Soulforce Email Update - July 15, 2008

Four Film Premiers in London and the United States Highlight the Work of Soulforce

For The Bible Tells Me So, which features the work of Soulforce, premiered yesterday in London. First Run Features announced that Bishop Gene Robinson and actor Ian McKellan would host the British premier just days before the start of the Lambeth Conference -- the Anglican Bishop's summit held every 10 years which excluded Bishop Robinson. Robinson and McKellan spoke about the dangers of religion-based discrimination on a BBC program.

You can watch the interview by clicking here.

For The Bible Tells Me So is available in DVD format at the special price of $18.71 from First Run Features.

Equality U, a new film by director Dave O'Brian, follows the first Soulforce Equality Ride and our young adults at Soulforce Q, Equality U has screenings scheduled at:

• The Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (the largest gay & lesbian film festival in the Southwest and one of the Top 5 Film Festivals in the nation) on September 4 (link)
• The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on July 19th (link)
• Reel Pride in Fresno, California (screening date to be determined, film festival is Sept 17-21), (link)
• The Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (screening date to be determined, festival runs October 2-12), (link)

The film features Soulforce Q Director Haven Herrin and Equality Ride founder Jake Reitan, as they lead riders to confront antigay discrimination policies at 19 conservative religious and military colleges -- sometimes leading to dialogue, sometimes leading to arrest.

SoleJourney, a new film by producers Kate Burns and Sheila E. Schroeder, plunges into the center of relentless nonviolent resistance as it follows diverse families confronting the anti-LGBT rhetoric of the fundamentalist mega-organization Focus on the Family. The film recently debuted at:

• The Breckenridge Festival of Film on June 6, (link)
• The Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on July 12, (link)

The film features Judy Shepard, Chad Allen, Rev. Dr. Mel White, Jeff Lutes, Ken Lewis, Jamieson Allen, Linda Royster, Barbara Kinsman, Lewis Thompson, Laurin Foxworth, and historic clips of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement.

Ask Not, by director/producer John Symons, explores the effects of the US military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Upcoming screenings include:

• The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, July 19th, Director's Guild of America Sunday, July 20th, Fairfax Theater (link)
• The Rochester Lesbian & Gay Film & Video Festival, October 13th (link)
• Chicago Lesbian & Gay International Film Festival, November 6-15, (link)

The film features clips from the 2006 Soulforce Right to Serve Campaign and has been selected to broadcast nationally in 2008-09 on Independent Lens, PBS' award-winning showcase of independent films.

Seven Straight Nights For Equal Rights Seeks Action Leaders -- Offers Austin, Texas Training on August 16

In 2007, Soulforce Executive Director, Jeff Lutes, founded Seven Straight Nights for Equal Rights and recruited Atticus Circle to collaborate in providing straight Americans across the country with opportunities to do justice and motivate new allies to stand up and be counted.

Last year, stories of friendship and political transformation emerged across the country during Seven Straight Nights, a first-of-its-kind event. Through Seven Straight Nights, the power of straight ally voices resonated in 38 cities in 28 different states across the country. Soulforce and Atticus Circle partnered with more than 30 national and statewide equality organizations to bring together a true grassroots effort on the part of straight allies standing up for equality.

Soulforce and Atticus Circle are proud to bring back Seven Straight Nights in 2008 during the week of September 14-20th, 2008. Now is the perfect time to raise your voices and stand up straight for LGBT equality. Pro-LGBT legislators and petitioners have done what they could to battle against discrimination, and now, we as constituents must join their efforts. Your participation in Seven Straight Nights can generate enough media attention to make an incredible difference by showing that Americans want equality for our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friends, family members and neighbors. By organizing and participating in an Action, you can demonstrate to pro-LGBT legislators that their efforts are greatly appreciated, and motivate other straight allies to join you in the fight for LGBT equality.

Sign up to be an Action Leader, a participant, and a supporter today, and make a difference in your community.

We are also excited to announce that a training workshop for Action Leaders will be offered in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, August 16th through the generous support of the Arcus and Hollyfield Foundations (through a grant secured by our partner organization, Atticus Circle). Sign up by July 18th to be an Action Leader (agreement form must be signed and sent to Atticus Circle for workshop participation). Action Leaders may be comprised of members of a congregation, family, or college campus. We request that you send one representative/leader to the training weekend. Please sign up today by emailing info@sevenstraightnights.org to receive your Action Leader agreement packet and attend the 7SN training workshop.

The training will include Media 101, which provides tips ranging from how to pitch Seven Straight Nights to the press, to dealing with press on location; creating an organizing committee to help with your planning; and spreading the word about your Action.

We greatly appreciate all of our participating and supporting LGBT friends, however, due to the rising cost of airfare we must limit our training workshop to the straight allies who will become the face of Seven Straight Nights for their city. If you have any questions, please contact us at info@sevenstraightnights.org

Soulforce in the News!

Yesterday, columnist Deb Price wrote about Soulforce Q volunteer Meg Sneed and the Right to Marry Campaign - Arizona in the Detroit News, describing how she and other young Soulforce activists will walk 96 miles to the state capitol to share touching accounts of how an Arizona marriage amendment would hurt real people.

The Soulforce American Family Outing which concluded in June, was featured in the Houston Chronicle (twice), The Chicago Tribune (twice), the Dallas Morning News, the Washington Times, the San Antonio Express News, the Orange County Register, Air America, The Detroit News, Southern Voice, The Washington Blade, OutSmart Magazine, TimeOut Chicago, and the The Dallas Voice. Both the Equality Ride and the American Family Outing were described in the June 16 issue of Newsweek.

To view the links to these articles, and more, go to www.soulforce.org/article/1367

Soulforce Applauds Box Turtle Bulletin's Efforts to Challenge Antigay Claims by CEO at Insure.com

Last week, our friends at Box Turtle Bulletin broke the story of Insure.com and its CEO, Robert Bland. Insure.com, a major life, health and auto insurance portal, continues to defend an antigay article on their web site which uses the discredited "research" of Paul Cameron to falsely claim that gays have a much shorter life span than non-gays.

The CEO, Robert Bland, continues to defend the article, saying they will not take it down because he says "it contains no factual errors and no editorial bias or slant whatsoever."

Paul Cameron was expelled from the American Psychological Association in 1983, censured by the Nebraska Psychological Association in 1994, censured twice by the American Sociological Association in 1995 and 1996, and more recently by the Eastern Psychological Association in 2007. In 1999, Cameron wrote an article in which he expressed admiration for how the Nazis "dealt with" homosexuals at the Sachsenhausen concentration camps." In the 1980s, he told CPAC that "unless we get medically lucky, in three or four years, one of the options discussed will be the extermination of homosexuals."

Insure.com is a sponsor of Bill O'Reilly's radio program and O'Reilly himself voices the commercials for Insure.com.

For more information, please visit: www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2008/07/14/2351

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