Upworthy's book GOOD PEOPLE, now available - take a look!

Shop
 Explore 

same-sex marriage

Identity

'Made me smile': Jimmy Carter’s quote about homosexuality and the Bible resurfaces

Carter was always ahead of his time.

via Commonwealth Club/Wikimedia Commons

Jimmy Carter at the COmmonwealth Club.

Jimmy Carter was the 39th president of the United States (1977 to 1981). Looking back on his achievements both in and out of office, it’s easy to say that he was a man ahead of his time. He was far ahead of the mainstream when it came to advocating for social justice, human rights, and the environment.

Carter famously installed solar panels on the White House in 1979, only to have them removed by Ronald Reagan.

The former peanut farmer and Navy Lieutenant from Plains, Georgia, was also far ahead of his time when supporting gay rights. In 1976, while running for president, he said he would sign the Equality Act, an amendment to the 1964 Civil Rights Act that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. “I will certainly sign it, because I don’t think it’s right to single out homosexuals for special abuse or special harassment,” he said.

He continued to advocate for gay rights as president. In 1977, the first gay delegation visited the White House. He also campaigned against California’s Proposition 6, which would have barred gays and lesbians from teaching in the state’s schools and was the first Democratic president to endorse gay rights in the party’s platform in 1980.

It may seem unusual for Cater, a confessed born-again Christian, to be a staunch advocate for gay rights. But he has publicly said that he believes that being pro-gay is wholly aligned with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Carter’s advocacy found itself in the spotlight once again after a meme featuring his thoughts about Christ and homosexuality from 2012 went viral on Reddit's MadeMeSmile forum on April 8, 2024.

Jimmy Carter
byu/PR0CR45T184T0R inMadeMeSmile

The viral quote was taken from an interview with the Huffington Post in 2012, during which Carter promoted his book, NIV, Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter. At the time, LGBTQ rights were the subject of heated debate in Washington, and President Obama had just “evolved” and began publicly supporting same-sex marriage.

"A lot of people point to the Bible for reasons why gay people should not be in the church or accepted in any way,” the interviewer Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush said. But Carter responded by correctly noting that Jesus Christ never said anything about homosexuality.

"Homosexuality was well known in the ancient world, well before Christ was born and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things—he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married in civil ceremonies,” Carter said. "I draw the line, maybe arbitrarily, in requiring by law that churches must marry people. I'm a Baptist, and I believe that each congregation is autonomous and can govern its own affairs.

"So if a local Baptist church wants to accept gay members on an equal basis, which my church does, by the way, then that is fine. If a church decides not to, then government laws shouldn't require them to,” he continued.

Three years later, Carter shared the same sentiments in another interview with the Huffington Post, this time shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. “I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else,” Carter said.

Jimmy Carter’s belief in gay rights stems from his faith as a Christian, but it’s also in complete alignment with his values as an American. Carter believed that the United States was a “beacon” for human rights, and in his 1981 presidential farewell address, he reminded the nation that the job was an ongoing struggle.

“The battle for human rights–at home and abroad–is far from over,” Carter said. “If we are to serve as a beacon for human rights, we must continue to perfect here at home the rights and values which we espouse around the world: A decent education for our children, adequate medical care for all Americans, an end to discrimination against minorities and women, a job for all those able to work, and freedom from injustice and religious intolerance.”

This article originally appeared last year.

From Your Site Articles

lgbtq rights

Identity

Former antigay theologian gives 3 reasons why he came to love and accept LGBTQ people

If he can change, anyone can.

via Duke University and Canva/Photos

LGBTQ parishioners and Richard Hays.

Richard Hays, an ordained Methodist minister and the 27-year dean of the Duke Divinity School, passed away on January 4, 2025, from pancreatic cancer. Hays was known for his 1996 book, “The Moral Vision of the New Testament,” which was taught in seminary schools and embraced by conservative evangelical Christians for its repudiation of same-sex marriage. “Homosexuality is one among many tragic signs that we are a broken people, alienated from God’s loving purpose,” Hays asserted in his book.

However, in his final months, Hays dramatically shifted his public views about LGBTQ people and their place in the Christian faith. In September 2024, Hays and his son, Chris, released their book “The Widening of God’s Mercy,” which claims God continually extends his mercy to those who are outcasts in the Bible and that LGBTQ people should be accepted in the church.

“The biblical narratives throughout the Old Testament and the New trace a trajectory of mercy that leads us to welcome sexual minorities no longer as ‘strangers and aliens’ but as ‘fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,’” the authors wrote, quoting the Book of Ephesians.

Hays’ theological change of heart was controversial in some evangelical circles.

In "The Widening of God' Mercy" Richard and Christopher Hays seem to be trying to make the case the purely monogamous homosexuality is consistent with Christian experience but then they constantly use the LGBTQ+ acronym in their arguments. This shows they are using "committed"…
— J.R. Klein (@JoshRKlein) October 10, 2024

3 Reasons Why Richard Hays believes the church should accept same-sex marriages

In a speech given at CenterPeace Conference 2 months before his death, Hays shared 3 reasons why he believes the church should accept LGBTQ people and that same-sex marriage should be blessed.

1. His experience with LGBTQ Christians

Hays argues that we don’t know what the word of God means until we see it “embodied” by others, and he saw terrific examples of LGBTQ Christians with his students and at a Methodist church in Durham, North Carolina. “I was, of course, encountering students both from my time teaching at Yale and time at Duke students who were of alternative sexualities minority sexualities who were there to learn and to seek to serve in the church they were smart, they were committed, and they were gay and lesbian,” Hays said in his speech.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

2. Reading books

Hays read accounts of life as an LGBTQ Christian by Wesley Hill (“Washed and Waiting”) and “Scripture and Ethics” by Karen R. Keen. “That book led to a series of extended conversations between Karen and me. We would go get coffee and sit and talk for a long time about what both what Karen had written and about her own experience, and it just helped me to move off the place where I had been stuck,” Hays said. He also read theological books that defended traditional Christian marriage and found their positions “unconvincing.”

rainbow book art Photo by Edson Rosas on Unsplash

3. His mother’s death

Hays says that the tipping point was “nearly 5 years ago” when his mother died, and his family wanted to have her funeral at a Methodist church where she was the organist. However, the church was a reconciling congregation accepting of LGBTQ people and flew a rainbow Pride banner out front. Hays’ brother refused to attend a service in the church, so the family decided to move the funeral elsewhere. The family disagreement made Hays wonder why LGBTQ issues, which aren’t central to Christian doctrine, held such a firm grip on believers’ hearts. “I thought, why is this such an issue, you know? This is not about a dispute about the doctrine of the Trinity. It's not about justification by faith,” Hays said. “This is not a matter that stands at the heart of Christian doctrine. Why can't we agree to disagree about something like this? But [his brother] couldn't; he felt it would compromise his principles. So for me, that was the personal tipping point where I said damn, I've got to write something to set the record straight.”

Ultimately, Hays’ dramatic final proclamation was a brave act that will be a big part of his legacy. The man who justified antigay policies in the church later came to believe that LGBTQ people deserve to be accepted and their marriages blessed. Let’s hope his change inspires others to rethink their anti-LGBTQ views and create real change within the church.

woman holding baby Photo by Margaux Bellott on Unsplash

From Your Site Articles

lgbtq

Identity

Gay choir teacher breaks down when his class gives a surprise performance at his wedding

Christopher Landis had kept his marriage secret because he wasn't sure how students or parents would react.

via Pexels

His students made his special day even better.

Christopher Landis, a choir director at Hingham Middle School in Massachusetts, didn’t tell his students he was engaged to Joe Michienzie three years ago. According to Inside Edition, whenever they asked who Michienzie was, Christopher would say, "That's Joe. He's my friend."

Landis kept his relationship a secret in front of his students because he wasn’t sure how their parents would react. Sadly, even today, LGBTQ people still have to be discreet about their personal lives in some professions. A 2018 study by the Human Rights Campaign 2018 study by the Human Rights Campaign found that 46 percent of LGBTQ people do not reveal their sexual orientation at work.

This is sad for the teachers who have to stay closeted and also for the LGBTQ students who miss out on having a positive role model.

However, somehow the secret got out and two mothers of Landis’ students, Margit Foley and Joy Foraste, approached Michienzie to see how they could get the students involved in their wedding.

“At the end of the summer, Margit and I heard he was getting married. He’s the best teacher, and he’s got this great energy, and he makes every school function fun. We thought, wouldn’t it be awesome to do something for his wedding?” Foraste told The New York Times.

The women emailed the other choir parents to see if their children could perform at their teacher’s wedding rehearsal dinner.

“We hoped we’d get at least 15 kids to do it,” Foraste said. But 50 of the 70 kids in the chorus said they’d be there to support their teacher’s wedding. They secretly rehearsed for four Sundays in a row at a local library so Landis wouldn’t catch a whiff of the plan they hatched.

Hingham Middle School in Massachusetts

via Google

The kids and their parents kept the secret for four months before the big day and had to get off school and travel 30 miles to the event. Landis had no idea what was about to happen but he felt something was up when people at the dinner started picking up their phones.

Out of nowhere, 50 kids filed into the room, songbooks in hand. After Dona Maher, a colleague of Landis’, banged out the first few notes of the French National Anthem "La Marseillaise" on her keyboard, the kids began to sing the word, “Love.” It was the perfect song for the occasion: “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles.

Video taken by the bartender at the event shows Landis unable to hold back the tears as his kids sang their hearts out. It was a beautiful moment of acceptance for a teacher who wasn’t sure if his kids and their parents would understand his love for his husband-to-be.

After the performance, Landis turned to the crowd with a huge smile and said, “These are my kids."

"It was so wonderful for the kids to see him with his family and his close friends, and they saw him as a person, not just their teacher," Foraste told The Patriot Ledger. "They saw how much it meant to him. He immediately started crying and the kids started crying. It's something they’ll never forget."

This article originally appeared two years ago.

From Your Site Articles

lgbtq

Family

I told a kid a riddle my dad told me when I was 7. His answer proves how far we've come.

This classic riddle takes on new meaning as our world changes for the better.

When I was 7, my dad told me a riddle.

"A man and his son are driving in their car when they are hit by a tractor-trailer.

Photo via iStock.

(We were driving at the time, so of course this was the riddle he decided to tell.)

The father dies instantly.

The son is badly injured. Paramedics rush him to the hospital.

Photo via iStock.

As he is being wheeled into the operating room, the surgeon takes one look the boy and says:

'I can't operate on him. He's my son.'

How is that possible?!"

Without missing a beat, I answered:

"The doctor is his mom!"

Photo via iStock.

My dad first heard the riddle when he was a child in the '60s.

Back then, most women didn't work outside of the home.

Few of those who did had college degrees, much less professional degrees.

Female doctors were few and far between.

Back then, it was a hard riddle. A very hard riddle.

By 1993, when I first heard it, the notion that women could be highly skilled, highly trained professionals wasn't so absurd.

To me, it was normal.

I knew women who were lawyers. Bankers. Politicians. My own doctor was a woman.

To be sure, women still faced challenges and discrimination in the workplace. And even 20 years later, they still do.

But at its core, the riddle is about how a family can work. And that had changed. Long-overdue progress had rendered the big, sexist assumption that underpinned the whole thing moot.

A very hard riddle was suddenly not a riddle at all.

I never forgot it.

Now, I'm 30 — almost as old as my dad was he first told me that riddle.

My dad at 30 (left) and me at 30. Photos by Eric March/Upworthy and Mary March, used with permission.

I don't have kids, but I mentor a child through a volunteer program.

Once a week, we get together and hang out for an hour. We play ping pong, do science experiments, and write songs. Neither of us like to go outside.

It's a good match.

One day, we decided to try to stump each other with riddles.

He rattled off about five or six.

I could only remember one: The one about the man, his son, and the surgeon.

Photo via iStock.

I thought it would be silly to tell it.

I was sure that, if it was easy in 1993, it would be even easier in 2014. Kind of ridiculous, even.

But a part of me was curious.

It had been 21 years — almost as long as it had been between when my dad first heard the riddle and when he shared it with me.

Maybe it wouldn't be so easy.

Maybe I was missing something obvious, making my own flawed assumptions about how a family could work.

Maybe the world had changed in ways that would be second nature to a 13-year-old but not to me.

So I began:

"A man and his son are driving in their car, when they are hit by a tractor-trailer. The father dies instantly. The son is badly injured and is rushed to the hospital by paramedics. As he is being wheeled into the operating room, the surgeon takes one look at the boy and says:

'I can't operate on him. He's my son.'

How is that possible?!"

Without missing a beat, he answered: "it's his other dad"

Photo via iStock.

Times change. Progress isn't perfect. But no matter what shape a family takes, at the end of the day, #LoveWins.

This article was written by Eric March and originally appeared on 06.21.16

From Your Site Articles

Family

Compelling video shows why the idea of 'traditional marriage' doesn't really exist

"Traditional marriage" has meant a lot of different things over time.

via Gpalmisanoadm/Pixabay

Newlyweds enjoying their big day

Even though same-sex marriage became legal across the U.S. in 2015, some still refer to marriage between a man and a woman as “traditional marriage.” The fact that people need to differentiate between different types of marriage makes many feel the term is disparaging to LGBTQ people.

When people refer to traditional marriage, they’re usually describing the union of a cisgender man and woman that is rooted in love and equality, where both partners have the same rights under the law. However, according to a video by Matt Baume, this notion of traditional marriage looks a lot different than marriages of the past.

Baume is a YouTuber who makes videos about pop culture history from a queer perspective.

In his video "What's the Definition of 'Traditional Marriage'?" Baume points out that marriage isn't exactly the "one man, one woman" story you've always heard.

For example, 4,000 years ago, in Mesopotamia, marriage was akin to slavery. During the Roman Empire, public displays of affection weren’t tolerated. Baume also notes that marrying for love is a relatively recent development, and it’s only been a few decades since interracial marriage was legal and married men and women began sharing the same rights.

The video discusses what it means to be married from a historical perspective, making it evident that the institution is constantly in flux. "Look, marriage has been a lot of things. But when you get down to it, it's always been an agreement between people,” Baume says in the video. “And as people strived to improve themselves, to become a more fair and just society, the marriages they form improve with them."

From Your Site Articles

marriage equality

Identity

Chasten Buttigieg shared what marriage equality looks like after the Senate voted to protect it

The Respect for Marriage act would codify same-sex and interracial marriage into law.

via Pete for America/Flickr

Chasten and Pete Buttigieg.

In a landmark, bipartisan 61 to 36 vote, the Senate approved the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday setting the stage for same-sex and interracial marriage to remain legal, even if they are struck down by the Supreme Court. It’s believed that the bill will be quickly passed by the House and signed into law by President Biden.

Even though same-sex and interracial marriages are legal in the U.S., after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade last summer, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas noted that the decision that legalized gay marriage rests on the same principles that underscored Roe.

This signal by the conservative justice pushed Democrats to quickly work to codify same-sex and interracial marriage into law.

If the Respect for Marriage Act becomes law it would require all states and the federal government to recognize legally-conducted marriages. Therefore, if the decisions that legalized same-sex and interracial marriages were overturned, states still would have to recognize all marriages conducted in the U.S.

So, if Kentucky made same-sex marriage illegal and a same-sex couple got married in another state where it was legal, say California, Kentucky would still have to recognize the marriage. The only barrier a couple would face to getting married would be traveling to another state to have their wedding performed.

Republicans added a religious consideration to the Respect for Marriage Act that protects nonprofit and religious organizations from having to provide support for same-sex marriages.

\u201c61-36: The U.S. Senate passes the Respect for Marriage Act, repealing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and codifying federal recognition of states\u2019 same-sex and interracial marriages.\n\n12 Republicans joined Democrats in voting \u201cyes.\u201d All the \u201cno\u201d votes were Republican senators.\u201d
— The Recount (@The Recount) 1669764254

After this historic vote, Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, shared a Twitter thread where he showed what the Senate moved to protect. “This morning, after dropping the kids off, I came home and stopped to take in the aftermath of a chaotic morning. And it got me thinking. This is what marriage is to me,” Chasten wrote.

Last year, Pete and Chasten became the parents of a son and a daughter.

\u201cThe Senate is poised to vote on the #RespectForMarriageAct today. \n\nThis morning, after dropping the kids off, I came home and stopped to take in the aftermath of a chaotic morning. And it got me thinking. \n\nThis is what marriage is to me. \ud83e\uddf5\u201d
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten Buttigieg) 1669743573

Bibs I should have tossed in the sink that were leaking milk onto the counter. Little toothbrushes they used to scrub the teeth that have been keeping them up at night. Tiny hairbands from Penelope’s quick updo in which she kept repeating the word “bosh” while I brushed her hair.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

The stacked plates, empty and crusty after a hurried but hilarious breakfast full of giggles ad music. The twins bounced along to the Christmas music as they ate their bananas and eggs while I prayed for the coffee maker to go faster.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

My husband danced around me and fed the dogs while singing along to the music, which made the kids smile, doing his best not to get anything on his suit before rushing out the door and off to the to the airport. I didn’t remember where he was headed, but I knew it was important.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

This is what marriage is to me. Mornings spent negotiating diaper bags, getting sweaters on wiggling toddlers, and feeding the dogs. It's scattered building blocks on the floor and scrambled eggs on the wall. It’s goodbye kisses at the door and thermoses of coffee in the minivan.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

It’s having the right to juggle it all with the person who makes you feel loved and supported amidst the chaos. It's the right to have a shoulder to lean on at end of the day in the first place. It's the promise of hard work for your partner, your kids, and for us, our country.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

My marriage has filled this house with so much love it makes me want to be a better husband, father, and citizen every day. It’s called me to something bigger than myself while recognizing that my kids are now the most important thing in life, and I'd do anything to protect them.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

Our family and our union push me to make sure we leave our kids a country and a world they can thrive in so that they, too, can enjoy all of the love and light and happiness that Pete and I have known simply by falling in love with one another.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

I know how precious this union is and how sacred and fragile our unions can be in the eyes of our ever-changing democracy. We are not yet afforded the pleasure of letting our shoulders down, of taking a breath. We are fully aware that some desperately want to take this away.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

I hope that we can move on from these votes, these arguments, and these debates soon. I hope that our friends on the other side of the aisle will listen to over 70% of Americans and vote to protect families like mine and the unions that make us all better Americans.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

And if a member of congress is confused, or has questions and wants to turn down the noise from the online rhetoric - our playroom is always open, should you want to meet a family who is just trying their best to make their kids happy and their country better, just like you.
— Chasten Buttigieg (@Chasten) November 29, 2022

Chasten’s post is poignant because it shows how all marriages, regardless of the sex of those involved, look the same. Especially after having kids. It’s constant domestic chaos, punctuated by quick outbursts of fun all tied together by love.

For those who oppose same-sex marriage, all they have to do is spend a morning in the Buttigieg household and they can see that it’s not much different than any straight marriage.

Chasten even invited members of Congress to come and visit his home to see for themselves.

“And if a member of congress is confused, or has questions and wants to turn down the noise from the online rhetoric—our playroom is always open, should you want to meet a family who is just trying their best to make their kids happy and their country better, just like you,” Chasten wrote on Twitter.

By colifying same-sex marriage into law, Congress won’t be doing anything revolutionary. It’d simply be solidifying rights that 71% of Americans think same-sex couples should have. Signing the act into law would also go a long way toward settling an issue that has been a point of contention for a generation.

“I hope that we can move on from these votes, these arguments, and these debates soon,” Chasten wrote on Twitter. “I hope that our friends on the other side of the aisle will listen to over 70% of Americans and vote to protect families like mine and the unions that make us all better Americans.”

From Your Site Articles

lgbtq

Identity

Bishop rebels against Anglican church by coming out in support of marriage equality

"We have been so slow as a Church to reach better decisions and practice on these matters."

via Wikipedia and Pixabay

Oxford Bishop Dr. Steven Croft.

The Church of England, also known as the Anglican Communion, forbids its ministers from performing or blessing same-sex marriages. In 1998, the church reaffirmed its commitment to Biblical teachings rejecting “homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture” and upheld “faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union.”

The church holds this opinion because the Bible harshly condemns homosexuality although it says nothing about same-sex marriage.

“Church of England ministers can not carry out or bless same-sex marriages, but your local church is still there for you,” the Anglican church says on its website. “At any time you are welcome to come and pray with us, or ask us to pray for you.”

The Right Reverend Dr. Steven Croft, Anglican bishop of Oxford, made a bold push against Anglican orthodoxy on November 3 when he published a 52-page essay “Together in Love and Faith.” In the essay, he says that clergy should marry same-sex couples if they wish and apologized on behalf of himself and the church for denying LGBTQ people the right to marry.

Bishop Croft is the most senior clergy in the church to come out in support of same-sex marriage. It’s illegal for any Church of England minister to bless or marry same-sex couples.

"I need to acknowledge the acute pain and distress of LGBTQ+ people in the life of the Church," Bishop Croft wrote. “I am sorry that, corporately, we have been so slow as a Church to reach better decisions and practice on these matters. I am sorry that my own views were slow to change and that my actions, and lack of action, have caused genuine hurt, disagreement and pain."

He added that the highest value the church should promote should be love.

"Any settlement must be founded on love and respect: love and respect for LGBTQ+ people and their families within and beyond the Church, love and respect for those who take different views,” he wrote.

\u201cSame-sex marriage: should the Church of England affirm culture, or confront it?\nhttps://t.co/D5dHcSp78D\u201d
— Archbishop Cranmer (@Archbishop Cranmer) 1667812302

The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) quickly rebuked Bishop Croft’s essay.

"CEEC continues to believe that the Church of England's current position on human sexuality is built on the teaching of scripture and is therefore good for individuals and society as a whole," a CEEC spokesperson said according to Christianity Today.

"We are therefore committed to praying and working for the outcome of the Living in Love and Faith process to be one of joyful reaffirmation of this position,” the statement continued.

Even though Bishop Croft’s essay was rebuked by the Church of England, he should be commended for taking a bold stance against discrimination in favor of promoting a higher principle, love.

Throughout history, Christians have jettisoned ideas in the Bible because they fell out of fashion, including slavery, condemning those who eat pork and sport certain haircuts, and silencing women in the church.

But in the face of changing attitudes toward LGBTQ people, many churches are standing their ground. Studies show that one of the biggest factors driving young people away from Christianity is the church’s attitudes toward LGBTQ people. Isn't it time the church changes with the times once again before its pews become empty?

From Your Site Articles

lgbtq

We have a small favor to ask of you

same-sex marriage

Carter was always ahead of his time.

If he can change, anyone can.

3 Reasons Why Richard Hays believes the church should accept same-sex marriages

Christopher Landis had kept his marriage secret because he wasn't sure how students or parents would react.

This classic riddle takes on new meaning as our world changes for the better.

When I was 7, my dad told me a riddle.

Without missing a beat, I answered:

"The doctor is his mom!"

My dad first heard the riddle when he was a child in the '60s.

By 1993, when I first heard it, the notion that women could be highly skilled, highly trained professionals wasn't so absurd.

Now, I'm 30 — almost as old as my dad was he first told me that riddle.

It had been 21 years — almost as long as it had been between when my dad first heard the riddle and when he shared it with me.

So I began:

Without missing a beat, he answered: "it's his other dad"

"Traditional marriage" has meant a lot of different things over time.

The Respect for Marriage act would codify same-sex and interracial marriage into law.

"We have been so slow as a Church to reach better decisions and practice on these matters."