Are You There, God?

There is a common misconception that the LGBTQ+ community and religion are like oil and water – they do not mix. A survey by the Pew Research Center found that 29% of respondents have been made to feel unwelcome in a place of worship because they are LGBTQ+.

Despite this, a 2014 Gallup poll found that 49% of LGBTQ+ adults considered religion to be an important part of their lives. Like cisgender, heterosexual individuals, LGBTQ+ people may choose a religious path for any number of reasons, including spiritual fulfillment and a sense of community.

Fusion writers spoke to several local faith-based organizations, including local places of worship and Kent State student organizations. Here is what they have to say.

“A survey by the Pew Research Center found that 29% of respondents have been made to feel unwelcome in a place of worship because they are LGBTQ+”

Hillel While the Jewish faith approaches LGBTQ+ issues in many ways, Rabbi Michael Ross, the senior Jewish educator for Hillel at Kent State, says that “the primary ideal” upheld in Judaism is to “remember that oppression is always terrible.” In remembrance of the faith’s history of deliverance from Egypt, he says that the Jewish faith attempts to acknowledge and affirm other marginalized groups.

Ross says there are several LGBTQ+ synagogues in the United States that “sit at the cutting edge of creativity and artistry” and “push new ways of understanding Jewish prayer … and ritual.” One such attempt at understanding, Ross says, is the adaptation of Jewish wedding ceremonies to include same-sex couples. According to the Human Rights Campaign, Reform Judaism, which is the largest Jewish denomination in the United States, has been practicing same-sex weddings since 2000.

Latter-Day Saint Student Association The Latter-Day Saint Student Association (LDSSA), a Kent State student organization, is based upon the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. LDSSA supplements students’ secular education with religious lessons from missionaries associated with the Church.

LDSSA President Devin Gilbert says, “Our Church doctrine is that everyone is welcome and that every single one of us is a child of God.”

Despite this, traditionally, the Church has not supported LGBTQ+ rights and only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. Official policy states that LGBTQ+ individuals who wish to remain in the Church must be celibate. However, the New York Times reports that a 2019 policy change allows children of same-sex couples to be baptized into the Church, though the Church will continue to not recognize same-sex marriages. Affirmation: LGBTQ Mormons, Families, and Friends is a national organization for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies who are members or former members of the Church. This organization is not affiliated with the Church. “Open and affirming” is how Church Administrator Leah Davis describes the Kent United Church of Christ’s stance and atmosphere in regards to the LGBTQ+ community. After the national United Church of Christ, which is a denomination of Christian Protestantism, adopted this policy in 1985, the local association of churches decided to as well. United Church of Christ

“Not every church follows it,” Davis says, but Kent UCC has embraced the ideology. The church has had LGBTQ+ members, leaders on councils and committees and even programming, as the Kent PFLAG chapter meets there.

Black Squirrel Coven Black Squirrel Coven, Kent State’s student organization for those who practice paganism, Wicca and witchcraft, is in a unique situation: The organization has no established policy on LGBTQ+ issues or members, but there is only one official straight member in the on-campus organization.

“We’re pretty much all in the community, so we just welcome everybody,” says Phoenix Leach, a sophomore zoology major and the organization’s president. “There’s a lot of inclusivity.”

Leach says they try to provide a safe space to celebrate and practice often-judged belief systems, as well as educate their members.

University Parish Newman Center

The Human Rights Campaign reports that the Catholic Church does not formally accept the LGBTQ+ community. Same-sex marriage is not recognized, relationships are discouraged and gender is considered assigned at birth.

However, Veronica Victoria, a campus ministry intern at the University Parish Newman Center, explains that her approach is based on John 13:34 - “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” While she did not know specifically of church members or leaders who are part of the community, she noted that other churches might and that she would welcome and support anyone who followed church creed. If there was a need, she would also consider creating programming on LGBTQ+ issues, she says.

FUSION SPRING 2020 FUSION SPRING 2020 A Guide to HIV/AIDS Then & Now &

Words by Kalib Kiser & Angela Molina Infographic Information Sourced From hiv.gov HIV/AIDS has occupied a fearful space in the minds of many for over 40 years - and for good reason. In 1979 and 1980, doctors in Los Angeles and New York treated an increasing number of cases involving rare forms of pneumonia, cancer and other deadly illnesses. Then, in 1983, the virus causing these ailments was discovered, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic was in full swing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that since then, nearly 700,000 people have died of HIV/ AIDS in the United States alone. According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), gay and bisexual men account for only 2% of the U.S. population but make up nearly 55% of all people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. The HRC also reports that if current rates of diagnosis continue, 1 in 6 gay and bisexual men will be living with HIV in their lifetime. This prediction is even higher for Latino and black men, which is projected to be 1 in 4 and 1 in 2, respectively. Although manageable treatment is becoming increasingly available, a cure to the virus has yet to be found. Despite this, HIV/AIDS has become yesterday’s epidemic for many in the affluent world. Several decades worth of drug development produced medications that allow many to continue living normal lives. However, HIV/AIDS still claims many lives. The CDC reports that since the beginning of the global pandemic in 1981, 77.3 million people contracted HIV and 35.4 million died of AIDS-related illnesses. How is it possible that such a deadly disease with no cure lost its hold on the public’s attention? Today, the terms HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) are mistakenly used interchangeably. AIDS is the final stage of the overall HIV infection. HIV is the virus. It has no cure and, without treatment, can severely weaken the immune system. According to the CDC, it attacks

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14 June 1981 CDC’s “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” details “five young, white, previously healthy gay men” from Los Angeles whose immune systems are not working. This has been referred to as the first reporting of the AIDS epidemic. January 1982 The Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) is founded in New York City. It is the “first community-based AIDS service provider in the U.S.” Other AIDS activism groups, such as the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACTUP), are founded in the following years. September 1983 The CDC determines all major causes of transmission of AIDS, including unprotected sex, intravenous drug use, mother-to-child transmission and blood transfusions. March 1987 The FDA approves the first medical treatment for AIDS. The antiretroviral drug, zidovudine (AZT), was “initially developed to treat cancer.” 1994 AIDS “becomes the leading cause of death for all Americans ages 25 to 44.”