Starting a petition and need help with the right words

[Joe Brummer]

I am currently making a list of things I would like Straight Talk Radio and Stephen Bennett Ministries to stop doing. DDoes anyone have any suggestion to add to this list. Here is what I have so far.

We the undersigned ask Stephen and Irene Bennett of Straight Talk Radio to stop their smear campaign against gays and lesbians. We ask that Straight Talk Radio consider the following:

- Stop painting gays and lesbians as child predators by having guests on the show who describe gays as pedophiles or bad parents. No major medical or psychological association agrees with your claims. These claims are mean spirited and harmful to the children of same sex parents.

- Stop having guests on Straight Talk Radio who rely on flawed and outdated research to show gays and lesbians as diseased. No credible, peer-reviewed research exists to back up this claim. By using such a claim Straight Talk Radio is lying to the public and contributing the climate of violence against gays.

- Stop portraying gays as having a curable disorder. No medical nor psychological organization concurs with the belief that homosexuality is a disorder. It is harmful to others when you make this claim when you are not qualified in psychology or medicine and have no authority to make such a claim. If you wish to say that some people have changed their sexual orientation then do so in a manner that is not harmful to gays and lesbians who feel no need or desire to do so.

- We ask that Stephen and Irene stop ...

[Jamie McDaniel]

I should first say that I have yet to listen to an episode of Straight Talk Radio. However, one of the major criticisms that Soulforce has of ex-gay ministries is that they engage in deception by omission -- never speaking to the fact of all those happy, loving, faithful families that include and accept gay people.

So, in addition to some of the things you have already listed, you might consider asking the producers of Straight Talk Radio to stop engaging in deception by omission.

[Joe Brummer]

I will be sure to do that! Thank you for the suggestion. I really do feel that I am doing this campaign on my own, I get very little feedback or help from anywhere. That has left me feeling fustrated and alone in this. I get so tired of people like this, potraying me to be something I am not. It would be so nice to at best, voice that opinion in numbers.


these people hurt more people than they help!

[Joe Brummer]

Here is the latest version of the wording. If nayone wants to re-write, spell check, proof read, or add, or delete. I am open minded to all ideas...please feel free to cut and pasteinto a new post with revisions. I am all for it!

here it is so far...

We, the undersigned, respecting the first amendment right to free speech, ask Straight Talk Radio, hosted by Stephen and Irene Bennett, to stop its smear campaign against gays, lesbians and their families. Many gays and lesbians are happy, healthy individuals who are hurt and dehumanized by your attempts to show us in a bad light. We ask that Straight Talk Radio consider the following:

- It is our belief that your campaign to change gays and lesbians into heterosexuals uses fear tactics, lies, misrepresented facts and flawed research. It is the belief of those of us undersigned that you are hurting more people than you help.
- Stop generalizing gays and lesbians as child predators, pedophiles and or bad parents. No mainstream medical or psychological association supports your claims. False statements do nothing to help people, but in fact hurt children with same-sex parents, as well as their families.
- Stop supporting or relying on flawed and outdated research to show gays and lesbians as diseased. No credible, peer-reviewed research exists to support this claim. By using or promoting such a claim, Straight Talk Radio is lying to the public and contributing the climate of violence against gays. This claim does nothing to help people who are gay, but in fact hurts them.
- Stop portraying gays as having a curable disorder. Since 1973, no medical nor psychological organization concurs with the belief that homosexuality is a disorder. It is harmful to others when you make this claim when you are not qualified in psychology or medicine and have no authority to make such a claim. If you wish to say that some people have changed their sexual orientation based on biblical belief, then do so in a manner that is not harmful to gays and lesbians who feel no need or desire to do so.
- We ask that Stephen and Irene stop referring to gays and lesbians as having a “lifestyle”. We have many different lifestyles and come from all walks of life. There is no one gay lifestyle and grouping us all together into your mold of destruction is inaccurate as well as dehumanizing. We are not robots following a lifestyle; we are people with differing lives, views, political affiliations and experiences from all over the globe.
- Please stop advocating against our civil rights. If you wish to preach to others that based on biblical assertions that people should live a certain way then do so without infringing on those of us that would like to live our lives the way we see fit. Our happy, healthy stable relationships do nothing to hurt you, so stop hurting us.
- Stop engaging in deception by omission. Straight Talk Radio only focuses on those who have had negative experiences with homosexuality. Thus leaving out those who have had happiness and freedom by being themselves.

[Joe Brummer]

After slaving away at the words to write, I have finally finished the petition and it is finally up nd running. I plan to let it run up signatures and send it to the Stephen Bennett Ministries on a few weeks. (depending on the response). I hope some of you will consider signing it and let your friends know about it.

I realize I am just one person, but I plan on making it known to the SBM and Straight Talk Radio that his messages hurt and demean others.

here is the link:
http://new.petitiononline.com/StopSTR/petition.html