Soulforce Email Update - February 20, 2007

Soulforce Launches Ongoing Civil Disobedience Campaign at Focus on the Family Headquarters

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on February 19, 2007, Dotti Berry and Robynne Sapp of Blaine, Washington were arrested and removed from Focus on the Family headquarters in police custody. The couple entered the building earlier in the day and refused to leave until the organization's founder, James Dobson, takes a step toward reconciliation with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities by ceasing his misleading statements about research on lesbian and gay parents.

"I am here today because I believed Dr. Dobson's teachings for many years, and it almost led to my suicide. My healing came from my acceptance of myself and my acceptance that God loves me exactly as I am," said Sapp. Sapp and Berry have toured Focus on the Family twice before to dialogue with visitors and staff about LGBT individuals and families.

Dobson has consistently misrepresented LGBT families with misleading references to social science research. In recent months, several social scientists -- including Dr. Carol Gilligan of New York University and Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale -- have publicly rebuked him for mischaracterizing their research conclusions. (For a video of Dr. Judith Stacey claiming Focus on the Family distorted her research, click here.)

Dobson and other Focus spokespeople frequently discredit LGBT parenting with references to "more than 10,000 studies that have showed that children do best when they have a mom and a dad." According to the American Psychological Association (APA), such claims rely on "studies that simply do not address gay and lesbian parents and their children." Moreover, "no credible evidence shows that children raised by lesbian or gay parents differ in any important respects from those raised by heterosexual parents."

Berry and Sapp are the first participants in an ongoing campaign called "Focus on the Facts," which is modeled on Gandhi's Satyagraha campaigns in South Africa and India. In the words of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi "rightly believed in the efficacy of pitting the soul force of the Satyagraha against the brute force of the oppressor and in effect converting the oppressor to the right and moral point."

"I am here to mirror Dr. Dobson's human essence, so that the reflection will cause him to fully understand why it is important to begin telling a new and true story, one that empowers all of us," says Berry.

The Focus on the Facts campaign is coordinated by Soulforce, a national LGBT social justice organization founded on principles of nonviolence. For more than a decade, members and allies of Soulforce have confronted Focus on the Family's anti-gay rhetoric and publicized its harmful impact on the lives of individuals, parents, and children.

To read Dotti and Robynne's report click here.

To watch of video of Dotti and Robynne's civil disobedience click here.

Shock to the System DVD Release Contains Footage of Soulforce

The latest DVD release from here!tv, Shock to the System starring Chad Allen, includes bonus footage of Soulforce in action in Colorado Springs.

Directed by Kate Burns and Sheila E. Schroeder, this featurette documents Soulforce direct actions at Focus on the Family in 2005 and 2006 and features Mel White, Judy Shepard, and Chad Allen.

"This DVD includes a special feature of particular relevance to the film plot, the touching documentary SoulForce Resists Religion-Based Discrimination, about a group dedicated to free GLBT people from religious and political oppression through nonviolent resistance." --EDGE Boston

In Shock to the System, gay detective Donald Strachey is forced to go undercover inside an ex-gay therapy group when his newest client -- the poster boy for the ex-gay organization -- winds up dead. In his investigation, Donald rounds up a slew of suspects, each with their own complicated and devious motives. Chad Allen reprises his role as the unwilling hero and Morgan Fairchild guest stars as the victim's deliciously bitter mother. For trailers and clips go to www.heretv.com/strachey

Get Your Autographed DVD Today When You Become a Monthly Donor

In collaboration with here! TV and Chad Allen, Soulforce is pleased to offer autographed Shock to the System DVDs to the first 25 new monthly donors who sign-up at a giving level of $25 or more per month.

Monthly contributions allow Soulforce to plan actions that push for LGBT equality (such as the Focus on the Facts campaign) with cash flow in mind. Growing our monthly donor list is a major goal for the organization in 2007. Will you take this opportunity to become a Soulforce monthly donor?

To become a monthly donor, please go to: www.soulforce.org/monthlydonor