The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance (#IDAHOBIT) Who would have thought that we would see such a concerted attack on LGBTQ people and our community in this day and age? Around the world LGBTQ+ people are subject to discrimination, violence, and even death. Currently, there are at least 474 anti-LGBTQ bills being proposed in [...]
Apparently, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. I probably would not have known about “The Savvy Ally” by Jeannie Gainsburg, had it not been for a quote of mine in the book. The publisher contacted me for permission to use the quote.……..which I gave. I requested a copy which arrived once the [...]
Former wife of a gay man tells her story. It was like I’d walked into a brick wall when my ex-husband came out to me as gay in 2018. We were a family of four, with 2 boys aged 12 and 16 and married just under 20 years. Even though I was in shock, I [...]
Presentation at the Human Rights Conference Sydney World Pride 2023 Anthony Venn-Brown OAM Founder and CEO of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International Author of the bestseller A Life of Unlearning Watch on ABC iView (Starts at 15:45) “In 1952, the year after I was born, the American Psychiatric Association released their first Diagnostic Statistic [...]
FAITH AT WORLD PRIDE Sydney is about to experience our annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on steroids. For 17 days, Sydney turns queer for Sydney World Pride. There will be parties, exhibitions, cultural events, discussions, our world famous parade, fair day, the Harbour Bridge will be closed for a Pride March and there will [...]
Disgusting, abominable, and reprehensible are the politest words I can find to describe the behaviour of some conservative Christians. As gays and lesbians, we have endured decades of accusations, condemnation and lies about our supposed “lifestyles”, lifespans, and the quality of our relationships. We’ve been labelled evil, perverts, deviates, abominations and child molesters. AIDS, [...]
The YMCA and LGBT – thank you I was the Secretary General of the World Alliance of YMCAs 2011 – 2018. One of the potentially divisive challenges of those years was the LGBT – issue. Being an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church of Norway, I was passionate about the need for justice and [...]
LGBTQ PEOPLE OF FAITH Giving them visibility and a place at the table Background: In 2004, I had my first book launch. It was upstairs at the Midnight Shift Nightclub with about 350 people attending. The majority of those people had never been to a gay venue previously. It was a very exciting evening……all [...]
“I don’t want to be labelled as gay” they said. Sometimes people tell me they don’t want to be labelled by their sexual orientation. "There's so much more to me than being gay, " they say. Not me though. For many years, I rejected my GAY identity. The last thing I would have ever [...]