Category Archives: Sexuality

Better Man

Posted on February 20, 2023 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

For at least a few moments, before we had children, Carri and I had this one perfect moment where we had a sense of control about who our kids would be. See, we adopted through foster care, and as a part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Sexuality | Tagged children, Feminism, Feminist, Freedom, gender, Genders, Kathryn Bond Stockton, Masculinities, Masculinity, Men, Parenting, Queer, Sermon, Sermons, Sex, Sexuality, Teenagers, Teens, Women, Youth | Leave a comment

Queer More Than Memory (or, the closets made from the words we didn’t yet have)

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

This post is a companion piece to a post I wrote in February 2015, “A Conversation Begins with a Lie…” Like a lot of moments in my life, I recently realized something important while listening to the Indigo Girls. Carri … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Personal Stories, Sexuality | Tagged Aging, Be More Gay, Bisexuality, Coming Out, Delight, Free, Freedom, Gay, Genderqueer, Growing Older, Indigo Girls, LGBTQ, Memory, Middle Aged, Monogamy, Non-Binary, Nostalgia, Poly, Polyamorous, Power, Queer, Queer Joy, Queerness, Sexualities, Sexuality | Leave a comment

Gay Enough

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

My partner Carri and I were pretty early in our relationship when we started to wonder if we were “gay enough.” It wasn’t a new question for me; as a bi-identified person, more than a few lesbians have over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Justice, Personal Stories, Sexuality | Tagged Acceptance, Beloved, Bisexuality, Community, Enough, Friendship, Gay, Genderqueer, identity, Lesbians, LGBTQ, Love, Queer, Sexual orientation, Sexuality, transgender | 1 Comment

Be More Gay

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

After my last post, I kept thinking about how to take these ideas and invite in a collective conversation, as well as a more intentional strategic response. The conversation part that I’m thinking about is a kind of playful response … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Justice, Personal Stories, Sexuality | Tagged Church, Community, Faith, Gay, gender, Genderqueer, LGBTQ, Love, Non-Binary, Pride, Queer, trans, transgender | Leave a comment

How It Might Have Gone (My Universalist Dream Ballet Version of the Brett Kavanaugh Senate Hearings)

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

I was imagining all day yesterday how it might have gone. I keep thinking of it like my Universalist-Dream-Ballet version of the horrifying/captivating Senate Hearings. That is, a version of events fueled by my most idealistic notions of redemption and reconciliation. And, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Justice, Personal Stories, Sexuality, Theology | Tagged #MeToo, Forgiveness, Healing, Judaism, Reconciliation, Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, Teshuvah, Wholeness, Yom Kippur | 2 Comments

God is Trans – Sermon July 15 2018

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

First Reading – From William Ellery Channing’s Likeness to God Second Reading – God Says Yes to Me by Kaylin Haught Sermon – God is Trans A couple of weeks ago, I got into a fight with a stranger on … Continue reading →

Posted in Sermons, Sexuality, Theology | Tagged Atheism, Atheists, gender, God, Queer, Sermon, Sermons, Theism, Theists, Theology, transgender, Truth, Unitarian Universalism, William Ellery Channing | 1 Comment

#MeToo

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Listen to this sermon on podcast here. See the whole service on video here. Sermon – March 25, 2018 To be honest, before I found Unitarian Universalism, I thought all religion was patriarchal, and sexist. Finding this faith nearly 20 … Continue reading →

Posted in Covenant, Justice, Sermons, Sexuality, Theology | Tagged #MeToo, BlackLivesMatter, Boundaries, Confession, Courageous Love, Justice, Liberation, Ministry, Misconduct, Racial Justice, Racism, Sermon, Sermons, Sexual Assault, Sexual Violence, Sexuality, Sexuality education, Sin, Theology, Universalism | 2 Comments

Queering Gender

Posted on June 21, 2017 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

I was only seven, and already I got that it made no sense. More than anything that year, I wanted to carry the cross up the center aisle, or at least a candle – I wanted to go in front … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal Stories, Sexuality, Stories for Worship | Tagged gender, identity, Queer, trans, Transformation, transgender | Leave a comment

Making Space for Grace

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

Audio podcast available here. Reading: X by Wendell Berry Sermon: Making Space for Grace How am I going to live through this? This is the question people ask when they are in the middle of a crisis, a trauma, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sexuality, Theology | Tagged Courageous Love, Differentiation, Family Systems, Grace, Rebecca Parker, Renewal, Rest, Sabbath, Self-Differentiation, Universalism, Universalist | Leave a comment

Anger, Love, and the Hope for Change

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Rev. Gretchen Haley

For a month about simplicity (our church monthly theme), the current cultural moment is anything but simple. Since the news broke on Sunday about the terrible shooting in Orlando, I’ve been back and forth with all sorts of emotions: angry, sad, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Reflections, Justice, Personal Stories, Sexuality | Tagged Brokenness, Courageous Love, Faith, Freedom, GLBTQ, Gun Culture, Guns, Homophobia, Hope, Injustice, Interfaith, Justice, Love, Prayer, Racism, Sexism, Sexuality, Violence | 3 Comments