Faith in America Launches 2007 “Call to Courage”
“Call To Courage” Five-City Campaign
Engaging Americans in Early Presidential Primary and Caucus States about the Harm of Religion-Based Bigotry
“We’re asking Americans to be courageous and to join us in a stand against discrimination in all forms. As a nation, we have exhibited such courage in the past by rejecting the use of religion to sanction slavery and the subjugation of women. This campaign is a first step toward putting an end to bigotry disguised as religious truth and creating a just world where everyone will be allowed to flourish in America without prejudice.”
Jimmy Creech, Executive Director, Faith In America
Faith in America launched it “Call to Courage” five-city campaign on May 6th in Ames, Iowa to educate Americans in early Presidential primary states about the misuse of religious teachings to discriminate and isolate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
The organization will initiate the second-leg of its campaign in Greenville, South Carolina on October 1st, and then proceed to Manchester, New Hampshire, Reno, Nevada, and an undisclosed city in Florida. The five campaigns are expect to be held between May and the end of November 2007.
The campaign will consist of grassroots organizing, direct mail, paid advertisements (including newspaper ads and billboards) to educate the public on the parallels between historical precedents of religion-based bigotry and today’s struggle for full and equal rights for the gay community. The campaign will provide a forum for citizens to express their sentiments about religion-based bigotry and to discuss its harm on society and the GLBT community.
The campaign is working with several national allied organizations, including the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), Soulforce, Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) and Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
Faith In America through the five-city campaign will:
• Create dialogue regarding religious teachings and practices which foster discrimination and oppression against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
• Demonstrate how misguided religious teachings were used historically to justify injustice and discrimination (slavery, racism, anti-interracial marriage, sexism) and are being used today to deny full and equal rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens.
• Provide accepting clergy and people of faith a forum to express disagreement with religion-based bigotry.
The mission of Faith in America Inc. is to end legal and spiritual discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) people in America and to gain full and equal rights for those citizens. More information can be found at www.faithinamerica.com.