Religious & Queer! LGBTQ Experiences in Faith Communities

We've seen many legal and policy wins for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans over the past six years. But for LGBTQ people of faith, it has been much harder to win acceptance in their religious communities.

Join City Club for a conversation with LGBTQ faith leaders on the experiences of LGBTQ Oregonians in faith communities and the national effort to advance inclusion in churches, synagogues, and mosques across the country.

Panelists

Rev. Dr. Brett Webb-Mitchell serves as the LGBTQ+ advocacy coordinator for the United Methodist Church Oregon-Idaho Conference and the organizing pastor at Community of Pilgrims Presbyterian Fellowship. Brett is one of only two openly gay Presbyterian pastors in Oregon and the author of 10 books on a range of subjects including Christian spirituality and growth, pilgrimages, and what it means to be a gay parent. Prior to joining the Oregon-Idaho Conference, Brett was on the faculty at Duke Divinity School and North Carolina Central University. 

Rabbi Debra Kolodny is the spiritual leader of Portland’s UnShul and a consultant helping to build advocacy coalitions, teaching workshops on interrupting hate in public spaces, and supporting labor-management partnerships. Debra has decades of experience in interfaith social justice organizing as a leader of a national retreat and advocacy organization for LGBTQ Jews. Debra is also the editor of the first anthology by bisexual people of faith and a facilitator of the National Religious Leadership Roundtable at the LGBTQ Taskforce. 

Moderator

Karol Collymore is the senior manager of community impact at Nike, secretary of the Cascade AIDS Project board of directors, and the former executive director of the Equity Foundation.