My Letter to Pastor Rick Warren

Pastor Warren,

I have been urged by several groups to participate in letter writing campaigns asking, no demanding, President-elect Obama to rescind his invitation to you to participate in the inauguration. I believe it is important for me to let YOU know why I AM writing the requested letters rather than go behind your back and send them.

President-elect Obama alluded to bringing all American citizens to the table of equality in his speech the night he was elected. ALL people. That would include our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. He even mentioned this particular demographic along with other minorities in his speech.

However YOUR words and actions as they relate to our LGBTQ community are less than inclusive. Much less. In June 2008 you and your staff accepted an invitation to meet with a small group of Christian families from Soulforce only to then give them the run around and finally to REFUSE to meet with them. Apparently YOU were being honored with an award and that was more important than following through on an obligation to meet and have an open, honest and loving dialog with a group of brothers and sisters in the Lord. What rude and arrogant behavior on your part. If you had no intention of meeting with Jeff Lutes and the families of Soulforce, then you should have had the courage and integrity to say that from the first invitation (in September 2007) rather than string these folks along.

You stated “there is no need to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population ... This is not a political issue -- it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about." I am sorry Pastor Warren, but I couldn't disagree with you more. It is a civil rights issue and that is certainly political. It is about equality under the law for ALL citizens - for ALL men are created equal. Furthermore, you continue to misrepresent marriage equality as silencing your religious views. This was a lie during the battle over Proposition 8, and it's a lie today AND YOU KNOW IT.

Pastor Warren, I am going to write my letters and send my emails even though I am sure your invitation to participate in the inauguration will not be rescinded. But I believe that my voice and the voices of all the LGBTQ community and their allies need to be heard. I also believe that YOUR CHARACTER needs to be examined.

You do have an option however. YOU can CHOOSE to DECLINE President-elect Obama's invitation. I am doubtful that you have the integrity to decline such a prestigious opportunity.

Sincerely,
Rebecca L. Wallace