Public Speaking Tips - About Homophobia for People of Faith

FROM EQUAL PARTNERS IN FAITH
Challenging the Ex-Gay Movement: An Information Packet

DON'T respond defensively to homophobic scriptural citations by engaging in a "boxing match" style of dialogue about them.

Example: "God made Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!"

Inappropriate response: "That's ridiculous! The creation story is a myth to explain human creation-scientific research shows that the first human was a woman in Africa!"

DO use humor and keep a light touch.

Example: "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!"

Appropriate response: "Are you saying that heterosexuals are responsible for the fall of humankind then? I'll try not to be bitter." Or, "Gay people don't have to act on their sexual desires. God can heal them." "But as I read Scripture, 'just say no' didn't even work in the Garden of Eden!"

DON'T fight with provocative loud-mouths. You risk alienating your audience.

Example: "Gay people should be killed!"

Inappropriate response: "It's people like you who should be put in jail! You're a danger to democratic society!"

DO appeal to the moderate observers.

Example: "Gay people should be killed!"

Appropriate response: "I know that the majority of Americans are as frightened by your words as I am. Every poll shows that we support fair, non-violent treatment for all people."

DON'T let someone else frame the debate or set the parameters of the discussion.

Example: "Our founding fathers intended this to be a Christian nation, and the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality."

Inappropriate response: "This is not a Christian nation and never has been. Why Thomas Jefferson explicitly said ......

Challenging the Ex-Gay Movement: An Information Packet

DO speak positively and stay on track.

Example: "Our founding fathers intended this to be a Christian nation, and the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality."

Appropriate response: "The people who founded our great nation bequeathed us with a Constitution and Bill of Rights which clearly promote freedom of religion. Those documents provide the basis for our covenant for living together in peace. That's why we're concerned that our community is being divided by anti-gay violence and fear."

DON'T demonize or insult anyone.

Example: "I just don't think gay people should have special rights."

Inappropriate response: "Only a bigot or a homophobe would say that!"

DO differentiate leaders from followers and use language of reconciliation and compassion.

Example: "I just don't think gay people should have special rights."

Appropriate response: "I am concerned that Americans, who strongly oppose discrimination, are being misled about exactly what this initiative means. Equality is not a special right."

DON'T allow homophobes to monopolize religious language.

Example: "God's word is good enough for me: to be gay is an abomination."

Inappropriate response: "Regardless of what you read in the Bible, this is not a Christian country and the Bible should not govern our laws."

DO claim moral high ground; cite Scripture and use your own religious language.

Example: "God's word is good enough for me: to be gay is an abomination."

Appropriate response: "Jesus never mentions homosexuality at all, but he does say to love your neighbor as you love yourself, and that's how I try to live." Or, "The God that I know is a God of love, who does not see any person as an abomination."

DON'T allow the debate to be framed as religious people vs. secular gays.

Example: "Religious people are concerned that militant gays will destroy our families."

Inappropriate response: "We're here we're queer, get used to it!"

DO speak openly about your own faith as it informs your commitment to glbt issues.

Example: "Religious people are concerned that militant gays will destroy our families."

Appropriate response: "In my congregation, we're concerned about the high incidence of gay bashing in our town. We feel that we must best embody God's radical commitment to love by teaching our youth that violence and intolerance are neither moral nor acceptable."

DON'T get sidetracked into discussions of whether people "choose" to be homosexual or what percentage of the population is gay.

Example: "Homosexuals could choose to change if they wanted to."

Inappropriate response: "You're either born gay or you're not! Why, studies show that!"

DO stay focused on your own talking points.

Example: "Homosexuals could choose to change if they wanted to."

Appropriate response: "Americans deserve equal treatment under the law. People could choose to change religions or marital status, but that would not make discrimination against them acceptable. While we still don't know much about the cause of sexual orientation, Americans do know that anti-gay discrimination is wrong."

DON'T globalize the issue or use frightening rhetoric.

Example: "This is the first step towards death camps! First they came for the communists, and I did not speak up because I was not a communist, etc.," You may believe it, but to the average person you sound like a nut.

DO speak specifically about how homophobia affects your community in tangible, measurable ways.

Example: "What would this initiative mean? It would mean that I could be legally fired from my job because I am gay and I would have no channels for correcting that injustice!"

DON'T try to terrorize people into voting on your side.

Example: "We are in pre-Nazi Germany, and you have the chance to vote against Adolph Hitler!"

DO lift up a vision of unity.

Example: "In hard times like these, we all need each other. Candidates like X divide us from one another and waste our precious resources."

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