David Crary

The Vatican's declaration that same-sex unions are a sin the Roman Catholic Church cannot bless was no surprise for LGBTQ Catholics in the United States — yet it stung deeply nonetheless. Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, said her organization's membership includes same-sex couples who have been together for decades, persevering in their love for one another in the face of bias and family rejection.

Voting mostly along party lines, the U. S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine to be the nation's assistant secretary of health. She is the first openly transgender federal official to win Senate confirmation. The final vote was 52-48. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine joined all Democrats in supporting Levine.

Five states have passed laws or implemented executive orders this year limiting the ability of transgender youths to play sports or receive certain medical treatment. There's been a vehement outcry from supporters of transgender rights – but little in the way of tangible repercussions for those states. It's a striking contrast to the fate of North Carolina a few years ago.

It's Pride Month, and gay Americans should have a lot to celebrate: A new president who has pledged to advocate for LGBTQ people, an easing of a pandemic that has disrupted their communal activism, and increasing public acceptance of their basic rights, including record-high support for same-sex marriage. Instead, the mood is somewhat bleak. Congress has so far failed to extend federal civil rights protections to LGBTQ people.

It's Pride Month, and gay Americans should have a lot to celebrate: A new president who has pledged to advocate for LGBTQ people, an easing of a pandemic that has disrupted their communal activism, and increasing public acceptance of their basic rights, including record-high support for same-sex marriage. Instead, the mood is somewhat bleak. Congress has so far failed to extend federal civil rights protections to LGBTQ people.

NEW YORK (AP) — Christian author Rachel Held Evans left behind a legion of loyal readers when she died in May 2019, at the age of 37. Last June, a children's book she'd been working on was published posthumously and soon topped the picture-book bestseller lists. Next week, her final book for adults is being published, titled "Wholehearted Faith". It's addressed to Christians like herself who sometimes wrestle with doubts about their faith yet do not want to abandon it.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Rev. Craig Duke has been a Methodist minister for three decades, building a reputation as a staunch advocate of LGBTQ inclusion. His pastoral duties have now been terminated — the result of a bitter rift surfacing in his Indiana church after he sought to demonstrate solidarity by appearing in drag alongside prominent drag queens in the HBO reality series "We're Here. "

Year after year, several thousand women in the U. S. carry an unintended pregnancy to term and then offer the baby for adoption. It's a choice commended by many foes of abortion. Yet despite a huge demand for babies from Americans yearning to adopt, perhaps 40 times more women opt for an abortion, and a large majority of those who proceed to give birth make the choice to keep the child.

Year after year, several thousand women in the U. S. carry an unintended pregnancy to term and then offer the baby for adoption. It's a choice commended by many foes of abortion. Yet despite a huge demand for babies from Americans yearning to adopt, perhaps 40 times more women opt for an abortion, and a large majority of those who proceed to give birth make the choice to keep the child.

The United States is the home country for 10 of the 133 cardinals eligible to vote for the next pope. That's more than any nation except Italy.