This past Sunday was the National Equality March in Washington D.C. It was a march for GLBT equality in all matters of civil law including same sex marriage. Locally, four of our friends marched. Dante, one of my weight loss pals from North Carolina, marched and took some amazing photos. He posted 76 photos on Facebook. It really gives you a feel for the energy of the march.

My favorite photo was one of a sign that read “Leviticus also said, “No hair cuts”, but I guess we are skipping that one.” If you have ever spoken to a church group on homosexuality, this is one of the first passages thrown back at you. So many conservative folks see the Holiness Codes as a critical Biblical verses. Biblical educated folks know that these codes are cleanliness codes that need to be put in context of the time, culture and people. We routinely cut our hair, mix wool and cotton in garments, eat shrimp and shellfish, and the list goes on. You most likely have seen the infamous Letter to Dr. Laura before. If not check it out. I suspect it is not for real, but the author really spells out the applicability of the Cleanliness Code.

I am proud of those who marched, most notably our friends. Dante’s photo of the sign made my day. It’s a shame so many Biblical conservative folks fail to READ the Bible, put the text into societal context of the day, take into account the author and the author’s motives, and continue to cherry pick verses from chapters out of context. This is just my every-so-often reminder here to actually read, study and understand Biblical verses before we open our mouths.