I am a huge evangelist when it comes to being happy, so it is hard for me to watch close friends and others struggle with the issue of religion and gay dating. When your religious beliefs say that you are sinning simply because of whom you love, it can be a crushing blow to your self-esteem.

On June 1 New York City's Cathedral of St. John the Divine will throw open its doors for Queer First, an event that we hope will be annual, to demonstrate to LGBTQ youth citywide that we've got their backs, and to connect them to the Spirit in the most ecumenical way.

There are a lot of people working hard and spending a lot of money to make religion a hazard to LGBT people. Many other people of faith may deeply disagree with that treatment. However, when people of faith stand idly by, faith will continue to be a more of a hazard than a benefit.

This week I talked with Rev. Richard Emmanuel about why the quest for LGBT equality continues to create such a commotion within the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious communities. Emmanuel brings clarity to this dilemma.

Why do we have the need to see things in stark terms of "black and white" or "right and wrong"? Is there a "right" and a "wrong" way to look at everything? What about sexuality and gender identity?

Let's resolve that 2013 will be the point in history where we no longer offer the imprimatur of respectability to the notion that a person's sexual orientation is something to be shamed and condemned, nor to anyone who promotes that notion.

A new poll reveals that a record number of Americans now consider themselves unaffiliated with any particular religion. If you want to understand the reasons behind this trend, read the letter that Twin Cities Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt sent to the mother of a gay son.

This week on aNoteToMyKid.com, a devout Christian mother named Shelley from Iowa City, Iowa expressed her personal journey toward accepting her gay son, Michael, while maintaining the religious faith she holds so dear to her heart.

I could hear the pain of abandonment in EricJames Borges' voice as he spoke about growing up in a deeply religious -- and deeply prejudiced -- home. This appears to be a common thread among every gay suicide I've had to ponder.

As more religious communities recognize the existence and humanity of LGBT people, they are forced to engage in the sort of critical thought and introspection that makes religion worthwhile in the first place. This is a good thing.

Supporting the right to do something does not mean one has to support the actual doing of that thing. I, for instance, support the legalization of marijuana, but I do not support smoking marijuana. Is this hypocrisy? Of course not.

Your daughter and her new girlfriend have joined you and your extended family for a holiday feast. You're thrilled, but your favorite uncle starts grumbling. Whenever he makes one of the following claims, just respond like this...

I am proud to be bigoted against any religious denomination's efforts to define me and members of my community as "sinners," to deny me and members of my community the rights of self-definition and self-determination.

I wanted to create something that could share my story and my sister's story and be about Jesus but also about foraying into the world of lesbian sex and all its mysteries. And so my webcomic was born.

All you have to do is Google "demons homosexuality" to see that many people actually believe that the root cause of being gay is a demon laying claim to your wanton soul. Apparently my father was one of those people.

I had just started filming Welcome to the Dollhouse, and with that, I met -- or should I say, became aware of -- gay people. Now, I had always been attracted to women, but I could never put a name to it until that summer of 1994.

I am truly grateful for being gay because it forced me to talk to God directly. And in so doing, two things became clear and loud and real and the bar by which I hope every decision I now make is made: God is Love, and God is everything.

On this National Coming Out Day 2011, it is time for people of faith to speak out against the bigotry that has for too long fueled the fires of homophobia that perpetuate violence against LGBT people and plant the seeds of self-loathing in LGBT youth.

As a devout, orthodox Christian and Jesus freak, I do not think using the word "hate" to describe what Mr. Daly and the people at Focus on the Family and other organizations are trying to do is too strong.