News Tidbits

ProPublica: Heritage Foundation Alum Critical of Transgender Rights to Lead HHS Civil Rights Office

Tulsa World: Oklahoma House passes bill that could restore Ten Commandments monument to Capitol grounds

The Tennessean: 'In God We Trust' on plates now optional under new amendment

The Globe and Mail: Canada: Alberta orders two Baptist schools to allow gay-straight alliances

Pink News: Leaked documents show Mormon Church control of anti-gay marriage campaign

Gay Star News: Christians are angry Vimeo took down a 'gay cure therapy' channel

Gay Star News: Transphobic ‘free speech’ bus vandalized with pro-trans graffiti

Boston Globe: Anti-transgender bus rolls into Boston, is promptly greeted by protests

Washington Blade: Anti-trans bus to stop in D.C. next week

News Tidbits

Metro Weekly: GOP Congressmen to reintroduce anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act

Talking Points Memo: Religious Groups Speak Out Against Trump Refugee Order

News Channel 5: Yarn Shop Owner Turns Away 'Women's Movement' Knitters

Santa Fe New Mexican: Fifth Navajo sues Mormon church over alleged sexual abuse

Huffington Post: Judge Blocks Texas From Implementing ‘Fetal Burial’ Rule — Again

Pink News: South Africa: Bishop who claimed there are no gay animals besieged by protestors

New Zealand Stuff: Conversation about LGBT and sexuality not allowed at Festival One

Hamilton Spectator: Canada: Christian Heritage Party takes Hamilton to court over removed anti-transgender ads

Commentary Tidbits

Flunking Sainthood: Do Mormons leave the Church because they ‘got offended’?

Slate: “This Evil Is All Around Us”: Trump’s pick for the CIA, Mike Pompeo, sees foreign policy as a vehicle for holy war.

The New Civil Rights Movement: The LGBT March on DC Is Happening: Five Post-Election Reasons This Is Important

The Atlantic: Will the Pro-Life Movement Split With Trump on Issues Other Than Abortion?

Religion News Service: March for Life buoyant over Trump’s anti-abortion promises

Commentary Tidbits

Damned Interesting: 4 times The Gospel Coalition outdid itself for bigotry

Against the Greater Light: The C Word

Shakesville: Behold Your Roosting Chickens

Washington Post: The Breitbart alt-right just took over the GOP

The New Civil Rights Movement: Founder of Two of America's Most Damaging and Dangerous Anti-Gay Groups Endorses Trump

The Atlantic: Donald Trump Isn't Relying on Faith Alone

News Tidbits

Salt Lake Tribune: Students: BYU Honor Code leaves LGBT victims of sexual assault vulnerable and alone

The Guardian: 'I'm not a Mormon': fresh 'mass resignation’ over anti-LGBT beliefs

Newsweek: Russian Orthodox Archpriest Opposes Ban on Female Genital Mutilation

Irish Independent: Story of Noah's Ark is proof that climate change does not exist, says Irish TD Danny Healy-Rae

Religion News Service: Doctors at Catholic hospitals may be unable to refer women for services

LGBTQ Nation: NYC Catholic school sidesteps blame for bullied teen’s suicide

Talking Points Memo: Trump Dumps All Over U.S. Intel Community: 'I Won't Use Them'

Associated Press: Pope outlines vision for promoting life, family issues

Commentary Tidbits

Governing: Is Abstinence-Only Sex Ed on the Rise? 

Tell Me Why the World is Weird: All of the LOLs for this Sermon on "Marrying Young"

Political Research Associates: Dominionism Rising: A Theocratic Movement Hiding in Plain Sight

Alternet: Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson Is the Star of Bizarre New Extreme Right-Wing Movie Featuring Horrific ISIS Murders 

CNN: Three arguments against covert Christian 'spycraft'

Washington Post: Trump’s pitch to Mormons falls flat

Friendly Atheist: Christian Bigot Who Wants Gay People Cured Condemns Christian Bigot Who Wants Gay People Dead

Chicago Reader: Illinois pastors don’t deserve exemption from conversion therapy ban

The Advocate: National Intervention Needed to End Conversion Therapy

The Advocate: Understanding Anita Bryant, the Woman Who Declared War on Gays

Commentary Tidbits

The Nation: Islamophobes, White Supremacists, and Gays for Trump—the Alt-Right Arrives at the RNC

Religion Dispatches: Welcome to the RNC’s Elmer Gantry Tent Revival

New York Times: Make America Hate Again

Washington Post: Why Trump sounded more like a strongman than a movement conservative

Corner of Church and State: Why do some evangelical leaders back Trump? Because it’s not about faith 

Flunking Sainthood: Mormon women fear eternal polygamy, study shows

Love, Joy, Feminism: Is Josh Harris Actually Taking Responsibility?

Commentary Tidbits

Washington Post: Looking for God in the colorful world of America’s Christian entertainment destinations

Corner of Church and State: Pro-Trump pastor whitewashes history of pastors during Jim Crow—including the history of his church

Christian Today: Mark Driscoll is hosting a conference on building healthy churches. Seriously.

Salon: Anti-choice activists attempt to hijack Black Lives Matter to shame women for abortion

The Advocate: God vs. the Constitution

Religion News Service: The Mormon fallout of legalized same-sex marriage

Daily Beast: Why C-FAM, the Catholic Fundamentalists You’ve Never Heard Of, Just Cozied Up to Iran

Huffington Post: New GOP Platform Aims To Make The Christian Right Even More Powerful

Vice: We Talked to a Quiverfull Escapee About Helping Women Leave the Movement

News Tidbits

People Magazine: Christian Boarding School Denies Jeremy Jordan's Claim It Was Practicing Gay Conversion Therapy on His Cousin

Salt Lake Tribune: 4 LDS Mexican missionaries detained after father said they tried to baptize kids without permission

Texas Tribune: Dan Patrick Takes Heat for Posts After Orlando Shooting

LGBTQ Nation: Illinois: Bomb goes off in ladies’ room during Target transgender boycott

News Tidbits

The Tennessean: Lawsuit challenges Tennessee counseling law

Indiana Gazette: Pennsylvania Rep. Saccone promotes bill to display 'In God We Trust'

LGBT Weekly: HRC Alabama blasts disgraced Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore over latest stall tactics

Cincinnati*com: Ark Encounter sponsors Indy 500 driver

Associated Press: Mormon church sued by 4th Navajo alleging sexual abuse

Associated Press: Cultural sensitivities obstacle at UN AIDS conference

Commentary Tidbits

Tell Me Why The World Is Weird: "God has one perfect guy for you!" Yeah, that's not biblical.

Samantha Field: The Smell Test: 5 Signs of a Toxic Church

Christianity Today: Missionary Donn Ketcham Abused 18 Children. Here’s Why He Wasn’t Stopped.

Salt Lake Tribune: How outdated Mormon teachings may be aiding and abetting ‘rape culture’

CNN: Why my parents tried to cure me of being gay

Kansas City Star: Stop using God in politics to discriminate against others

The Guardian: The evangelical soccer team: no fouls, no diving, no gay players

Slate: Ken Ham Really Doesn’t Understand Science

Huffington Post: Here’s Phil Robertson’s ‘Radical Idea’ About Trans Bathroom Rights

Religion Dispatches: The United Methodist Church to LGBTQ: You’re “Sacred,” But Not Welcome

Commentary Tidbits

Unfundamentalist Parenting: Parenting Advice that Correlates with Abuse

Salt Lake Tribune: What I have learned as I transition from my faith

The Nation: As the Religious Right Forces the Gospel Into Public Schools, Some Parents Are Opting to Homeschool

Pacific Standard: Why Are So Many Christians Obsessed With Predicting the Rapture?

Out: How Religious Colleges Are Staying Anti-Trans on Your Dime

Ms. Magazine: So-Called Predators in the Bathroom ... Again

Slate: The Cultural Alienation of Anti-Trans Americans

News Tidbits

Dallas Observer: An Advocate for the Sexually Abused Demands Answers from Prestonwood Baptist Church

Religion News Service: Wheaton group blasts Christian college’s silence over Hastert abuse confession

Boston Herald: Bill would require colleges to reveal religious exemptions

Gay Star News: Anti-LGBTI groups form coalition to fight UN for protecting same-sex couples and families

Associated Press: Kasich calls for balance on gay rights, religious beliefs

Associated Press: Lead singer of Neon Trees changing tune on Mormon religion 

Washington Blade: Cruz won’t let up on anti-trans ‘bathroom predator’ myth

Pink News: Turns out this anti-gay bakery just can’t back down

Buzzfeed: Australia: A Gay Conversion Advocate Is Speaking At A University And Students Are Mad

Military*com: Redstone Worker Says Sex Assault Program Used to Espouse Christianity   (Hat tip to Dispatches from the Culture Wars)

News Tidbits

New York Times: At Brigham Young, a Cost in Reporting a Rape

Pink News: Texas sheriff hopeful threatens to beat trans women unconscious if he finds them in public bathrooms 

Associated Press: Religious leaders object to religious objections law

Associated Press: Pressure builds ahead of Missouri religious exemptions vote

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Laid off Catholic worker finds surprise at unemployment office

Keystone Crossroads: Pennsylvania's Catholic churches consolidate and close as population declines

Gay Star News: Colorado Supreme Court denies appeal from anti-gay baker who refused to make wedding cake

News Tidbits

Pennlive: Three religious leaders allowed predator priest to continue abusing children: Pennsylvania Attorney General  (Trigger warning)

Fox 13: LDS Church named in lawsuit alleging sexual abuse of Navajo children in foster program

NPR: Evangelicals Key To Republican Support For Israel

Gay Star News: Ted Cruz announces endorsements of more than 30 key Ohio leaders, many of them anti-LGBTI

Washington Blade: Cruz accepts anti-LGBT recommendations from ‘religious liberty’ council

Pink News: Prison gardener who told gays to repent loses ‘unfair dismissal’ case

LGBTQ Nation: Hate group leader elected to GOP platform committee

Colorado Public Radio: Conversion Therapy Ban Moves To Colorado Senate

ABC News (Australia): Catholic bishop calls for resignation of bishops who failed to address child sexual abuse

The Guardian: Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders goes on trial for inciting hatred

Commentary Tidbits

Danthropology: Atheist group raising money to put up counter Ark Encounter billboards

The Guardian: A 'queer Bible'? Better to re-interpret The Word through a new lens

Huffington Post: How Mormonism Is Creating an Increasingly Toxic Environment for Its LGBT Youth

In These Times: I Saw the Good, Bad and Ugly of Donald Trump Supporters at His Chicago Rally

Buzzfeed: Far Right In Europe Hope Donald Trump Will Set Them Free

Los Angeles Times: Will evangelicals take Trump on faith?

News Tidbits

Associated Press: Pope's abuse accountability tribunal going nowhere fast

BBC News: Pope imposes new rules for saint-making after 'abuses' of system

The Evening Sun: Pennsylvania: Loud protesters divide Confederate Flag Day attendees

Salt Lake Tribune: After Mormon church ‘balance’ statement, LGBT bills swept aside

Washington Post: This church’s cancer-curing elixir is really bleach, federal authorities say

The Tennessean: Rev. James Lawson: Pro-life movement is attempt to dismantle equality

Raw Story: Anti-abortion group cheers as flood waters threaten Louisiana abortion provider

LGBTQ Nation: Rafael Cruz: ‘Gay marriage shall destroy society’

Washington Blade: Tony Perkins calls lesbian-themed musical ‘sexual propaganda’

Ghana Web: Lion nearly killed prophet after botched miracle

News Tidbits

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana child law violates priest's religious freedom, judge rules

The Seattle Times: Racketeering suit claims Mark Driscoll misused Mars Hill donor dollars 

KRDO: Self-proclaimed Planned Parenthood gunman calls shooting 'righteous crusade'

New York Times: Evangelists Adapt to a New Era, Preaching the Gospel to Skeptics

Associated Press: Bill: Florida churches don't have to do same-sex weddings

Washington Blade: West Virginia Senate rejects religious freedom bill

The Advocate: Georgia Governor: 'License to Discriminate' Bill Isn't Christian

Pink News: Mormon leader claims Church has zero gay members

The Arizona Republic: Phoenix City Council votes to bring prayer back to meetings

News Tidbits

The Hill: Hobby Lobby founder endorses Rubio

Washington Blade: GOP candidates clash in debate over ‘religious freedom’

Fox 13: Same-sex couple claims LDS Church congregation harassed them over disciplinary council

Associated Press: Missouri measure seeks religious exemptions on gay marriage

WLWT 5: Kentucky businesses could soon deny services to gays

The Guardian: Coalition of 400 companies fight Georgia's proposed 'religious liberty' bill

West Virginia Public Broadcasting: No Longer RFRA, What You Need to Know About W.Va.'s Religious Freedom Protection Act 

WBAY ABC 2: Church cuts ties with Appleton Boy Scouts over gay adult leaders

The Advocate: After Raucous Meeting, Florida School Board Votes Down LGBT Antibias Policy

Kilgore News Herald: Longview bakery clashes with Kilgore couple over same-sex wedding cake

Commentary Tidbits

The Many Banes of My Existence by Alexis: Did God Ever Send YOU a Thank-You Note?

Unseen Perfidy: I Grew Up in a Southern Baptist Elementary School

Mother Jones: Ted Cruz's Dad: My Son Ran for President After God Sent His Wife a Sign

Forward: Why Ted Cruz's Preacher Sidekick Is No Friend of the Jews — or Israel

Godless in Dixie: What the Story of Lot Tells Me About the Bible