A few things of interest ...

A gay pastor is coming to North Versailles to talk about his experiences being outsted and then reinstated in the Lutheran Church.

Rev. Schmeling at 1 p.m. Saturday. He will also preach Sunday at 11 a.m. in St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Shadyside.

Saturday's event, "Let the Whole Church Sing: A Eucharistic Celebration Embracing Unity in Diversity," is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Chapter of Lutherans Concerned, which advocates for inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in all ministries. It's a delayed reaction to last year's decision permitting the call of clergy in committed, lifelong, monogamous same-sex relationships.

Maureen Dowd (reprinted from the NYT) weighs in on the closing of oral arguments over Prop 8.

Some comments from commencement speeches ... again from the liberal rag called the NYT

Gail CollinsNew York Times columnistMount Holyoke CollegeText

You're going to write the next chapter. I can't wait to see what happens. The women who went before you won legal equality for our sex. They opened a thousand doors. But here's what they didn't do. They didn't end violence against women. They tried, but today celebrities who beat up their girlfriends, who sexually harass powerless women in bars, are still treated less severely than celebrities who mistreat animals. So we're going to have to pass that battle on to you. They didn't achieve full rights for gay couples. This is the one area, people, where you can be on a picket line and be totally confident that the winds of history are at your back. And they didn't figure out how to find a proper balance for work and family.


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