Group Petitions Christian Magazine to Accept Pro-Equality Ad

Faith in America, a pro-LGBT religious organization, is petitioning Christianity Today magazine to accept its ad encouraging parents to accept their LGBT children.

Christianity Today, a generally conservative publication, rejected the ad two weeks ago, Faith in America officials say on Change.org, where the petition is posted. The text of the ad says, "Do you have a child who is gay or lesbian? Do you fully embrace that child just as they are? Christ does. Faith and equality. Let's end the harm from the misuse of religious teaching." It is illustrated by the image of a cross filled with faces.

Faith in America notes that in its September issue, Christianity Today ran a full-page ad from the antigay group Alliance Defending Freedom, "an organization whose president, Alan Sears, in a July 2012 article referred to messages of gay acceptance and inclusion as 'insidious inroads in the minds and souls of children.'"

The petition says, "If Christianity Today approves ads from organizations like Alliance Defending Freedom that promote stigma and hostility toward gay and lesbian individuals, surely it can accept an ad which promotes the ideal that faith and equality are not -- and should not be -- in conflict with each other." Find the petition here.