Thursday, May 17, 2012

Hop Against Homophobia


I’m very proud to be taking part in the Hop Against Homophobia Day and to stand up for the human rights of all people, whatever their sexuality, gender, race or religion.

I also want to stand up for heterosexual Christians like myself who are 100% behind the drive for GLBTQ equality and same-sex marriage - the media seem at the moment to be concentrating on those Christians who are against the idea, and I think it's important for people to know that we don't all think the same. I'm proud to say I've just joined the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement in the UK to show my support, and hope that other Christians will also stand with me on this point.

As a Christian, I’m also very proud of the fact that I’m a writer of gay erotic fiction, and celebrate love and romance wherever it’s found. To my mind, there’s no battle between being GLBTQ and being Christian, and the sooner the churches catch up with this freedom we have in God, the better. Recently, the Church Times wrote in one of its articles that we have much to learn about equality, truth and justice from society’s approach to homosexuality and faith, implying that God doesn’t always speak to us through the Church alone. Quite right too!

You can find out more about my gay fiction at Gay Reads UK, and about my Biblical fiction (which happily includes a lesbian reinterpretation of a few of the bible stories) at Biblical Fiction UK.

And as a special treat, anyone who leaves a comment on this blog will be entered into a competition to win a FREE ebook from my gay fiction collection. Good luck and happy blog hopping!

48 comments:

Unknown said...

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!
Who are we to judge? The Bible says: no sin is greater than the other. To judge someone for their sexuality, when the person passing judgement, beats their spouse or are out there molesting children!!
All the gay person is doing is being honest about themselves!!

Meka - mekaga85@gmail.com

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks, Blessed - and very true! Though I would add that I don't believe sexuality of any description to be a sin - but rather a gift from God - who is full of a variety of brilliant ideas :))

Anne
xxx

Anonymous said...

Well said Anne, I agree totally :):)

(so long as Blogger lets me post this comment, as I try for the 3rd time ...LOL)

Anne Brooke said...

Got you, Clare! :)) Thank you!

Anne
xxx

Barbara Elsborg said...

Very true, Anne. Nicely put!

Anne Brooke said...

Many thanks, Barbara :))

Anne
xxx

Kassandra said...

Well said! I think people tend to forget about the LOVE part in belief systems. We are not meant to pass final judgement. Always a pleasure to read your thoughts Anne ;)

sionedkla@gmail.com

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks, Kassandra - always a pleasure to chat with you :))

Anne
xxx

Anonymous said...

Good points Anne. Good for you
Suze
Littlesuze@hotmail.com

Anne Brooke said...

Many thanks, Suze! xxx

Missy Martine said...

Good morning, I wanted to say how much I admire you for banding together with so many authors for such a worthy cause. Good luck in your endeavors.

Missy Martine
missymartine@comcast.net
www.missymartine.com

Angela said...

Thank you for sharing and being part of this hop!

xx
Angela S Stone
angela@angelastone.ca
http://angelastone.ca/blog-3

Anne Brooke said...

It's great to be part of such an important event, Missy Martine & Angela! :))

Anne
xxx

gigi said...

I am thoroughly enjoying reading all the blogs. Thanks!

gisu29@gmail.com

KimberlyFDR said...

Love should always triumph over hate and I believe it always will.

kimberlyFDR@yahoo.com

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks for joining us, Gigi & Kimberly - so true what you say about love. It's the most vital thing of all! :))

Anne
xxx

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for sharing this with us today.

musings-of-a-bookworm@hotmail.co.uk

Anne Brooke said...

Great to see you here, Kerry - there are some fabulous posts in this event! :))

Anne
xxx

Elin Gregory said...

Lovely post, Anne. Couldn't agree more.

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks, Elin! :))

Andrea said...

Great post!

andreagrendahl AT gmail DOT com

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks, Andrea :))

Geoff Wakeling said...

Great post Anne. I'm gay, and yet my Dad is an COE Reverend and doesn't bat an eyelid at my sexuality.

Reports always seem to surround Christians against homophobia, when it simply isn't true across the board.

Geoff

Anne Brooke said...

That's so good to know, Geoff! People really need to see that not all Christians are anti-gay - it's definitely time for us to speak up too.

:))

Anne
xxx

Jenre said...

Thanks for this, Anne. So often Christians are shown as hateful, intolerant people when in fact this is often the minority and many, many Christians practice the love, respect and tolerance that Jesus preached. It's just a shame that the hate filled minorities seem to be the ones with the biggest mouths and as such end up being what the media focuses on. Grrrr!

Anne Brooke said...

Grrrr, indeed, Jen - you're so right! We definitely need to speak up more for what we believe in :))

Anne
xxx

Cherie Noel said...

Anne,
proud to stand with you and all the other posters in the Hop.

Cherie Noel

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post. True Christianity, at its heart, is all about love and acceptance!

vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

N.J. Nielsen/ Saddington said...

Thank you for participating n this hop and for having such a fantastic post. Love makes the world go round.

sxswann said...

Great post Anne. It's sad that too many of these supposed disciples of Christ seem to have missed the entire point of the message. Here in the US we seem to have more than our share of those that are spreading hate rather than love. Unfortunately that vocal minority seem to get a lot more coverage that those communities that are open and inclusive. After last week's North Carolina vote it's more important than ever that all of us speak out on this issue.

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks so much for your comments, all! Lovely to know that there are Christians out there who are inclusive - we need to hear a lot more about them! :))

Anne
xxx

Unknown said...

I stand and applaud you! Sometimes we forget we forget our Christian supporters - I am guilty of in my own blog... I wrote about the new law in NC and a couple times referred to the homophobic religious -- and my very best friend in the whole world "privately" gave me a chewing out that not ALL religious people are against GLBTQ or marriage equality -- including her, a devote Christian. I had to apologize - and felt ashamed... I NEED to to better on remembering there ARE Christians -- like you, like my girlfriend (and others) who ARE standing up and letting their voice be heard... thank you Anne for your post... continued success in your writings... romancewiththeflemingtons@gmail.com

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks so much, Dawn - lovely to hear from you! And so good to think that our Christian GLBTQ-friendly voice is being heard - we just need to shout with you louder!! :))

Anne
xxx

Unknown said...

I get very emotional when it comes to this subject and I can get on my soapbox and remain there all day. When my Lord commanded us to love one another he didn't say "pick and choose". I hate to hear people call homosexuality a sin because love is not a sin. Geez I could talk all day. But I'm not gonna, I'll quit now. Thanks for this post. It's something near and dear to my heart.

morris.crissy@gmail.com

Anne Brooke said...

Me too, Crissy - me too!

Hugs to you :))

Anne
xxx

L.M. Brown said...

I am not very religious although I was raised Church of England. I am glad to see that not all churches spew hatred and that some are supportive of everyone, no matter who they choose to love.

lmbrownauthor at gmail dot com

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks, LM! My poor mother and grandmother attempted to raise me C of E, but I told them when I was about 10 and in no uncertain terms that I didn't believe in God and didn't want anything to do with it. Hey ho, I think God's having the last laugh now, eh ... :)

!!

Anne
xxx

Yvette said...

Very well said! Thanks for the post.
Yvette
yratpatrol@aol.com

Anne Brooke said...

Thanks, Yvette! :))

Erica Pike said...

Yours is the third post I've read today that reminds us that the loud Christian group is a minority group giving Christianity a bad name. It's great to remind people of that, I certainly needed a reminder after all the news coverage :/ And I'm a Christian myself, albeit not a very active one - but that's the Icelander in me.

Thanks so much for taking part in this :)

Erica
eripike at gmail dot com

S said...

I agree! I hope some day there will not be a conflict with religions.

layladawna AT hotmail DOT com

Emily said...

Well said, I wholeheartedly agree. Thanks so much for sharing and participating!!

tiger-chick-1(at)hotmail(dot)com

Anne Brooke said...

Many thanks indeed for the comments, Erica, Layladawna & Emily - really appreciate that! :))

Anne
xxx

Ashley E said...

Thank you, Anne! Not all of us Christians see homosexuals as some sort of "abomination", and I firmly believe that God would never do that either. He is a God of love, after all.

ashley.vanburen[at]gmail[dot]com

Peggy said...

Love the post. I have really enjoyed the hop, read a lot of great things.

peggy1984@live.com

wulf said...

Thanks for participating in this hop. I'm enjoying all the great blog posts.

penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com

Loveless3173 said...

Great post Anne!
I am so glad this blog hop was so huge. I hope that among all of these entries a few people finally saw How horrible It is to judge another person. I hope this blog made a difference somewhere.
Thanks for being a part of it!

Judi
arella3173_loveless(at)yahoo(dot)com

Anne Brooke said...

A big thank you to you, Ley, Peggy, Wulf and Judi - really appreciate your comments! :))

Anne
xxx