Rev. Elaine Saralegui and some of the members of ICM La Habana - an MCC church located Matanzas, Cuba - have granted interviews for major news outlets, including Washington Post, to tell more their stories as an LGBTQ+ affirming church in their local community.

"We're all invited. And no one can exclude us," Saralegui preaches during one of their church services, which would have been unimaginable years ago in a country where simply being LGBTQ+ was once punishable by law. "This church is a family," Saralegui adds. "It’s a sacred space, not just because there’s a cross or an altar, but because it’s the most sacred space for these people to come to — it’s where they come to have a safe space."

"It’s the opportunity for all people to be present here, to gather and participate without regards to their gender, race or religion," says Maikol Añoraga, one of the congregants who was interviewed. He was joined by his husband, Vladimir Marin, during the service.

Another attendee of the church who was interviewed was the 18-year-old Nico Salazar. He mentions that he was rejected by members of an evangelical church where he used to attend. But now he is glad that he found a safe space with ICM La Habana. "It’s the essence of the Bible: God is love, and other churches should emphasize that instead of repressing and harming others with a supposed sin," he explains. "Sin and love are not the same. And to love is not a sin."

LGBTQ+ people have experienced repression after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, where many of them were sent to labor camps. But in recent years, the country has now barred discrimination towards the LGBTQ+, and now even allows same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, courtesy of the updated "family law" back in 2022.

Sources:

• DW - "La iglesia cubana que abre sus puertas a la comunidad LGBTIQ"
• CiberCuba - "Iglesia cubana celebra doble matrimonio homosexual"
• The San Diego Union Tribune - "Iglesia LGBTQ en Cuba recibe a todos en un país que antes mandaba a gays a campos de trabajo"
• Washington Post - "LGBTQ-inclusive church in Cuba welcomes all in a country that once sent gay people to labor camps"
• The North Virginia Daily - "Cuba LGBTQ Church"

MCC Gentle Shepherd of Washington USA, Known For "Martha's Pantry" Program, Celebrates Its 40th Year

Recently, The Metropolitan Community Church of the Gentle Shepherd in Vancouver, Washington, USA which is celebrating its 40th year of service, has been featured in The Colombian, a local news outlet.

Founded in 1984, the church has a long history of serving the community, including operating Martha's Pantry, a food bank specifically designed for people living with HIV/AIDS. Martha's Pantry provides food, hygiene items, and other household necessities to people in need.

The church's founders envisioned a place of acceptance and belonging for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or religious background. This mission continues today, as the church welcomes people from all walks of life.

We at the MCC denomination would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to MCC Gentle Shepherd for its 40 years of service. May your church community serve as a beacon of hope and love for the LGBT+ community in Vancouver, Washington.

Source: The Colombian - "‘No judgment here’: Church known for Martha’s Pantry marks 40 years of service to LGBTQ+ individuals"

ICM Sephoras in Sao Paulo, Brazil Holds Community Dinners for Local Trans Community

Pastoral Leader of ICM Sephoras in Sao Paulo, Brazil - Jacqueline Chanel, spearheads a Dinner Outreach Program last March, specifically designed to address the pressing needs of local trans individuals.

This program recognizes the harsh reality faced by many in the trans community: risk of malnutrition and lack of shelter.

The dinner outreach program offers a lifeline for them, offering nutritious meals, as well as fostering a sense of community and belonging.

Words Matter: MCC Council of Elders' Statement on Global Anti-Trans Rhetoric

Words matter. It has become increasingly evident there is a significant rise in hate-speech and anti-trans rhetoric globally. And, we know words do not exist in a vacuum. Words can hurt and harm as well as spur people to acts of violence. Misunderstanding, mis-information, and biases may be among the root causes and yet there are real-world and real-life consequences for those who identify as transgender, nonbinary, gender expansive+ who are placed physically at-risk and kept from living their life to its full protentional --- as authentically who they are.

Words matter. And we, the MCC Council of Elders, as the spiritual leaders of our denomination, are called to denounce the words that hurt and harm that are fueling anti-transgender laws, withholding necessary medical care, and the rising violence against people in Scotland and other places around the world. These words and actions, that harm and divide, do affect us all.

Founder of LGBTQIA+ Pride Movement Calls To Restore African Pride

Los Angeles, CA - As the 55th anniversary of the historic Stonewall uprising nears, one of the leading activists of the earliest public marches and gay rights social actions is calling on people of all faiths, sexual orientations and identities to oppose the escalating homophobia and anti-LGBTQ+ laws fueled by predominantly North American religious extremists armed with debunked pseudoscience in the guise of Christianity.

Rev. Troy D. Perry is founder of the international Metropolitan Community Churches denomination who led the 1960’s public protests in Los Angeles preceding the Stonewall rebellion. He is leading this Call for Action in an initiative to uplift, protect, build resilience in the LGBTQIA+ community, and restore the embrace of sexual orientations and identities of pre-colonial Africa.

“African people are in a State of Emergency of historic proportions. We must voice our opposition to religious and pseudoscience extremism that is leading to new African genocide,” says Rev. Perry.

In Loving Memory - Rev. Roberto González (1945 - 2024)

It is with deepest sympathy that we regret to inform you of the passing of our Beloved Brother, Rev. Roberto González, which took place last Monday, April 8, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

González was religiously formed in the Methodist Church. He worked in his youth for the Salvation Army where he was a Captain, having extended his field of action to Paraguay. He had two children, María Isabel and Francisco -a product of his first marriage - who left him three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

Later he studied at the ISEDET (Evangelical Institute of Higher Theological Studies), based in Buenos Aires, where despite the opposition he encountered due to his theological positions, he was able to finish his studies.

In 1987, on his birthday, he founded the Metropolitan Community Church of Argentina after receiving a call from an MCC minister John Doner (with husband Pepe Hernández). Roberto was pastor of that church until 2005, while he was also Associate Pastor of MCC in New York in 2007.

Parallel to his activity as a clergy, González developed activist work with the LGBT community around him, mainly facing the Roman Catholic Church for homophobic events that led to public protests and establishing alliances with other human rights organizations, and notably, to achieve the support of other churches for the end of violence and discrimination against gender diversity, the promotion of equal marriage, respect for trans people, and other related topics. This resulted in Argentina finally addressing the rights of LGBTIQA+ people including marriage. This advocacy had a great echo in the diverse Argentine society, for which Roberto has been a reference in several ways.

A highly esteemed person in clerical and lay circles within MCC, González always showed great eloquence, passionate positions on an inclusive, radically loving Divinity that permanently embraces Diverse Creation.

After participating for several years in the local MCC that operates in the Flores Methodist Church in CABA, the pastor fell ill and was hospitalized for several months, and after complications of his condition, he passed away at 8AM on Monday, April 8, 2024.

Our prayers of comfort and strength for his widower, Pastor Norberto D' Amico, his children, grandchildren, and great-granddaughter, as well as for the congregation he loved so much and now mourns his departure. Thanks be to God for his fruitful life and work.

Read More: Pagina 12 - "Adiós al pastor gay Roberto González, referente histórico lgbti"

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