Alabaman Groups Protest Focus on the Family

Several gay rights organizations in Alabama announced plans to protest a Focus on the Family conference on LGBT youths that will be held Saturday, November 7, in Birmingham.

"They're telling you to hate your child unless he lives the way you tell him to live," said Johnathan Quinn, president of Central Alabama Pride, one of the protesting organizations, according to USA Today. "Their literature tells the parents to abandon their children unless they go this route: forcing them to be straight."

Quinn said a peaceful protest is planned on a public right-of-way near the entrance of Birmingham's Metropolitan Church of God. Also taking part in the protest are the groups Equality Alabama, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays of Birmingham, and Covenant Community Church.

The Focus on the Family conference, titled "Love Won Out," teaches that those with same-sex attractions can change, said Melissa Fryrear, director of gender issues for Focus on the Family and one of the speakers. "We're offering a Christian perspective on the many issues surrounding homosexuality," Fryrear told USA Today. "The majority attending are moms and dads who have a son or daughter living in homosexuality. We're here to help parents who don't condone their child's behavior but still love them."