Exodus: Live Out Loud

UMC Hopes for Unity at Conference

From Dallas Morning News:

For more than 30 years, the United Methodist Church has been trying to show that a denomination divided against itself on homosexuality can still stand.

The latest test begins today in Fort Worth.

Nearly 1,000 lay and clergy delegates – mainly from the U.S., but with a strong African contingent – will gather at the Convention Center for a General Conference, a term that covers the denomination's top legislative body and the body's quadrennial meeting.

This epic exercise in church democracy lasts nine days, during which about 1,600 proposed resolutions and changes to church law and policy – everything from revising the denomination's hymnal to boycotting companies with questionable labor practices – will at least get looked at by a committee.

And there will almost certainly be another round of heated debate and contentious votes over whether the UMC should change its official position that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching and withdraw its ban on noncelibate gay pastors.

Recent General Conferences have seen protests by gay-rights supporters. Eight years ago in Cleveland, some 200 demonstrators, including two bishops, were arrested for disrupting proceedings.

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Children's Hospital Launches Sex Change Program

From WorldNetDaily:

A doctor at the renowned Children's Hospital Boston has launched a new program to drug children to delay puberty so they can decide whether they want a male or a female body, according to a report today in the Boston Globe.

Pediatric endocrinologist Norman Spack, 64, says he started the Gender Management Service Clinic because he found himself encountering 20-somethings who were "transgendered" and in good shape socially, "but they were having trouble getting their physique to conform to their identity.

"I knew the 20-somethings could have better chances of passing if they were treated earlier," he said.

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Psychiatrists: Let's Talk About Homosexuality

From CitizenLink:

Two social conservatives will share the stage with two pro-homosexual speakers in a notable attempt at a “balanced discussion” sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

The pro-homosexual speakers — Bishop Gene Robinson, an openly homosexual Episcopalian in New Hampshire, and Dr. David Scasta, past president of the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists — will seek “common ground and new perspectives” with two conservatives: the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of South Baptist Theological Seminary and a member of the Focus on the Family board of directors; and Dr. Warren Throckmorton, associate professor of psychology at Grove City College.

“The symposium acknowledges the role of religious belief as a core variable in the development of sexual identity,” Throckmorton told CitizenLink. “To my knowledge, this meeting, distinguished by diversity of religious viewpoints, is unprecedented at APA.”

The symposium is scheduled for 2 to 5 p.m. EDT, on Monday, May 5, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

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