Arts & Entertainment
Affirming their faith
Lutheran LGBT group holding D.C. conference this weekend
The 2010 ReconcilingWorks conference in Minnesota. (Photo courtesy ReconcilingWorks)
A contingent of LGBT Lutherans will be in Washington this weekend for its biennial conference and while the denomination is still celebrating a 2009 decision that allows partnered gay and lesbian clergy to live openly, the group says it still has much work to do.
ReconcilingWorks — Lutherans for Full Participation was founded in 1974 by six people when it was known as Lutherans Concerned for Gay and Lesbian People. This year’s gathering, which runs Friday through Tuesday based at Luther Place Memorial Lutheran Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) will find a few hundred LGBT believers and allies here to fellowship, lobby, hear a keynote address from Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson and more. Those interested in attending can still get involved — visit reconcilingworks.org for information.
“Our primary purpose is always movement building,” says Emily Eastwood, executive director of ReconcilingWorks, a life-long Lutheran and lesbian. “We gather for personal transformation and support as well as skills building, education and action planning.”
Despite the 2009 decision, she says the group’s work is not done.
“As we know from the years of history with the Civil Rights Movement, when policies change, when laws change, that doesn’t mean the practice of it is immediately implemented or that the cultural shifts have occurred,” she says. “We believe full inclusion will take a period of years, perhaps even the rest of my life, to make sure the new policies become fully practiced within our denomination.”
Only about 500 of the 10,000 or so individual churches within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) are “reconciling in Christ,” the group’s term for openly welcoming LGBT Christians. The D.C. area has more percentage wise — about 20 of the 70-odd ELCA churches that are part of the Metro D.C. Synod are “reconciling,” according to Philip Moeller, convener of the D.C. ReconcilingWorks chapter since 1991.
“What we’re basically saying is that it is possible to reconcile differences on these issues and move ahead in a way that’s commensurate with the gospel,” Moeller says.
Members say it’s a huge step for the entire denomination to have Hanson address their group. Moeller says Hanson was always sensitive to their issues but measured in his public stance prior to the 2009 vote. He’s been more unequivocal in his support since then, members say, and his appearance is unprecedented for the 4.2 million-member ELCA.
“This is the first time we’ve ever had a presiding bishop address us and it really says something about the change that’s happening within the church,” Moeller says.
On Tuesday, members will visit Capitol Hill for a lobbying effort.
Phil Soucy, the organization’s director of communications, says it’s part of the group’s belief that its work matters in the context of society at large.
“We’re going to be going to our representatives to tell them our thoughts to make sure they’re aware of the things we consider important in our lives as Lutherans and as citizens,” Soucy, who’s gay, says.
So how has ReconcilingWorks managed to make further strides within its denomination compared to other gay Christian groups working within the Roman Catholic Church or the United Methodist Church? Is it a matter of activism, theology or both?
“You’ve got a real tough issue with the Roman Catholic Church in that it’s very hard to change the Vatican,” Moeller, who’s also gay, says. “In terms of the Protestant denominations, I think the reason we’ve been so successful is that we really understood early on that confrontation gets you nowhere. If you’re in somebody’s face, you’re not going to change their mind about anything. You can even write a friendly discourse on theology and it won’t accomplish anything. What works is hearing the stories of people who have faith and who are LGBT. We haven’t left the church, we’re still in the church. We don’t want to be welcomed back, we want to be fully welcomed with all the same rights and privileges as everybody else has. … It’s really a matter of having a shift from confrontation to constructive engagement.”
Eastwood says her church’s belief on the nature of the grace of Christ, is central to their progress.
“The primary tenet of our faith is that we are saved through our faith and that that’s a gift from God,” she says. “It’s not through any kind of work that we do on our own, so our heritage seems to be a bit more progressive than other denominations.”
She also says relationship building has been essential.
“It’s about meeting people and walking with them for a time to build relationships rather than resorting to debate,” she says.
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
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