Hi everyone -

I hope by now you've had a chance to take a look at the new issue, with the Faith and Spirituality theme. I wrote much of the faith-related content and wanted to talk a little bit about that content.

First of all, there was a WEALTH of information on this topic, more than I could write about and more than Patrick Farabaugh could fit in this issue. So there will be some web-only content posted out here in the next few days and weeks. There's an interview with the editor at an LGBT faith website and an expanded bibliograhy, to name a few.

I also wanted to talk about the content itself. I hope it was really clear that this was not a case of anyone trying to bring readers to a "come to Jesus" moment. Faith and spirituality is a very personal thing, and nothing makes ME angrier than when someone tries to project their own beliefs on me!

I hope what we DID accomplish was to get all this information out there, for people who ARE curious and ARE interested in exploring their spirituality. Personally, I'm still on that journey, and I'm not sure where I'm at. I think I'm closest to the Unitarian Universalist congregations, which draw from a multitude of sacred texts and religions and tends to focus on the similarities in all sacred text (versus the differences).

As far as the congregations and groups listed, please keep in mind that these were the groups that responded to us and were willing to share information about themselves and their LGBTQA members. There may be other groups that did not respond that may well be inclusive (the Buddhist center comes to mind).

It's important to ask, if you're unsure, if your church or congregation is "open and affirming". This means that they accept, embrace, and honor you and your relationship(s) as they are. There ARE churches who say, in advertising, that everyone is welcome, but they may not be affirming - they may have more of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, or they may welcome you - and then work on changing you or "fixing" you. So it's important to be wary of those "wolves in sheep's clothing".