A group launched in September is
working to “change the hearts and minds of evangelical Christians
on the issue of marriage equality.”
Evangelicals for Marriage Equality
(EME) was co-founded by Josh Dickson, a former deputy director of
faith outreach at the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and
Michael Saltsman, a vice president at a communications firm, and is
based in Washington, D.C.
At its launch, EME attempted to run ads
in three prominent Christian publications: Christianity Today,
Relevant and World Magazine. All three rejected the
ad.
“The reason is that the ad advocates
a position that we have editorialized against,” Christianity
Today said in its rejection.
The ad's text read: “You can be a
devout, Bible-believing evangelical and support the right of same-sex
couples to be recognized by the government as married. Our
commitment to following Christ leads us to speak out for equal
treatment under the law for others – whether or not they share our
religious convictions.”
The group's spokesman, Brandan
Robertson, shared Sunday in a Time
op-ed that he met faithful gay Christians for the first time while
attending college in Chicago.
“I had previously been told that such
a person couldn't exist,” he said. “One could not embrace a
'homosexual lifestyle' while simultaneously claiming to follow Jesus
Christ. And yet, time and time again, I encountered men and women
who identify as LGBTQ and were still overflowing with love for
Jesus.”
Robertson added that EME's “ultimate
goal” is to “make room for my fellow evangelicals to be able to
step out in support of marriage equality. It is my hope and prayer
that through conversations and reexamining the words of Jesus that we
can change the hearts of many evangelicals – in order to call us
back to being people of good news and of unconditional love for all.”