Red State Religions: The Religious Fight for Same Sex Marriage in Alabama

Straight White American Jesus

Axis Mundi Media: Bradley Onishi + Daniel Miller

News, Politics

4.7 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the first episode of 'Red State Religions,' host Dr. Gillian Frank explores the progressive religious communities in conservative areas, focusing on the Unitarian Universalist ministers and LGBTQ couples who participated in same-sex marriage ceremonies in Birmingham, Alabama. The episode highlights Reverend Luna Jensen Boad's and Reverend Lne Broussard's roles in these historic events, detailing the political and religious struggles leading to and following the legalization of same-sex marriage. Personal stories from Kay and Andrew illustrate the impact of finding liberal religious spaces in a conservative environment. The episode examines the intersection of faith and social justice, unraveling the complex history of marriage equality and the enduring presence of liberal religion in the Bible Belt. 00:00 Introduction to Red State Religions 00:51 A Historic Day in Alabama 05:30 The Path to Marriage Equality 15:53 Personal Stories of Love and Struggle 25:27 Finding Community in Unitarian Universalism 33:10 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview Red State Religions is produced by the Institute for Religion, Media, and Civic Engagement with generous funding from the Henry Luce Foundation. Created by Dr. Gillian Frank Producer: Andrew Gill Executive Producer: Dr. Bradley Onishi Audio Engineer and Music: R. Scott Okamoto Production Assistance: Kari Onishi For more research-based podcasts and public scholarship visit www.axismundi.us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	AXIS Moondy
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0:24.6	Just in time for the half-term holidays.
0:27.2	Shop in store and online at matelan.com.
0:29.8	UK, while stocks and the sun last.
0:32.9	Teas and seas apply.
0:45.2	Act See Zee's a fly. One thing I know that we can never separate ourselves into the saved and unsaved.
0:53.7	My phone name is Loner Jensen Bussard.
0:57.4	And I'm a retired Unitarian Universalist Minister. And in all my ministry from the very beginning,
1:04.6	I've always done same-sex marriages. I never thought this would happen. I was so happy that it did. Of course, then it took a while
1:13.8	before Alabama allowed it to happen. And on the day it happened, I went down there in
1:20.4	Thorvalagalia and people could come up and ask me to do a wedding.
1:27.3	On February 9, 2015,
1:30.7	six months before the Supreme Court's Obergefell decision,
1:34.2	the Reverend Lone Broussard and her assistant minister,
1:37.2	Dale Stratton, stood outside the Jefferson County Courthouse
1:40.4	in Birmingham, Alabama.
1:42.8	A district court judge had overturned Alabama's ban on
1:46.2	same-sex marriage, and the two ministers, with the support of their congregation of the Unitarian
1:52.0	Universalist Church of Birmingham, came to bless the occasion.
	...

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