Rev. Susan Russell

Leaders lead. Today our president showed us what leadership looks like by affirming that the equal protection guaranteed by the Constitution should actually protect all Americans -- including those Americans married to spouses of the same sex.

Coming on the heels of yesterday's shameful exercise of ballot-box bigotry in North...

According to Wikipedia, a "bully pulpit" is "a public office or other position of authority that provides the holder with an opportunity to speak out and be listened to on any matter." Last Sunday, North Carolina pastor Sean Harris became a bully in the bully pulpit, shamefully advocating...

It started with an email from our parish youth director, Isaac, on Sunday afternoon:

I'm e-mailing you because I was asked to find a priest that would be free this Thursday to come and pray for an event that Haven -- the secret LGBT club at APU (

It was the week for studies telling us things we already knew.

No sooner had I finished reading and then blogging about the psychological study linking homophobia to repressed same-sex attractions than GLAAD released "Missing Voices," a study finding that LGBT faith voices were underrepresented...

On Easter Sunday, ABC's "This Week" featured Jake Tapper's interview with "purpose driven" [sic] pastor Rick Warren -- covering issues of faith, politics and economics. From the transcript posted on the ABC website:

OBAMA: And I believe in God's command to love thy neighbor as thyself. And when I...

Catching up on the news of the weekend, I came across a new study linking homophobia to repressed same-sex attractions. My first reaction was, "This belongs in the file folder labeled 'Duh!'" -- because it only confirms what we have long suspected, known, and experienced.

From the Science Daily

The announcement last week that Rowan Williams would step down as Archbishop of Canterbury has of course spawned a whole variety of reactions, responses and reflections. For example, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church thanked him "for his erudition and persistence in seeking reconciliation across...

Yes, I rise to defend bigotry -- but not to defend acts of bigotry that get in the way of our being that nation "with liberty and justice for all" to which we teach our kids to pledge allegiance. Rather, I rise to defend the naming of those acts as...

Placing himself firmly on the Lester Maddox side of history, today Governor Chris Christie made good his promise to veto the marriage equality bill passed by both houses of the state legislature in New Jersey. For Californians this is déjà vu all over again as we recall that...

Watching the CNN evening news, the "crawl" along the bottom of the screen read: "Catholic bishops denounce contraception compromise." My comment on twitter was:"Seriously???? That qualifies as NEWS??? Enough with theocratic war on democracy." Because here's the deal: It's time to call foul on the much ballyhooed "war on religion"...

I woke up Friday morning to the "breaking news" that the Susan G. Komen Foundation had reversed its decision to pull funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood. My reaction was that this was not just good news for the women needing the services that Planned Parenthood provides and...

Count me as one of those disappointed by the ruling today that the video recordings of the Prop 8 trial will not be released.

The Los Angeles Times summarized the ruling (available in its entirety here) thus: "'The trial judge on several occasions unequivocally promised that...

Here's a question from an email I received not long ago. The subject line was, "The Clear Truth of Scripture." The question was, "What we're asking for is a straight answer out of you people on where in the Bible you find a passage that shows God approves of same...

This week I had sad news from two long time friends. One lost his wife of 55 years to a long illness on New Year's Eve. The other lost her partner of 23 years on Christmas Day.

Both are now coping with their own grief and loss while planning services...

In January 2009 Ed Bacon, the rector here at All Saints Church in Pasadena, Calif., was a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show and spoke the words, "Being gay is a gift from God."

Those seven words, offered in response to a call-in viewer from Atlanta, set off a ripple...

When my boys were little, lighting the candles on the Advent wreath on the dining room table was a really big deal. I'd like to think it was because they had grasped the significance of the holiness of the Advent season as a time of spiritual preparation for the coming...

Dear Mr. Clooney,

I read with delight the announcement last week that you have been cast in the West Coast premiere of 8, the play based on the Prop 8 trial, and I am writing to thank you for putting your talent where your mouth is by stepping...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas -- but sadly Rick Perry is decking the halls with homophobia rather than holly. His new December ad campaign promising voters that as president he would "end Obama's war on religion" and "fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage"...

I'm risking getting my gay card suspended by giving you all this glimpse behind the rainbow curtain, but I've decided the risk is worth it. So fasten your seatbelts for "the Gay Agenda: Thanksgiving 2011":

• Pick up the free-range turkey we ordered last week from the meat market.
• Make...

Commentary on the decision of the California Supreme Court to grant legal standing to the proponents of Proposition 8 to appeal the 2010 judgment invalidating it.

The California Supreme Court ruling giving legal standing to an unelected, unappointed mob committed to taking away fundamental rights from LGBT Californians was a...