Homosexuality

LOS ANGELES Calif. (BP) -- The California state legislature's latest effort to outlaw biblical views on sex, marriage and gender identity appears to have claimed its first casualty. Citing concerns over possible legal repercussions from a pending bill, Colorado-based Summit Ministries has canceled a summer conference at Biola University in the Los Angeles area. "The vagueness of the bill has opened up threats to religious communities that the author did not intend," Biola communications director Brenda Velasco said.

IRVING, Texas (BP) -- Boy Scouts of America is striking gender from its Scouting program titles in 2019, ushering in the change with a "Scout Me In" campaign for Cub Scouts. "Starting this summer, all kids are invited to say, 'Scout Me In,' as they join the fun, adventure and character-building opportunities found in Cub Scouts," Boy Scouts of America (BSA) said in announcing the change today (May 2.) "Starting in February 2019, the name of the older youth program will be 'Scouts BSA,' and the name of our iconic organization will continue to be Boy Scouts of America."

OLYMPIA, Wash. (BP) -- In the last few weeks, at least four states have taken action on laws barring therapists from counseling individuals about their sexual orientation or gender identity, other than to encourage homosexuality or transgenderism. Supporters of the laws argue the bans protect people from ineffective and abusive methods while contending sexual orientation and gender identity are fixed and efforts to change them result in repression and shame.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- Pew Research has found a significant gender gap concerning religious beliefs and practice among self-identified Christian men and women in America. More than 7 in 10 U.S. Christian women (72 percent) say religion is very important to them, compared to 62 percent of Christian men. The gap is larger in the United States than in other nations like Canada, the U.K., Germany and France. A similar gap appears when comparing beliefs about the Bible or certainty about God’s existence.

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Trump administration has issued a new directive that permits transgender military service only "under certain limited circumstances." The policy tweak could render moot legal challenges to President Trump's previous ban of transgender troops, says a former military attorney. A presidential memo released late Friday (March 23) revoked Trump's August 2017 directive -- which has been blocked by multiple federal court decisions -- and replaced it with a policy "that transgender persons with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria ... are disqualified from military service except under certain ...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (BP) -- Transgender Swedes forcibly sterilized to expressly prevent reproduction are eligible for payouts of about $27,000 each under a new law that is reportedly the first of its kind worldwide. Sweden's one-house parliament, the Riksdag, adopted the legislation March 21 affecting people forced to undergo sexual sterilization under the Gender Recognition Act of 1972 before changing their gender designation on legal documents.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BP) -- A proposed law in California could outlaw helping people with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender-identity confusion. If passed, the bill, introduced last month by Assemblyman Evan Low, would be the most expansive ban on therapy related to sexual orientation and gender in the country. Other bans across the country restrict the practice of licensed therapists, but this law would label as fraudulent any message that aligns with the Biblical view of sexuality and gender.

CINCINNATI (BP) -- Religious freedom provides no legal basis to discipline transgender workers who violate workplace gender policies, a U.S. appeals court has ruled in a groundbreaking decision. The March 7 decision is the first to extend Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 to transgender individuals charging discrimination based on sexual identity, and reverses a lower court ruling that had protected the workplace under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

NASHVILLE (BP) -- A medical journal's finding that the number of transgender teens may be three times greater than previously thought should not shock believers, says a Southern Baptist ethicist, but it should summon them to ministry. "It should come as no surprise that more teens are identifying as transgender or gender-conforming," said Andrew Walker, director of policy studies for the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and author of "God and the Transgender Debate."

CINCINNATI, Ohio (BP) -- An Ohio couple on Friday (Feb. 16) lost permanent custody of their teenage daughter because they didn't want her to undergo sex-change treatment. Cincinnati-area Juvenile Court Judge Sylvia Hendon removed the girl from her parents' custody and turned her over to her maternal grandparents, who support the 17-year-old's desire to identify as a boy. The teen moved in with her grandparents early last year. The names of the girl and her parents and grandparents are sealed by court order.