John R. Ballew is a licensed professional counselor and writer at the website bodymindsoul.org, which focuses on spirituality and mental health for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. He lives in Atlanta. He says that too often religion makes it difficult for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people to accept themselves — a situation that can […]

Read a Sept. 20, 2012, study from the Palm Center that shows that the repeal of DADT didn’t negatively affect the military. The study was published one year after the repeal.

The United Church of Christ has an official website that provides resources on the Christian beliefs and news. Rebekah Choate is the WCM Communication Associate.

The Rev. Pamela Lee Cranston is a priest and vicar at St. Cuthbert’s Episcopal Church in Oakland, Calif., where one-third of the congregation is LGBT. In 2008, church members rallied in support of a “gay prom” in nearby Hayward.

The Rev. Roland Stringfellow is an African-American Christian minister based in Oakland, Calif. He serves as director of ministerial outreach with the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry on the campus of Pacific School of Religion and is also the coordinator of its African-American Roundtable. He conducts outreach and discussion about […]

Bishop Karen Oliveto leads the Mountain Sky Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church. She’s the denomination’s first openly lesbian bishop.

Anna Runion is the minister for youth and social justice at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad, Calif. The church is a member of the Center for Progressive Christianity and openly welcomes and affirms people of all genders and sexual persuasions and has a relationship with the Gay-Straight Alliance chapter at a local high […]

Rabbi Lisa Edwards is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Chayim Chadashim, a LGBT-specific synagogue in Los Angeles.