CLGS

For more than 35 years, John McNeill, an ordained Jesuit priest and psychotherapist, has been devoting his life to spreading the good news of God’s love for LGBT Christians. McNeill presents a simple and straightforward answer to the question: What did God invent sex for? The answer, derived from an incisive investigation of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, is that God intended sex as a source of pleasure, joy, and love.

CLGS partnered with the Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union for this special "Lavender Lunch." Torah Queeries editor Gregg Drinkwater participated in an interactive conversation and text-study inspired by this groundbreaking collection of queer bible commentary from NYU Press. What does it mean to "queer" the Torah? What insights might an LGBT perspective bring to the Hebrew Bible? How can allies learn from and contribute their own queer perspectives on Judaism's most sacred text?

The marking of World AIDS Day continues with this special lavender lunch on the role religion plays in both HIV prevention and AIDS treatment. A panel of PSR students engaged in conversation around the religious, theological, and spiritual issues the HIV/AIDS pandemic raises.

What does the past have to do with the present or the future? For social-justice activists, very much indeed. Mark Thompson and the Rev. Malcolm Boyd will illustrate the importance of remembering the past in our work of constructing a world we wish to inhabit. Both the CLGS Archives Project and the LGBT Religious Archives Network are devoted to that important work. Hear from these two living legends in LGBT spirituality and justice-making about why preserving our collective memory matters so much.

"Fellow Travelers: Liberation Portraits" is, in Thompson's words, "an artistic statement," documenting his own path and journey into the unique character of a gay spirituality, and especially the guides who pioneered that journey for him and with him.

During this Lavender Lunch on the "sexual orientation previously known as bisexuality," members of the PSR community will share their observations and insights in conversation with each other about the complexities of “gender” and “sexual orientation.” Do people really fall in love with a gender or with people? Are sexual “orientations” strictly defined boundaries of desire? In a world where “homosexuality” hardly captures the complexity of human intimacy, how do we navigate this mostly uncharted territory of diverse sexualities and genders?