LGBT & Faith
By Salzburg Global Seminar
LGBT & FaithNov 25, 2021
Scot Sherman: “I Could No Longer Unsee What I Was Seeing, or Unhear What I Was Hearing”
In the 16th and final episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Scot Sherman, a candidate for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church explains how disruptive empathy and storytelling are required for faith communities to move forward with inclusion and change.
Scot reads his essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Paola Paredes: “These Staged Images Allow Us To See What Was Never Meant To Be Seen”
In the 15th episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, human rights lawyer Mónica Leonardo reads an essay written by Ecuadorian photographer Paola Paredes, who documents illegal anti-LGBT conversion clinics through her “visual activism” project Until You Change.
Mónica reads Paola's essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Saira Mujtaba: “I Loved My Uncle, I Mourn His Loss, I Wish He Could Have Lived a Happy Life”
In the 14th episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Saira Mujtaba remembers her gay uncle’s suicide and calls upon her Muslim community to include and protect their LGBT family members.
Saira reads her essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Victor Ciobotaru: “The More I Prayed, the More I Became Aware That I Am Gay and I Will Never Change”
In the 13th episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Victor Ciobotaru, a young Romanian pastor-to-be describes how LGBT Christians reach out to him even while their churches deny their existence.
Victor, who also shares his own journey, is reading his essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Rev. Brandan Robertson: “As a Christian Minister, I Believe That Queer People (and All People) Are Created in the Image of God”
In the 12th episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Christian pastor Rev. Brandan Robertson explores the tensions and intersections of his sexuality and faith.
Brandan has experienced strong condemnation from members of the evangelical community in the US for being out and Christian.
He is reading his essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Simon Petitjean: “I Am a Trans Man of Faith”
In the 11th episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, former senior advocacy manager at the Global Interfaith Network Simon Petitjean connects his personal and professional journey of faith. He also explains how he brought together religion and LGBT* human rights at the United Nations.
Simon is reading his essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Tashi Choedup: “My Faith Has Helped Me With My Queerness and My Queerness Helps Me in Making My Faith Inclusive”
In the 10th episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Buddhist monastic Tashi Choedup shares their journey of forging a healthy relationship between their queerness and their faith.
Tashi is reading their essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Saskia Wieringa: “All Religions Have Their Progressive, Human Rights-Oriented Sides”
In the ninth episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Saskia Wieringa, a renowned anthropologist on cross-cultural gender and women’s same-sex relations, looks back at her personal faith journey through three religions.
Saskia is reading her essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Rev. Ecclesia de Lange: “I Lived in Denial of Who I Am and I Settled for a Life of Celibacy and Secrecy”
In the eighth episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Rev. Ecclesia de Lange, director of Inclusive and Affirming Ministries, reflects on her journey of becoming vulnerable and courageous as a lesbian woman of faith.
When she wanted to marry a person of the same sex, she was suspended as a Methodist minister. Ecclesia said, "I came to see that it is better to be rejected for who I am than to be accepted for who I am not."
Ecclesia is reading her essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Fr Thomas Ninan: “I Started To Ask Myself, What Is Stopping Me From Genuinely Loving LGBT People?”
In the seventh episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Fr Thomas Ninan, an Indian Orthodox priest, emphasizes the innate ability of each faith community to understand, accept and celebrate diverse gender identities and sexualities.
Thomas is reading his essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Ahmed El Hady: “I Would Love To See Many Members of the LGBT Community Revolting Against the Predominant Religious Discourse but Who Will Defend Them?”
In the sixth episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Ahmed El-Hady, an Egyptian neuroscientist and political activist, asks if crucial questions of LGBT and Islam can be addressed in an environment where the slightest critique of the hegemonic religious discourse will put queer people in danger.
He makes a case for the secularization of politics and society as the only way to achieve LGBT inclusion.
Ahmed is reading his essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Sukhdeep Singh: “I Want To Assure Other Young Queer Sikhs That One Could Be Gay and Sikh”
In the fifth episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Sukhdeep Singh, founder of Indian e-magazine Gaylaxy, shares his journey being a young gay man with a Sikh background. His goal is clear: “I want to assure other young queer Sikhs that one could be gay and Sikh.”
Sukhdeep is reading his essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Giti Thadani: “A Global Conversation on Faith and LGBT Needs to Begin Opening Up to Complex Questions”
In the fourth episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, refugee rights activist Mahi Ramakrishnan reads an essay by Giti Thadani, researcher, writer, visual artist, and a founding member of the first Indian lesbian archive, Sakhi.
Giti's essay explores Hinduism and its thousand-year-old non-binary traditions and how its dual deities of the same sex reverberate and guide us today.
Mahi is reading Giti's essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Lebohang Matela: “If Religious Leaders Can Speak with One Voice Together with the LGBT Community, then the Battle is Won”
In the third episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Lebohang Matela, a regional coordinator of dialogues between religious leaders and LGBT persons in Southern Africa, reflects on the significance of religious leaders and the LGBT community speaking together with one voice.
She is reading her essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Joy Ladin: “Religious Communities and Leaders Need to Stop Seeing LGBT People as Other, as Them, and Start Seeing Them as Us”
In the second episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Joy Ladin, the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution and a poet, reflects on how to do the hard and holy work of inclusion.
She is reading her essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.
Brenda Rodriguez Alegre: "As a Child I Would Pray to God 'to Make Me a Woman One Day'"
In the first episode of our LGBT & Faith audio series, Brenda Rodriguez Alegre makes a passionate plea for Filipino queers to reemerge and be more visible and for religious society to be more accepting of LGBT people and their faith. Brenda is an academic, activist, choir soprano, and expert on Filipino transgender history.
She is reading her essay from a blog series curated by the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.
To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.
Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks. Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.
For more information on the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, please visit salzburgglobal.org/go/lgbt.
For more information on ILGA Asia, please visit ilgaasia.org.
Please share widely using our hashtags #SGSlgbt and #LGBTandFaith.
* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. Salzburg Global Seminar is using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.