Tell news publishers and editorsStop portraying religious liberty and LGBTQ equality as opposites

Posted: Dec. 6, 2022

Remember the anti-gay baker who refused to make cakes for same-sex weddings? The Supreme Court is now considering another, very similar case, this time from a homophobic website and graphic designer. Unfortunately, the media coverage has been about as bad as you might expect, erasing the voices of LGBTQ Christians and their faithful allies.

A December 4 New York Times headline called the case "A New Clash Between Faith and Gay Rights."

Politico published a similar piece on December 5, describing the case as, "The Supreme Court's latest foray into the clash between the rights of LGBTQ people and religiously devout business people."

Let's be clear: There is no clash between religious liberty and LGBTQ rights. In fact, public surveys have repeatedly shown that a majority of Christians support nondiscrimination laws and oppose religiously based service denials. Erasing these pro-LGBTQ Christian voices from the Supreme Court debate is the real threat to religious liberty.

All people are created in the image of God, all love is holy, and no one should face discrimination for who they love. The media should know better than to suggest that the religious right speaks for all Christianity -- let alone all faith -- and editors need to hear from us now.

Sign the petition:

Dear publishers and editors of Politico and the New York Times,

We the members of Faithful America object to your recent political and legal coverage portraying LGBTQ rights and religious freedom as in opposition to one another.

Faithful America is the largest online community of grassroots Christians putting faith into action for love and social justice. Our 180,000+ members support LGBTQ rights -- and we are in the religious majority.

According to the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, "Vast majorities of most major religious groups support nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people." This includes more than 75% of Catholics of color, white Catholics, white mainline Protestants, Black Protestants, Jewish Americans, Muslims, Unitarian Universalists, Hindus, and Buddhists, and even more than 61% of white evangelical Protestants.

PRRI has also found that far less than half of white evangelical Protestants, white mainline Protestants, nonwhite Protestants, and Catholics support religiously based service refusals (like wedding cakes and website design).

When your coverage suggests that there is a "clash" between faith or religious freedom and LGBTQ equality, you play into the political agenda of the religious right -- a religious minority in this country which gains power by pretending, with your help, to speak for the majority. We are tired of headlines and stories that suggest the religious right speaks for all people of faith or even just for all Christians, and we ask you to improve your political and legal coverage of these issues.

Thank you.

Not ? Click here.

Name*

Email address*

Country Country

ZIP Code*

Postal code