Gay Palm Springs mayor Ron Oden announced at a press conference today he:
…would accept Thursday’s invitation from Focus on the Family to attend the conference.
“I definitely want to attend and have the opportunity to share my perspective,” he said.
[snip]Oden says he sees the conference as a way to share the love and acceptance that the valley offers the gay community. He said he will have ambassadors attend the conference to talk to participants. He said there will also be people in the community who will not attend the Sept. 23 conference but who will interact with the attendees. He did not provide specifics or who the people would be.
These Love Won Out events have a reputation for being pretty zero-tolerance in regards to dissenting views so I’m curious just what Oden and his “ambassadors” have planned. Participants are encouraged to snitch out other participants who so much as hand them a business card from a gay organization.
If one registers for LWO online, you encounter the following disclaimer:
In order to preserve the rights of those who intend to participate in this event in a quiet, peaceful and nondisruptive manner, Focus on the Family reserves the right to remove any person from this event at any time and for any cause. By attending the Love Won Out event, you are deemed to have expressly agreed that you may be removed from the event and from the premises at any time by a representative of Focus on the Family…
So they reserve the right to expel me if I just sit, listen and pray? Is THAT a Christian church?
I just got a message from Alan Chambers. He says he will NOT kick me out of the conference. I promised to behave. 🙂
By now, they’re used to LGBT people coming in to observe and report. I’m one of them. I introduced myself to Alan when I went to LWO.
It’s very cool that this mayor is doing his best to illustrate tolerance.
I just received a very nice all from Mayor Oden of Palm Springs. He assured me that he “disagrees completely” with the EXODUS/NARTH approach, but wants them to see for themselves that Palm Springs stands FOR tolerance and AGAINST hatred. As an African American, a gay man and a man of faith he has experienced first-hand the terrible power of hate.
Best tactic here is to “out Christian the Christians” so to speak — to demonstrate God’s love to a real and practical way. The world will be watching.
I respect and admire the man. I look forward to attending the conference with him and will let you all know how it goes.