Hasta La Gadget!

The United Methodist church commissioned a transgender deacon on Sunday ― the first time an openly non-binary person has assumed the role.   

M Barclay, a transgender person who doesn’t identify as male or female and who uses the pronoun “they,” was appointed in the church’s Northern Illinois Conference over the weekend.

“For so long, I’ve longed to be a pastoral presence in the world — and certainly you can do that without a collar — but we have ordination for a reason, and part of that is that I can publicly identify as a pastor now,” Barclay told United Methodist News Service.

Barclay previously worked as the director of communications for Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial United Methodist group that advocates for full inclusion of LGBTQ people the church.

“I know it’s not particularly common in The United Methodist Church, but I intend to wear a collar every single day because for a person like me to navigate society in a collar provides some profound and urgently needed pastoral opportunities, particularly for queer and trans people.”

The United Methodist Church is one of the largest Christian denominations in America and has encountered internal debate over LGBTQ inclusion for years. 

The church does not prohibit the ordination of transgender clergy, but holds that engaging in sexual relationships outside of a heterosexual marriage is a bar to ordination.

The Book of Discipline, the church’s governing document, states that all individuals have inherent worth but that engaging in same-sex relationships “is incompatible with Christian teaching.”

“To navigate the world as trans, queer, and a pastor means a great deal to me because I know personally how much religion has been and continues to be used for harm against LGBTQ and other marginalized populations,” Barclay told HuffPost.

“It’s important to me to have the opportunity as a pastor to condemn such spiritual abuse and to offer pastoral care, preaching, and theology that encourages wholeness, liberation, justice, and compassion, especially to those who are struggling to recognize themselves as beloved,” Barclay added.

The church holds the official stance that clergy must either be celibate or in heterosexual marriages. Bishops and clergy members have at times gone against these rules, though, by ordaining openly gay and transgender clergy and officiating same-sex marriages.

Last year, more than 100 pastors, deacons, elders and candidates for ministry in the United Methodist Church released a letter publicly coming out as LGBTQ just one day before the church’s top policy-making body convened to consider roughly 1,000 legislative petitions ― including ones addressing human sexuality.

Sunday’s commissioning, Barclay told UMNS, is “a sign that the church wants to move forward.”

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Someone please procure industrial strength cutting pliers because if Katy Perry is chained to the rhythm, then the rest of us are chained to this endless pop music war she’s waging with Taylor Swift. Seriously, at this point we’ve heard more about their feud than any other clash in human history. 

Ahead of the release of her new album, “Witness,” on Friday, Perry somehow found some tea left to spill for an interview with NME about why she chose to tell the “truth” about Swift.

Last month, she took a ride with James Corden and ended up revealing how this all started. Apparently, the two got their wires crossed when it came to booking backup dancers for their respective tours. Swift claimed that Perry was poaching her crew, while the “Bon Appetit” singer said she informed the dancers about a potential conflict before Swift’s tour even began. 

Regardless, Perry has an album to promote, so, of course, she essentially pulled out a baseball bat and gave this dead horse of a feud one final beat down. 

“Well, James Corden makes me and the whole world feel very safe,” Perry said about her decision to address the feud, according to Time. “No one has asked me about my side of the story, and there are three sides of every story: one, two, and the truth.”

“I mean, I’m not Buddha — things irritate me,” she continued. “I wish that I could turn the other cheek every single time, but I’m also not a pushover, you know? Especially when someone tries to assassinate my character with little girls [her fans]. That’s so messed up!”

Perry is likely referring to Swift’s mega-hit “Bad Blood,” which many have assumed is a thinly-veiled diss track about the pop star. The song was also co-written by prolific pop producer Max Martin, who’s worked with Perry since her “One of the Boys” days, potentially raising a conflict of interest with her longtime collaborator. 

“I can’t speak for [Max], but he didn’t know [who ‘Bad Blood’ was about],” she said. “I’m not supposed to tell him what he can and can’t do. I’m very fair; I’m super-duper fair and I’m not one of those people who’s like, ‘You can’t do that because I don’t like that person’. Just, like, you do you, make your own choices… I’m not his mother.”

Haven’t had your fill? Well, Swift should be releasing a new album any day now, so get ready for another media cycle about this mess. 

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A late father’s love for his young son is resonating around the world thanks to a viral video that captures a remarkable birthday surprise.

On Wednesday, just two months after his father’s unexpected death, Johnny Crow’s older sister drove him to a Port Huron, Michigan music store for his 16th birthday where he was filmed being handed a sealed card signed by “dad.”

“Johnny getting a 16th birthday surprise,” his sister, Chandler Mae Crow, begins to narrate her video that shows him opening the card and then reading it out loud.

“Ready to see your present?” she then asks, prompting staff to carry a rectangular box up to Johnny, which they open to expose a glistening electric guitar.

“It’s for you, man,” a store employee tells him as Johnny stares down it, frozen in place.

“Dad bought it for you before he passed away, for your birthday,” his sister tells him, prompting a rush of emotion from the teen.

As his sister told HuffPost on Thursday, this gift had been one in the making for some time by their father.

“Johnny has been wanting this guitar for a while. He would joke with my dad about getting it in the future,” she said by email. “He was a HUGE supporter of Johnny’s music dream and lived for his family. My dad would tell everyone that he knew Johnny was going to be famous one day and worked hard to get him there.”

“He was a HUGE supporter of Johnny’s music dream and lived for his family.”
Chandler Mae Crow

Their father, John B. Crow, passed away unexpectedly on April 1st, but not before taking measures to help encourage Johnny’s dream, his daughter shared.

Though the family celebrates several birthdays in June, Crow said her father set money aside to afford the guitar for his son.

“Paid every penny off and everything,” she boasted.

In less than 24 hours, the family’s video had been viewed on Facebook more than 4.4 million times, earning the teen birthday wishes from around the world.

Responding to the messages, his sister told HuffPost: “Johnny is overwhelmed with happiness with all the birthday messages and inspirational words from amazing strangers!”

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<span class="articleLocation”>Automakers could help prevent accidental deaths of small children left in hot cars by installing devices to remind drivers to check their back seats for passengers before getting out, three U.S. lawmakers sponsoring a safety measure said on Wednesday.

The bipartisan group of lawmakers joined safety experts and parents with testimonials of personal tragedies to publicly press for a law they said would have averted many of the 800 deaths of children left in overheated cars since 1990.

“It should be bipartisan, non-partisan, it should be America’s legislation,” Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican told a Washington press conference.

The bill, known as the Helping Overcome Trauma for Children Alone in Rear Seats, or HOT CARS, Act, would instruct the U.S. Transportation Department to issue a rule requiring new cars to have systems that alert drivers check their back seats after they turn off their engines.

Representative Tim Ryan, an Ohio Democrat and a chief sponsor of the bill, lauded General Motors Co for already installing rear-seat reminders in its 2018 model Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said it would review the legislation and “provide guidance,” but added that under the bill it would take about 20 years before all cars were equipped with the new technology.

“Greater public awareness saves lives today,” alliance spokesman Scott Hall said in a statement.

Stories of children, as well as pets, who die while left unattended in hot cars tend to horrify Americans each summer.

Miles Harrison of suburban Washington recounted the highly publicized death of his adopted young son, when he forgot to drop him at daycare and left him in his car at work on a hot July day nine years ago. He was tried and found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

“It really did not matter to me whether I was found guilty or innocent,” he said. “I still have not forgiven myself and don’t know if I have the capacity to do so.”

The Russian government later used the tragedy as partial justification for banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian orphans, naming the law after the child.

(Reporting by Peter Szekely; Editing by David Gregorio)

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Spotify’s known for excellent playlist curation and music discovery, and now they’re extending that expertise to your favorite summer music. Starting today, Spotify users can find their most-listened to songs of past summers on the new “Your Summer R…