On 5th Anniversary of Pulse Nightclub Shooting, Nearly 500 Florida Faith Leaders Call for Strong LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2021
MEDIA CONTACT
Austin Schuler, aschuler@faithinpubliclife.org, (540) 280-3393
Joey McKinnon, jmckinnon@faithinpubliclife.org, (843) 364-4403
On 5th Anniversary of Pulse Nightclub Shooting, Nearly 500 Florida Faith Leaders Call for Strong LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections
Press Conference on Monday, June 7th at Orlando church
ORLANDO – On Monday, June 7 at 10:30 a.m. EDT, faith leaders from Central Florida will hold a press conference at Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando to commemorate the 5-year anniversary of Pulse nightclub shooting, and announce their strong support for LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections. At the gathering, leaders will release a signed statement from nearly 500 faith leaders across Florida calling on elected officials to honor the 49 lives taken at Pulse with courage and action by supporting federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ Americans.
Just this week, Gov. Ron Desantis signed an anti-trans bill that will put at-risk trans youth in harm’s way. Across America, 29 states including Florida lack comprehensive statewide laws explicitly prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people. This leaves LGBTQ Americans vulnerable to discrimination in many parts of daily life. The impact of such lack of protections has extensive social and economic impact on the larger community as well.
The effort is coordinated by Faith in Public Life and will be held amid growing statewide momentum to protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination.
WHAT:
Press conference: Central Florida faith leaders release a list of nearly 500 faith leaders across Florida who strongly support LGBTQ protections.
WHO:
Pastor Joel Hunter, Chairman, Community Resource Network
Rev. Terri Steed Pierce, Senior Pastor, Joy Metropolitan Community Church
Pastor Josh Bell, Executive Director, One Pulse Alliance
Nav Khalsa, Sikh Society of Central Florida
David Williamson, Central Florida Freethought Society
Rev. Dr. Joe Parramore, Faith in Public Life
WHERE:
Joy Metropolitan Community Church (in sanctuary)
2351 S Ferncreek Ave.
Orlando, FL 32806
WHEN:
Mon., June 7, 2021 at 10:30am ET.
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Faith in Public Life is a national movement of clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice, equality and the common good. Together, with a network of over 50,000 leaders, they are leading the fight to advance just policies at the state and federal level that affirms our values and the human dignity of all.