HRC appoints founding director for religion program

The gay rights group Human Rights Campaign announced Tuesday that Harry Knox, a 1989 graduate of Lancaster Theological Seminary, will be the founding director of the group's newly created religious and faith program. The new program will seek to organize communities of faith as well as establish a speakers bureau to cultivate appropriate spokespeople and messages in the discussion of GLBT issues in a religious context. "We must bring faith discussions back to their roots of seeking understanding," said Knox. "A vocal minority is falsely promoting the notion that religious people stand in opposition to equal rights. Our job is to promote the truth that a majority of people of faith believe strongly in fairness and justice." The HRC applauded Knox's efforts as a longtime GLBT activist within the United Church of Christ. Most recently Knox served as the program director at Freedom to Marry, the national coalition working to end the denial of marriage to same-sex couples. "Harry's longtime advocacy for equality is based on his own spirituality," said HRC president Joe Solmonese. "Many of us, like Harry, have our own religious beginnings. It's important to ensure that our voices are part of the nationwide discussion that's happening around faith and justice." Knox will start his new position at HRC in mid July.