churchs pastor dealt with a homophobic Karen.
The woman went on a bigoted rant about two lesbian teens she saw during service.
However, thepastorand the father of one of the teens put her in her place.
Yet nearly half of LGBTQI+ persons in the U.S. are still religious.
And some choose to stay even when theyre not welcome.
Luckily, more and more churches are taking an LGBT-affirming stance.
There are pastors who are openly gay, married to a same-sex partner, and eventransgender.
Its actually drawing churches closer to the original message of Christ, which is about love and acceptance.
The heads of the church also send mixed signals about their stance on the whole issue.
At the beginning of 2023, Pope Francisdeclaredthat homosexuality is not a crime but still a sin.
Therefore, homosexuality per se is not a sin.
It is a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage, he wrote in his reply.
At the end of 2023, the Pope then approved priests blessingsame-sex marriages.
At the same time, its not heretical, contrary to the tradition of the church or blasphemous.
Still, that doesnt apply to marriage or civil union.
In November of 2023, hemetwith a group of trans women for lunch at the Vatican.
He alsourgedparents of gay children to love them unconditionally because they are also children of God.
Other Christian denominations have adopted policies of LGBTQI+ inclusion.
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