Blood on its Hands? The Church & LGBT Youth

Over half of young people between 18-24 in the UK currently identify as "not exclusively heterosexual." Yet a sizable majority of Christian Churches in the UK, US and Australia still refuse to acknowledge the immutability of most LGBT identities or to engage with the lived realities of LGBT people. This apathy - and sometimes downright hostility - creates a toxic environment for some of our most vulnerable young people, leading to isolation, despair and sometimes, tragically, suicide. This poses the question, does the Church have blood on its hands? Blood on its hands? should serve as a wake-up call to take LGBT identities and LGBT mental health seriously, to avoid some of the tragedies highlighted in this book. It is intended to be used as an aid to discussion in worship communities.Dr Carol A Shepherd is a leading global expert in bisexual Christian identities and has been published by Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, Darton Longman Todd and Springer International. Anthony Venn-Brown is the founder and CEO of Ambassadors & Bridge-Builders International (Australia) and a much loved and globally renowned LGBT ambassador and speaker.