Washington – The Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization – is joining fair-minded organizations and individuals from across the country in calling out Governor Rick Perry’s upcoming anti-gay day of prayer. HRC Religion and Faith Program Director Sharon Groves issued the following statement:

Governor Perry’s partnership with anti-gay groups like the American Family Association and TheCall does not reflect the religious values of most fair-minded people of faith.  The rhetoric coming out of these organizations is hateful, and prayer should never be about hate. It’s disturbing that a governor elected to represent all Texans is so closely aligned with organizations that, on a daily basis, work to demonize a specific community within his state.

“The Response” is a blatant hijacking of religion– despite polling that shows 85 percent of people of faith believe LGBT Americans deserve equality. These are fringe leaders using the mantle of Christianity to cloak their anti-gay activities. It is entirely unacceptable for a governor to work with those who have contributed to the frenzy of support for Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” legislation; who associate homosexuality with Nazism; who equate marriage equality with the ‘end times;’ and who work tirelessly to spread vicious lies about gay people that contribute to incidents of homophobia.

The Christian Bible tells us that God is love.Yet there is nothing loving in "the Response."  As a person of faith I, like most Americans expect more from religious leaders.

The Human Rights Campaign will continue to track the activities of Gov. Perry and his associates through the Call it Out campaign. Call it Out seeks to highlight cases of homophobia and transphobia as part of HRC’s work to advance equality. Learn more at www.hrc.org/callitout.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.