Washington, D.C.- On Friday, December 9th, Rev. Fred Davie, Executive Vice President at Union Theological Seminary in New York, will host a press conference with Evangelical and other faith leaders from around the country to promote a pro-LGBTQ public policy agenda for the Trump Administration and new Congress.
Presenters at the event will highlight why they support the LGBTQ community because of their faith, and not in spite of it. The policy agenda will focus on five key areas proposed by faith leaders: LGBTQ basic rights, LGBTQ homeless youth, LGBTQ senior citizens, the transgender community, and global antidiscrimination.
Support for LGBTQ rights and equality continues to grow among religious Americans - particularly Christians. According to the Pew Research Center, 58% of Catholics and 64% of White Mainline Protestants support marriage equality today, compared to 40% and 38% in 2001, respectively. Support for marriage equality among White Evangelical Christians has more than doubled since 2001, with Black Protestant support increasing by close to one-third during that time. As the culture wars of the past fade away, many faithful Americans - conservative Christians in particular - are increasingly seeing LGBTQ equality as integral to their religious values and their calling to love their neighbors as they do themselves.
The press conference is co-sponsored by the Metropolitan Community of Churches, the Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Auburn Seminary, SAGE, Cathedral of Hope, the Center for African American Religion, Sexual Politics and Social Justice at Columbia University, Covenant Baptist UCC, Evangelicals for Marriage Equality and the Tyler Clementi Foundation.
What: Press conference with Evangelical and other faith leaders from around the country to promote a pro-LGBTQ public policy agenda for the Trump Administration and new Congress.
When: Friday, December 9th, 2016, 9:15 am
( Breakfast at 8:30 am. )
Who:
Rev. Fred Davie, Executive Vice President, Union Theological Seminary
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera, Director of Latinx and Catholic Initiatives, Human Rights Campaign
Rev. Adam Phillips, Pastor, Christ Church Portland
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Senior Minister, Middle Collegiate Church
Victoria Kirby York, National Campaigns Director, National LGBTQ Task Force
Rev. Clayton Brooks, M.Div., Director of Advocacy, Covenant House
Bishop Tonyia Rawls, Pastor of Unity Fellowship Church
Barbara Satin, Assistant Faith Work Director, National LGBTQ Task Force
Bishop Joseph Tolton, Executive Director, Believe Out Loud
Where:
The National Press Club Conference rooms Murrow/White/Lisgor
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20045
About Union Theological Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a seminary and a graduate school of theology established in 1836 by founders "deeply impressed by the claims of the world upon the church." Union prepares women and men for committed lives of service to the church, academy and society. A Union education develops practices of mind and body that foster intellectual and academic excellence, social justice, and compassionate wisdom. Grounded in the Christian tradition and responsive to the needs of God's creation, Union's graduates make a difference wherever they serve.
Union believes that a new interreligious spirituality of radical openness and love is the world's best hope for peace, justice, and the care of God's creation. Empowered by groundbreaking inquiry aligned with practical realism and a bias for action, Union is charting a profound new course for enduring social change. Our graduates make a difference wherever they serve, practicing their vocations with courage and perseverance, and speaking clearly and acting boldly on behalf of social justice in all of its forms.
Learn more at www.utsnyc.edu .