Hundreds of Faith Leaders Condemn Homophobic Evangelical Manifesto

After 150 evangelical Christian leaders released the Nashville Statement this week denouncing LGBT people as sinful, hundreds of Christians have responded with a manifesto of their own.

Within 24 hours of the Nashville Statement, 1,000 Christian leaders, pastors, theologians, and advocates signed a 10-point document, titled Christians United, in support of LGBT inclusion in the religious community. Among its key points: "Every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and ... the great diversity expressed in humanity through our wide spectrum of unique sexualities and gender identities is a perfect reflection of the magnitude of God's creative work."

Many have criticized the Nashville Statement not just for its homophobic nature, but for its timing; it was issued as a natural disaster approached Texas and President Trump was formalizing his ban on transgender service members.

Among the Nashville Statement's signatories were members of Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board, which include Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center; James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of Cross Church; Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary; James MacDonald, founder and senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel; and James Robison, founder and president of LIFE Outreach International.

Christians United is not the only statement to condemn hate from within the faith; another LGBT-supportive open letter, from the Liturgists, titled God Is Love, received more than 3,500 signatures.