More than three dozen members of diverse religious traditions packed into the Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Birmingham, Mich. on Feb. 10 to discuss mobilizing local congregations in the fight for LGBT equality. Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer, minister for the UCC's national office and good friend of the Human Rights Campaign's Religion and Faith Program, spoke at the forum about the role of faith in the advancement of LGBT rights and the need to rally against deeply rooted "heterosexualism." Many people at the forum spoke about their own encounters with homophobia and bigotry including gay clergy members that were forced into resignation after they came out. "Advocate for equal rights," said Penny Lowes, the pastor at the UCC in Birmingham. She stressed the need to form alliances between gay and straight people within faith communities in order to show that there's an understanding that "we're all people together." Read the full story on PrideSource.