Emily Dieckman's cover story, timed to coincide with Tucson's annual Pride parade and festival, looks at how some members of the LGBTQ community want to connect to the church—but often find that some churches don't want to connect with them. Despite that rejection, the couples Emily talked with weren't ready to abandon their faith (although some of them went through some serious soul-searching) and they've found new houses of worship that welcome them.
Emily, who jumped aboard Tucson Local Media as a feature writer this summer, did a terrific job exploring the challenges that same-sex couples can face when looking for a church. Her story is a heartfelt look at what happens when love comes into conflict with institutional barriers.
Since joining the team after wrapping up a journalism degree at Cal State-Fullerton, Emily has been busy around here. In addition to the work she's doing for our sister papers—Inside Tucson Business, The Explorer, Marana News, et al—she's also spearheaded the reinvention of our City Week calendar, expanded the Quick Bites food calendar and launched the Reel Indie column that tells you all about Tucson's non-Hollywood movie action.
Emily is a fast learner, but she's also the new kid in town, so if there's something fun going on in this burg, let her know what's up at Emily@tucsonlocalmedia.com. And please refrain from asking her for a date, like that one dude did that last time I wrote about her.
Meanwhile, in our Music section this week, we look at two recent releases from local artists. Eric Swedlund tells us about Timekeeper, a new album from Steff and the Articles, while Xavier Omer Otero gives us the lowdown on Lullabies and Nightmares, a new album from Chris Black. In our Chow section, Mark Whittaker celebrates the reopening of downtown's Hub, while Tirion Morris samples some beer with an unexpected origin. In the Currents section, Danyelle Khmara catches up with Congressman Raul Grijalva following his arrest in front of NYC's Trump Tower during a protest sparked by Trump's decision to end the DACA program. In Arts, Margaret Regan tells us why you should check out Irish fiddler Martin Hayes' show next week. And there's a whole bunch more in the paper, so why are you still reading this? Dig in, already!
— Jim Nintzel, Editor
