Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, Feb. 2, GetEQUAL will protest "The Family" and their agenda of persecuting LGBT people around the world, by demonstrating outside the National Prayer Breakfast. The National Prayer Breakfast is an annual event -- often keynoted by the President and always attended by members of Congress, business leaders, and international heads of state. It is co-organized by certain members of Congress and a secretive, shadowy religious group to which they belong called "The Family" (also known as "The Fellowship" or "The Fellowship Foundation"), which pursues a viciously homophobic agenda in the United States and around the world. Members of "The Family" are tied to the Ugandan lawmaker who authored Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill.
While some people may believe that the National Prayer Breakfast is an inclusive gathering without a particular policy agenda, the truth is that "The Family's" aim is to influence political systems worldwide. They use the support and prestige gained from events such as the National Prayer Breakfast to promote their worldwide campaign of bigotry against LGBT people.
Beginning at 7 a.m. ET in front of the Washington Hilton Hotel (1919 Connecticut Avenue, NW), members of GetEQUAL and their families, friends, co-workers, and supportive members of the community will gather outside of the National Prayer Breakfast to demand that Members of Congress, the President, and leaders of all kinds take a stand against the hatred and bigotry that the National Prayer Breakfast organizers have promoted worldwide.
GetEQUAL will make the point that attendance at the Breakfast helps prop up this fringe group, and implies an endorsement of the anti-LGBT agenda of "The Family." Demonstrators will make the case that "The Family's" role in the persecution of LGBT people worldwide must be exposed for the harm it continues to cause. They will call out purveyors of hate like "The Family," whose words and actions incite the daily LGBT suicides, bullying, gay-bashings and murders that our community faces. And they will point out that separation of church and state is a guiding principle of our nation, and requires that privately-held religious beliefs not be used as justification to impose discriminatory legislation and the denial of equality to others.
What: GetEQUAL Protests "The Family" and their anti-LGBT agenda outside the National Prayer Breakfast
Who: GetEQUAL and their families, friends, co-workers and supportive members of the community
When: Thursday February 2, 2012, 7 - 10 a.m. (ET)
Where: Outside of the Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC
"Demonstrators from GetEQUAL will remind 'The Family' and all those attending the National Prayer Breakfast that Jesus taught love for everyone, and anyone who hates and persecutes others in his name is grossly misguided," said Michael Dixon, a lead organizer for the DC chapter of GetEQUAL. "People die and families are destroyed when 'The Family" is allowed to advance its agenda of anti-LGBT hatred and discrimination. We're going to remind our elected representatives and others that the whole world is watching."
Tom Morgan, a GetEQUAL State Lead from Ohio and a planned attendee at the protest, remarked, "As Bishop Desmond Tutu once said, 'If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor....' We face injustice and oppression everyday. We will not remain neutral."
GetEQUAL is a national, direct-action lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. Emphasizing direct action and people power, the mission of GetEQUAL is to empower the LGBT community and its allies to take action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way. For more information on GetEQUAL, please visit: www.getequal.org . You can follow GetEQUAL on Twitter at www.twitter.com/getequal, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GetEQUAL, or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/getequal.
