Truth wins out

Dear Friend:

Today, a coalition of LGBT organizations is asking you to sign an important petition
calling on the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to apologize for the harm its teachings have caused the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The petition will be hand-delivered following an 8 A.M. 'Teach-In' outside the SBC's annual meeting in Phoenix on Wednesday, June 15, a day that marks the 16th anniversary of that religious group's historic apology to African Americans for supporting slavery and Jim Crow laws. (If you live in the Phoenix area and want to participate, please contact John Becker at John@truthwinsout.org.)

We are calling on the Southern Baptist Convention to stop misusing the Bible to promote religion-based bigotry and start recognizing the enormous pain and suffering caused by its mistreatment of LGBT people, particularly vulnerable youth. History has not been kind to the Southern Baptist Convention's record on minorities and it is making the same awful mistake today by perpetuating abuse against gay people.

Indeed, the Southern Baptist Convention is one of the nation's leading promoters of the so-called "ex-gay" industry, which browbeats people into attempting to "pray away the gay.
" Bob Stith, national strategist for gender issues and the representative of the Task Force on Ministry to Homosexuals, leads the SBC's "ex-gay" program. Last week, Stith harshly criticized President Barack Obama for issuing a "Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month" proclamation.

Today's petition drive is being organized by the Association of Welcoming and Affirming
Baptists, Believe OutLoud, Faith in America, GetEQUAL, Soulforce and Truth Wins Out.

We strongly urge you to sign our petition, pass it along to friends, and
post it on websites and social networks. Additionally, if you are in the Phoenix area, we hope that you will consider joining our protest and petition delivery. It is critical that we stand up to religion-based bigotry and point out the destructive nature of anti-LGBT prejudice and discrimination.

SIGN PETITION HERE
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=gow5fgcab&et=1105905586121&s=17513&e=001kY0EOiFg7BOVL_ZCX8TMdhRUoT3o8j4r5PsYyNRAVSbKS5I6ms99kH4kuHbB3O8y50bLUfNHg6X_3XEdXlDZrYcvjcuvO4_zcadJwQ8xPfpF3zPvqUqi2YCPnQQK2IKadM9gDnE9j5U_RJO25JAzrm2FDAtTRipX7eOVolPzZ2Is7QG6B3QSs3h1KBmWKRzCmlufhR7x8ydQ4bbfv8dUxA==

P.S. If you would like to help with this action and can't be in Phoenix, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution today. It will help us with travel costs to Phoenix. If your gift is $25 or more, we will send you a T-shirt that reads, "Thank God You Can't Pray Away the Gay." (See Below) Please send your shirt size to John@truthwinsout.org.