# The Power of Allies: Why This Straight White Male Pastor INCLUDES LGBTQ+ in Church Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-can-be-both-7576307/the-power-of-allies-why-this-straight-white-male-pastor-includes-lgbtq-in-church Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-can-be-both-7576307/the-power-of-allies-why-this-straight-white-male-pastor-includes-lgbtq-in-church.md Podcast: [You Can Be Both](https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-can-be-both-7576307) Published: 2026-02-01T16:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/you-can-be-both/episodes/The-Power-of-Allies-Why-This-Straight-White-Male-Pastor-INCLUDES-LGBTQ-in-Church-e3eess1 Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/10b47a908/podcast/play/114831681/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-0-31%2F417210789-44100-2-77e9168220a82.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/you-can-be-both-7576307/episodes/the-power-of-allies-why-this-straight-white-male-pastor-includes-lgbtq-in-church Duration seconds: 3747 ## Resource What does it mean when a straight, white male pastor says LGBTQ+ people fully belong in the church? In this powerful episode of the You Can Be Both Podcast, host Lauren Lanzaretta welcomes her first-ever guest, Danny Lybarger — a straight, white male pastor, theologian, and founder of The Well: An Inclusive & Justice-Centered Church in the St. Louis area. Danny is known for using his platform, privilege, and voice within the church to advocate loudly for LGBTQ+ inclusion, even when it put his ordination, funding, and career at risk. His viral TikToks challenge harmful theology and center a message many queer Christians have never heard from someone who “fits” traditional church leadership: you are not excluded from God’s table. Together, Lauren and Danny unpack some of the most searched, debated, and emotionally charged questions in Christianity today, including: • Can LGBTQ+ people be Christians? • Are gay people going to hell? • What does the Bible actually say about homosexuality? • Why “welcoming” churches often aren’t affirming • How to tell if a church is truly LGBTQ+ affirming • Why church trauma drives so many queer people away from faith • The responsibility of straight allies and pastors to speak up• United Methodist theology vs evangelical Christianity • The Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, tradition, reason, experience) • Responding to clobber verses, proof-texting, and online hate • Why representation in church leadership matters • How radical inclusion is not political—it’s deeply biblical Danny also shares the real consequences of choosing affirmation: performing same-sex marriages before his denomination allowed it, risking being defrocked, receiving hate mail, and building a church in one of the most conservative counties in Missouri—while refusi… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/you-can-be-both-7576307/episodes/the-power-of-allies-why-this-straight-white-male-pastor-includes-lgbtq-in-church/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/you-can-be-both-7576307/the-power-of-allies-why-this-straight-white-male-pastor-includes-lgbtq-in-church.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.