The Christmas message is one of deliveerance from fear, says Giles Fraser. But the approach the Pope has taken to 'human ecology' heads perilously in the other direction.

A London borough has won its appeal against a ruling that it unlawfully discriminated against a Christian registrar who refused to perform same-sex civil partnerships.

Activists disappointed by a measure to ban same-sex marriage in California that has deeply divided religious groups, say nationwide protests against the prohibition are a milestone in civil rights for gays and lesbians.

For half a century, says Savi Hensman, theologians have vigorously debated lesbian and gay love and the response of society and the Church. Yet theological reflection on these issues, for instance in literature, dates back further.

The director of a leading nonviolent US task force for lesbian and gay people, which includes many religious believers, has said that the election of Barack Obama is “a day of blessing seasoned by loss,” given the bigotry of some local issue votes.

In a thoughtful, passionate and challenging reflection on homosexuality
and the Christian church, Glynn Cardy's focus is not on an 'issue' but
on the people who are most affected by prejudice, and their need for
justice, dignity and human rights.

Leading evangelical Christian celebrity Sir Cliff Richard, who is now aged 67, thinks the church should be supportive of committed gay relationships and says he is sick of intrusive speculation about his own sexuality.

Author and evangelical thinker Brian McLaren wants to shift the argument within Christianity away from "culture wars" and towards a rediscovery of the Gosple message free of the overbearing impact of Christendom culture.

In a campaign comment ahead of today's election in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has condemned Archbishop Rowan Williams as lacking a "moral compass" and said that gays in the church are a sign of "moral degeneracy".

The head of the Church Army, a leading Anglican mission agency with a significant evangelical constituency, has expressed his distress at the failure of two Anglican archbishops to clearly condemn violence against gay people.