LGBT advocate Matthew Vines to discuss sexuality and religion

Matthew Vines will present “God and the Gay Christian” at 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 8, in the Student Union Theater. The Multicultural Resource Center is sponsoring this free, public event.

Vines is an advocate for the acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people within Christian communities and in society at large. He attended Harvard University from 2008-10, then took a leave of absence in order to research the Bible and homosexuality and work toward LGBT inclusion in the church.

In March 2012, Vines delivered a speech at a church in his hometown of Wichita about the Bible and homosexuality, calling for acceptance of gay Christians and their marriage relationships. Since then, the video of the speech has been seen more than 500,000 times on YouTube, and was featured in the New York Times and the Christian Post.

In 2013, Vines launched “The Reformation Project,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to training LGBT Christians and their allies to reform church teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity. He authored the book “God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships.”

“There is often an incorrect notion that queer people are not people of faith,” said Josh Burford, assistant director for sexual and gender diversity with the Multicultural Resource Center. “It is important to understand that people access religious traditions in various ways. Matthew gives us an opportunity to have a conversation about these important identities without the distraction of a ‘debate.’”