A revival for queer religious groups with plans for collaboration

[rug]

By Esther Yoon ・ 6 hours ago

A lot has changed since Newsweek ranked Penn the No. 1 most “gay-friendly” campus in 2011 for having the most resources for LGBTQ students. For queer students from faith backgrounds especially, the past few years have been an ongoing effort to keep their organizations — and voices — alive on campus.

This semester, however, the Queer Christian Fellowship, J-Bagel and Queer Muslims and Allies at Penn have expressed interest in a potential partnership with one another after collaborating on their first interfaith dinner at Penn Hillel last week.

“I think everyone had a very positive experience with it,” College junior and J-Bagel Co-Chair Cody Smith said. “In fact, we may be coming together again for more discussions because the response to this event was so positive.”

Nursing senior Andre Rosario, the former QCF chair who rebooted the organization in 2014, believes the inspiration for a collaboration came partially from his own personal experiences with the LGBT Center.

http://www.thedp.com/article/2016/02/interfaith-dinner-bonds-queer-religious-groups