Is U.S. Bishops’ Opposition to LGBTQ Equality Finally Backfiring on Them?

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For nearly a decade, the U.S. bishops have used a campaign about upholding religious liberty to mask (thinly) their efforts to suppress equal rights for women and for LGBTQ people. But a social service agency's recent discrimination against a Catholic client raises the possibility that the bishops' advocacy may be backfiring on them. Read More

Pro-LGBT Equality Act Would Be “To the Detriment of Society as a Whole,” Say U.S. Bishops

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Leading U.S. bishops have announced their opposition to the Equality Act recently introduced in Congress, saying passage would be "to the detriment of society as a whole." Read More

Between Ruddock and a Hard Place: Australia’s Cautionary Lessons on Religious Freedom

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As the Masterpiece Cakeshop’s legal saga continues to unfold, LGBTQ people of faith are again caught between two legal aims: LGBTQ equality and religious freedom.  How can we use the law to curtail unjust religious discrimination against LGBTQ folk without inadvertently setting precedents that limit religious liberty? Read More

Leading Catholic Bishop Supports New DOJ Religious Liberty Task Force

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A leading U.S. bishop was present at a gathering where the Trump administration announced its new religious liberty task force, showing a sign of support for an initiative with great potential to harm LGBT equality.  Read More

Navigating the Difficult Passage Between Conscience and Justice

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Responses to the Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop decision are generating a library’s worth of commentary,... Read More

Catholic Therapist Refused to Help Gay Couple, Sues Agency

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A therapist in Saginaw, Michigan was fired after refusing to provide marriage counseling to a gay couple, citing her Catholic faith as the impetus behind her decision. Believing her dismissal was unjust, Kathleen Lorentzen has now filed a lawsuit claiming religious discrimination. Read More

Oregon Church Is Sued Because of ‘Moral Clause’ Damage

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A Catholic parish in Portland, Oregon, is being sued by an event center because the church’s moral clause forced the event company to turn away an LGBTQ client. Read More

Is Winning Some Losing All? The Paradox of Religious Freedom

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Close on the heels of the 2014 Hobby Lobby and Wheaton College cases, the Supreme Court’s recent Masterpiece Cakeshop decision is only the most recent ruling to leave the politics of sexuality and religious freedom in an uncomfortable place. Read More

Catholic Responses Limited on U.S. Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Ruling

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Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, concerning a baker who refused services to a same-gender couple. Normally, shortly after a significant event like the ruling, Bondings 2.0 compiles responses from Catholic individuals, organizations, and other relevant voices. But we have not published such a post until now as we expected more responses than the few published. Read More