Be sure to read HRC Religion and Faith Director Harry Knox's comments on President Obama's new Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in an Advocate.com article by Kerry Eleveld. Here is an excerpt:
"We’re not trying to tell churches they can’t hire a pastor who believes in what the denomination believes," said Harry Knox, director of the Human Rights Campaign's Religion and Faith Program, "we’re simply saying that if they hire a social worker or a cook in the kitchen or a youth outreach worker, that person's beliefs and whether they’re pro- LGBT or LGBT themselves should not stand in the way of their being hired." But even with such an executive order, LGBT people are left vulnerable in many areas of the country because no federal employment laws currently protect people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. President Obama did not address these thorny issues directly last week, instead painting rhetorical broad-brush strokes over deep divisions. “Instead of driving us apart, our varied beliefs can bring us together to feed the hungry and comfort the afflicted; to make peace where there is strife and rebuild what has broken; to lift up those who have fallen on hard times,” Mr. Obama told the National Prayer Breakfast where he mentioned the new initiative. ... HRC's Knox said the council’s makeup was reminiscent of the President’s continuing approach to creating dialogue. “What we’re seeing is a pattern that the President is going to make all of us talk to each other,” Knox said, noting that LGBT activists have already had occasion to take issue with President Obama’s associations including homophobic gospel singer Donnie McClurkin during the campaign and Rev. Rick Warren at the inauguration. “What he’s saying to us all is, I expect you all to come to the table and seek the common good. It’s our role as leaders of the LGBT community to serve in that way but also to be clear that the common good does not mean looking just for what’s good for the majority of people, but really what’s good for everybody.”
Read Eleveld's entire article here.
