5 THINGS TO KNOW

A touching letter for voting “yes” in Australia.

A gay couple desperate to see same-sex marriage legalised have taken the extreme step of writing a letter to their neighbours asking them to vote ‘yes’. Tony Broderick and Rob Stott took the step of posting the letters into the mailboxes of everyone on their street in the beachside suburb of Bondi, in Sydney, this week.  

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Roman Catholic Bishop supports ending bigotry against the LGBT community.

San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy says the Roman Catholic Church must purge itself of “long-standing bigotry” against the LGBT community. In a strongly worded defense of a priest’s book about the church’s relationship with the gay community, McElroy writes in America Magazine that a “cancer of vilification” and “judgmentalism” are harming the church.

HEROES

The Mennonite Church evolves with first LGBT pastor.

Albuquerque Mennonite Church will announce today that they have called Erica Lea to be their pastor — the first openly LGBTQ person to serve as a lead pastor in the Mennonite Church USA, a denomination that claims more than 70,000 adult members in the U.S.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Hashtagging your way out of the closet.

A new LGBT hashtag has taken Twitter by storm, and it will warm your rainbow-coloured soul. There is nothing quite as wonderful as seeing LGBT youth embrace their identities and celebrate them with other out people.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Lena Waithe provides the highlight at the Emmys for the LGBT community.

Lena Waithe and Aziz Ansari took home the Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series for their work on Master of None — but Waithe’s powerful acceptance speech deserves an award of its own. After thanking Ansari, her mom, her girlfriend and more, the actress and screenwriter took the time to give a major shout out to the LGBT community.