We need King’s radical message as badly as we did in 1968

  On Monday, we’ll celebrate Martin Luther King Day, the 33rd time our nation has officially honored this giant of American history.

  But the figure we’ll honor seems to bear a little less resemblance to the real Dr. King with each passing year.

  In speeches and commemorations, America will inevitably hold up the martyred leader of the nonviolent movement that toppled Jim Crow – the brilliant, charismatic pastor whose soaring rhetoric, typically laced with biblical metaphors, inspired millions of people across the globe to march for justice.

  King was all that. And he was much more.

Adopting a child is hard - Adopting as an LGBT couple is harder

  When Jay met his foster parents, he was a balding, underweight boy who was afraid he wouldn't be fed.

  The first-grader, an example of the more than 6,000 children who end up in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, has a condition known as Reactive Attachment Disorder, which causes him to lash out when he makes an emotional attachment. No foster placement lasted six months – until he met Chelsey and Bailey Glassco.

Sarah McBride: The economic cost of overly broad RFRAs

  In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decision that brought marriage equality nationwide, dozens of reactionary state legislatures are considering a range of anti-LGBT laws designed to legalize and sanction discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Overly broad state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, or RFRAs—one of the most common pieces of anti-LGBT legislation—provide wide-ranging exemptions that enable religiously based discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people and their families.

Decision overturning Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban a victory for families, children of same-sex couples

  A federal judge’s ruling striking down Alabama’s same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional will provide greater stability to the lives of same-sex couples and their children, but more work remains to eliminate anti-LGBT discrimination in the state, the Southern Poverty Law Center announced yesterday.

  The judge in Mobile, Alabama, issued the ruling Friday in a case brought by two women seeking to have their marriage from California recognized. Cari Searcy and Kim McKeand needed the recognition so that both women could be recognized as legal parents of the child they conceived with the help of a sperm donor.

Tami A. Martin: The global reach of religious liberty rhetoric

  For the past 16 years, the U.S.-affiliated and Kampala, Uganda-based Makerere University Walter Reed Project has conducted research on HIV vaccines and public health issues in the East African country. Earlier this month, Ugandan officials raided the project, detaining and interrogating a staff member, reportedly because of the project’s assistance to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people. According to the project’s website, "the operations of the program are temporarily suspended to ensure the safety of staff and the integrity of the program." Speculation that Uganda’s new Anti-Homosexuality Act, which prohibits "promoting homosexuality," inspired the raid raises the question of what inspired the act in the first place.

Sam Fulwood III: Of bats, gloves, and an all-in nation

  Baseball season gets underway this week, bringing with it the springtime hopes that a favored team will remain active into fall’s World Series.

  I can’t escape the annual optimism that coincides with the first professional pitch of the year. What red-blooded American can resist feeling a sense of promise and potential that the start of a new baseball season represents? And, not to get all George Will up in here, but baseball truly is a metaphor for our national cultural life.

Sally Steenland: There’s more than one way to start a revolution

  At a time when religion is a damaged brand to many people—especially the young—and when it seems synonymous with intolerance and bigotry rather than justice and mercy, the recent words of Pope Francis are occasion for joy. Or as Equally Blessed, a Catholic support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, people put it, his words are "rain on a parched land."

Our Stand: Standing in the National Guard’s doorway

  From George Corley Wallace standing in a doorway at the University of Alabama to block the entry of black students to Robert Bentley assuming his position in the doorway of the National Guard to prevent same-sex partners from receiving benefits, sadly the attitudes of our state’s leaders haven’t changed much in the past half century.

  Even as our federal government has amended its woefully discriminatory policies that denied benefits to the same-sex partners/spouses of federal workers, Governor Bentley has vowed to do just the opposite, rolling back the clock and insisting that when National Guard personnel are under his control, the state will deny said benefits.

The March on Washington: Looking back on 50 years

  August 28 marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. It is a time to celebrate a movement, a speech, and leaders who influenced generations of people around the globe and achieved genuine progress for diverse groups of Americans.

  There is no doubt that America has come a long way since the civil rights era. But while the indignities of segregated public accommodations have largely disappeared, another significant theme of the march remains highly relevant half a century later: the struggle for economic opportunity and equality. It was perhaps due to the march and the great success of the larger civil rights movement that opposition to this sort of equality was immediate, persists to this day, and is reflected in all three branches of the federal government.

Joseph O. Patton: My prayer for the haters, homophobes and garden variety assholes

  After enduring the noxious backlash and expected passive-aggressive venom over WWE Superstar (professional wrestler) Darren Young “coming out of the closet,” I couldn’t help but subject myself to some soul-searching and spiritual reflection. And instead of dishing some hot-headed diatribe, I would like to offer this heart-felt prayer:

Charles C. Haynes: For most Americans, gay equality trumps religious objections

  In the wake of two favorable Supreme Court decisions, gay-rights proponents got another boost this month with the release of State of the First Amendment: 2013, a public-opinion survey supported by the First Amendment Center.

  According to the new poll, a majority of Americans (62%) now agrees that religiously affiliated groups receiving government funds can be required to provide health benefits to same-sex couples, even if the group has religious objections to same-sex marriage or partnerships.

Sally Steenland: What’s race got to do with it?

  One of the more riveting images to appear last year after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin was side-by-side photos of the two young men, altered to make Zimmerman appear black and Martin appear white and asking how those changes would have affected public perceptions of the shooting. Some of the more memorable comments after the shooting involved race reversals as well. In the months following Trayvon’s death, several commentators wondered why a black guy in a hoodie signaled danger, while a white guy in a hoodie signaled Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.

Joseph O. Patton: The Great Pretenders

  Every self-described progressive or person of conscience is quick to tell you how they support social justice and equality. I sure as hell do… and I’m not shy when it comes to expressing it. But what does it say about someone who only brandishes some type of righteous anger when a victim of discrimination or racial profiling looks like them or shares their sexuality, religious preference, gender or some other key characteristic?

Joseph O. Patton: No merit badge for bigotry

  I could spin all sorts of cheerleader-esque rhetoric in response to yesterday’s monumental decision by the Boy Scouts of America. After months of controversy, infighting and ample wallowing in prejudiced mud, the organization opted to lift its ban on “openly gay” Scouts. One side calls the decision a victory for equal rights and the other is upset that they can no longer practice unapologetic discrimination.

  But what struck me with the most force in this squabble has been the incessant referencing of “morality.” Countless individuals waving the banner for bigotry have taken to social media and shouting at their friends to exclaim that they cannot support lifting the ban because it’s at odds with their “morality.” Many are even threatening to sever ties with the organization and snatch their boys out of its ranks. Good riddance?

Ryan T. Anderson: Marriage, truth and consequences

  The deeply controversial, sometimes raucous marriage debate soon will be settled once and for all. Public opinion is swaying toward redefining marriage. And at the end of this month, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases challenging state and federal laws that define marriage as one man and one woman.

  The nationwide creation of same-sex marriage seems all but inevitable.

  At least that’s what many journalists, pundits and activists would have us believe. But nothing could be further from the truth.

Gary Palmer: What is the end-game for support of same-sex marriage?

  When announcing his support for same-sex marriage, President Obama defended his position by saying that his thinking has evolved on the issue. Given that there is little chance that Congress will approve same-sex marriage in the immediate future, the question that should be raised is, what is the real end-game for Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage?

  Perhaps Obama and the Democrat Party think his endorsement is a winning issue for Democrats. Many liberals believe that national approval of same-sex marriage is inevitable. And, a number of polls do show growing support for same-sex marriage, especially among people under age 30. But if they believe the polls suggesting that same-sex marriage is on the verge of nationwide acceptance, how do they explain the fact that 29 states, including California, have passed referendums declaring that marriage is only between one man and one woman? In addition, nine more states have passed statutes.