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Pope urged at LGBT meeting to reverse church ban on gender-affirming care

Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis faced calls to overturn the Catholic Church’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender people on Saturday when he held talks with LGBTQ activists at the Vatican. The 80-minute meeting, held privately at the guesthouse where the pope lives, included a Catholic sister who works with LGBTQ people, a member of […]

Pope tells transgender person: “God loves us as we are”

Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer from his window at the Vatican, on 9th July, 2023.

Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis has told a young transgender person that “God loves us as we are”, his latest outreach gesture towards the LGBT community. His comments, released by Vatican media on Tuesday, were in a podcast in which Francis listened and responded to audio messages from young people ahead of a Catholic youth […]

US bishops discourage Catholic healthcare groups from performing gender-affirming care

United StatesRNS A group of US Catholic bishops has issued a statement discouraging Catholic healthcare groups from performing various gender-affirming medical procedures, suggesting they are “injurious” and do not respect the “intrinsic unity of body and soul”. The 13-page document, officially known as a “doctrinal note”, was produced by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee […]

In the US, transgender pastor claims bias, sues Lutheran denomination

Bishop Megan Rohrer speaks to the press before their installation ceremony at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, Saturday, Sept. 11, 2021.

United States AP Rev Megan Rohrer, who was elected as the first openly transgender bishop of one of the largest Christian denominations in the country in May, 2021, has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was forced out from his post after enduring several months of discrimination and harassment. The denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, […]

Colorado baker fighting ruling over gender transition cake

Denver, Colorado AP The Colorado baker who won a partial Supreme Court victory after refusing on religious grounds to make a gay couple’s wedding cake a decade ago is challenging a separate ruling he violated the state’s anti-discrimination law by refusing to make a cake celebrating a gender transition. A lawyer for Jack Phillips on Wednesday […]

Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

Vatican Pope Francis weekly audience 10 Aug 2022

Rome, Italy AP Pope Francis has met with a fourth group of transgender people who found shelter at a Rome church, the Vatican newspaper reported Thursday. L’Osservatore Romano said the encounter took place Wednesday on the sidelines of Francis’ weekly general audience. The newspaper quoted Sister Genevieve Jeanningros and Rev Andrea Conocchia as saying the […]

Updated: Australian religious schools would lose existing rights under amendments to the Religious Discrimination Bill, says Australian Christian Lobby

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Updated 5.30pm (AEDT) Sydney, Australia Key rights currently enjoyed by Australian Christian schools under existing laws would be lost if amendments to the Federal Government’s package of Religious Discrimination Bills are passed, the Australian Christian Lobby warns. The coalition’s proposed Bill has been pulled from debate in the Senate on Thursday after five MPs crossed […]