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Action Alerts - September 5, 2025

LOVEboldly’s Action Alerts is a weekly resource curating calls to action, news, opinions, commentary, reflections, and updates on legislative actions in Ohio and the US government. We know that democracy dies in silence and darkness. This message is our candle for you.


Upcoming Program


You are invited to join LOVEboldly, Stonewall Columbus, and Over Zero for “Queering the Message: Mitigating Political Violence Through Intentional and Strategic Communications” on Thursday, September 11, from 8:30am to 4pm at Stonewall Columbus (map).


The program is free and breakfast and lunch will be provided, but advanced registration is required. For more information and to register, visit https://www.loveboldly.net/queering-the-message.


Important Announcement from LOVEboldly

This morning LOVEboldly made an important announcement about our funding, capacity, and programming earlier this morning. If you have not already read that message, we encourage you to before continuing to read this week's Action Alert. You can find the announcement on our website by clicking here.


Timely Resources






What’s Catching Our Eyes in Ohio








What’s Catching Our Eyes Beyond Ohio













Reasons for Hope



Bills and Policies LOVEboldly is Following


Note - We will only list bills here that are new or updated. You can find all the bills we're tracking at www.loveboldly.net/billtracker.


Ohio General Assembly


The Ohio General Assembly is currently on recess.


Please reach out to admin@loveboldly.net or bhuelskamp@loveboldly.net if you have any

questions.


If you want to see more emails like this and other accessible resources from LOVEboldly, please donate to LOVEboldly today.

 
 
 

Important Update from LOVEboldly

Friday, September 5, 2025


Dear Friends,


We are reminded in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 that “We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed.” It’s definitely not melodramatic to feel afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down as LGBTQIA+ people in September 2025 in the United States. The current administration has launched and driven others to cooperate in legal and physical assaults on our rights and the rights of other already marginalized communities. These attacks remind and reinforce that our struggles are intersectional and our liberation is collective. 


At those intersections, we’re witnessing major cuts to federal and state funding for health care, housing, food, and other basic necessities for life. This strain is diverting private philanthropy from programmatic, political, and advocacy organizations. In recent months we’ve watched nonprofits of all sizes announce the need to scale back operations and/or lay off staff members. Unfortunately, LOVEboldly is no longer able to remain an exception. 


As an organization, we feel strongly that we need to be upfront about the impact the current moment will have on our capacity and our programming while being absolutely clear that LOVEboldly will continue to operate, albeit at a reduced level. Below is a partial list of our priorities which will remain unchanged; resources and programs which will be scaled back; and resources which will be discontinued effective immediately.


Priorities - These programs and resources are unique to LOVEboldly 


Scaling Back

  • Ben will become an hourly employee and will be stepping back his hours while continuing to serve as Executive Director.

  • The Bill Tracker will stop following federal legislation and focus solely on Ohio legislation.

  • New in-person, hybrid, and virtual programming will be strategically organized and will lean more heavily on collaboration with other organizations. 


Discontinuing

  • The weekly Action Alert email will end and only be sent when there are actions LOVEboldly is taking or when there is an update to bills at the Ohio General Assembly.


Friends, we've asked the question before: What would happen if LOVEboldly didn't exist? A year ago you answered with over $8,000 of funding and donations that kept us going in that moment. But LOVEboldly is closer than ever to going dark forever. If you've been waiting to give, now is the time.


If you feel so moved to contribute to the mission and ministry of LOVEboldly today, you can do so by clicking here or visiting www.loveboldly.net/donate. 


<Deep breath.> Ok.


While this news is undoubtedly as frustrating and saddening to receive as it is for us to convey, we are so thankful for your support and witness over the years. We pray you will join in continuing to create spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can flourish in Christianity and beyond.


Faithfully,


Ben and the LOVEboldly Team

 
 
 

For Some Activities, There are No Seasons (The 200th Monday Moment)

Monday, September 1, 2025


Happy Monday, my friends! Perhaps one of the most popular passages in the Bible, to the point that some people are surprised that it comes from the Bible, is found in the Book of Ecclesiastes: “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace” (3:1-8). Regardless of your particular politics, theology, philosophy, economics, or other belief systems, it’s impossible to be living at this moment and not feel torn between often conflicting emotions and thoughts. If you’re anything like me, your faith helps greatly, but doesn’t entirely get you through the worry, doubt, anxiety, and depression.

 

By my count, this is the 200th Monday Moment. It’s a milestone for me, yes, but it’s also an accomplishment for everyone who takes the time to read and reflect on these essays. On April 1, 2024, I announced in the body of a Monday Moment that it would be my last. More than a few people stopped reading at the prayer and immediately responded with grief-filled messages, some urging me to continue writing. Had they continued reading they would have seen that it was an April Fool’s prank which I couldn’t help but send. Despite that vote of confidence in my reflections and my ideas, I’m often conflicted about what to write. Do I really have anything to contribute to your reflections, analysis, and meditation on this season of our individual and collective lives?

 

While I continue to wrestle with that question, here’s what I do know: for some activities, there are no seasons. Despite what Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 might say, there are no times to “refrain from embracing” unless someone asks you not to hug them. There is never a time to hate and though we have yet to figure out how to prevent them, there is never a legitimate or just time for war. I also know and the life of Jesus attests it too: there is always a season to speak out, resist, and make space for love.

 

How are you resisting? How are you loving in the world?

 

Let us pray: Gracious God, thank you for helping us reach the 200th Monday Moment, but as we celebrate that collective achievement, grant us the grace and the courage to continue speaking out, resisting, and building your kin-dom of love and affirmation in our troubled world. Let us know love as we direct that love to all the places where it is most needed. We ask this in the name of our liberator, Jesus. Amen.

 

Blessings on your weeks, my friends! Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

 

Faithfully,

 

Ben +




 
 
 

LOVEboldly exists to create spaces where LGBTQIA+ people can flourish in Christianity. Though oriented to Christianity, we envision a world where all Queer people of faith can be safe, belong, and flourish both within and beyond their faith traditions.   

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LOVEboldly is a Partner-in-Residence with Stonewall Columbus.

LOVEboldly is a Member of Plexus, the LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

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