Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dallas, TX, April 3, 2017 – Activists from Soulforce — which works for the liberation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) students on Christian campuses among other programs — were detained by police and security and threatened with criminal trespassing despite never receiving a trespass warning and having tickets to the Final Four championship game on Sunday.

Soulforce activists were stopped before entering the arena and questioned by security and police for several minutes. They were eventually allowed to take their seats but were followed by security every time a member went to the restroom or concession stand. Soulforce unfurled a banner, during halftime to respect the players, that urged NCAA to stand in solidarity with LGBTQI people on religious campuses. The banner was snatched by security and Soulforce was then detained again.

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“The NCAA still has 30 schools that actively sought the right to discriminate against women, trans, and queer people on their campuses,” said Yaz Mendez Nuñez, Soulforce Programs Director. “Those schools are not in line with NCAA values and they are not safe places to host NCAA games.”

At least 30 members schools of the NCAA have applied for Title IX exemptions for a range of gender justice issues, like being pregnant or transgender. The Trump administration has now offered a blanket waiver to all religious schools. That waiver grants the schools the legal freedom to discipline, expel, or fire people who break the religiously motivated rules. Unlike the response to HB2, NCAA has remained virtually silent as 30 member schools have guidelines that goes against the NCAA’s nondiscrimination policies.

The current question put to the NCAA in North Carolina is whether the organization will allow championship games to return to the state, but the debate does not address the issue of member schools that have anti-LGBTQI policies and would still be able to host games under the current rules.

“The experience was intense. While we were questioned the first time, arena officials alluded to potential violence saying that ‘these are Texas fans and you don’t know what they’ll do if you disrupt their game,’” Haven Herrin, Director of Soulforce and one of the three individuals detained by NCAA. “The surveillance and escorting of our people, many of which are trans and/or non binary, to the restroom is not the type of response we expect from an organization claiming allyship to LGBTQI community.”

After 15 minutes, Soulforce was eventually released without charges pressed. Soulforce demands the NCAA follows through with their commitment to inclusivity and nondiscrimination and urge the 30 member schools to #GiveBackIX.

About Soulforce:

Soulforce’s purpose is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance. For more information, go to Soulforce.org.

“The NCAA must divest from all religious discrimination.”

Dallas, TX, April 2, 2017 – Social justice organization Soulforce, which works for the liberation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) people, brings their rainbow-full campaign Give Back IX to the women’s Final Four championship game this evening at the American Airlines Center.

At least 30 members schools of the NCAA have applied for Title IX exemptions for a range of gender justice issues, like being pregnant or transgender. These waivers grant the schools the legal freedom to discipline, expel, or fire people who break the religiously motivated rules.

“That the NCAA has member universities that discriminate against their own students is exactly why it finds itself ensnared in legal battles like the repeal of HB2 in North Carolina,” says Soulforce Director Haven Herrin whose hometown is Dallas.

The group has been campaigning at NCAA games for over a year now, using t-shirts, banners, tailgating, and fan engagement to encourage the NCAA to continue to use its powerful position to advocate for LGBTQI rights.

It remains to be seen how the NCAA will respond to the contentious repeal of HB2 in North Carolina which, among other things, barred transgender people from using the restroom that best aligns with their identity. The NCAA’s threat to keep championship games out of the state for the next several years was a strong catalyst for the revision of HB2.

The Soulforce activists will be at the women’s basketball final game of the Final Four championship which starts at 5pm.

“Sports is a place that gives architecture to gender and then puts a whole lot to money behind those ideas. It is critical that the NCAA have our backs and show what solidarity looks like,” says D.J. Hudson, Soulforce’s Nonviolence and Direct Action Consultant.

The group will be in the stands at the game, ready to cheer on the teams and celebrate LGBTQI athletes. Previous actions have resulted in security taking away the group’s banners or removal.

About Soulforce:

Soulforce’s purpose is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance. For more information, go to Soulforce.org.

Orlando, FL, February 28, 2017 – Members of Soulforce, a social justice organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) people by challenging the Religious Right, was arrested last night in an act of civil and spiritual disobedience at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Proclaim conference.

The NRB conference brings together several thousand Christian communicators and the businesses, like Facebook, that cater to them to discuss messaging strategies, media deregulation, and “religious liberty.”

The latter is a catch-all phrase for the anti-LGBTQI, Islamophobic, and anti-Woman rhetoric that the organization and its members espouse in countries around the world.

The police presence was intense throughout the day on Monday; security personnel and police worked together to track the Soulforce members as they simply walked from one part of the hotel to the other. A room change from a higher floor to a lower floor had to be approved by the manager.

Soulforce was processing peacefully outward from the hotel to public property around sunset while singing when a dozen police and security personnel descended upon them and formally declared them “trespassers.”

 D.J. and Alba refused to be processed to the trespassing notice behind closed doors.

The group was then escorted back inside the convention center to be photographed, so they raised the urgency and volume of their protest. Their singing grew louder, echoing in the rotunda, and they unfurled their banner reading “#KeepPulseAlive” for all guests and attendees to see.

“We came in singing, bearing our message and our cross with just a few of the hundreds of doves our members have decorated and sent us to be a part of our witness. The police actually brought us into greater tension with the attendees of the conference,” said D. J. Hudson, Soulforce’s Nonviolence and Direct Action consultant and one of two arrested this evening.

Supporters stopped to share their support and their grief at the NRB’s presence in Orlando with the activists.

Soulforce holds that the NRB creates the environment where physical violence can fester, including the Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando. NRB’s code of ethics and statement of faith focus primarily on, and are hostile towards, homosexuality, transgender people, and sex.

While most of the protestors were escorted off site by police, two remained, Rev. Alba Onofrio and D.J. Hudson. They held onto a cross covered in doves and chanted, “No justice! No peace!” as police placed them in handcuffs.

“I am called to honor the death of our ancestors and fight like hell for the living. The NRB offers a death-dealing theology that is at the very foundation of white supremacy, Islamophobia, and patriarchy. It is my Christian duty to fight evil and expose false prophets,” said Rev. Alba Onofrio of Soulforce.

The group had many more strategies for getting their message out for the rest of the week, strategies they will now adapt for implementation after being banned from the World Center Marriott.

More information about the campaign can be found at: www.soulforce.org/keeppulsealive and #KeepPulseAlive.

For any questions or more information, please contact Soulforce at haven@soulforce.org.

About Soulforce

Soulforce’s purpose is freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from religious and political oppression through spiritual healing, radical political analysis, and strategic direct action. For more information, go to Soulforce.org.

Orlando, FL, February 27, 2017 – Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) direct action group Soulforce is heading to the host hotel of a major conservative Christian communications conference, the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Proclaim 2017, and neither the hotel nor the event organizers happy about it.

The NRB is a global leader in conservative Christian broadcasting with 1100+ members and an international audience of millions around the world.

“The NRB presents itself as the infallible arbiter of all things Christianity in its statement of faith, which focuses primarily on sex,” said Yaz Mendez Nuñez, Soulforce Programs Director.  “The Proclaim conference is where they gather each year to drive the message home that Islam, feminism, and the LGBTQI community are dangerous to their God. As a person of faith, I refuse to believe that.”

Soulforce and its local partners and activist members are setting up a “Living Altar of Resistance” inside the hotel tonight, an altar made up of over 400 doves decorated by supporters around the world. They intend to hold round-the-clock vigil for the duration of the conference.

“I am passionate about this because hate has already come into our city and shot down 49 people, while injuring 52 others.  Hate tried on June 12, 2016 and now hate is returning to our city.  Love wins, however.  Love always wins,” says local Rev. Terry Steed Pierce of Joy Metropolitan Community Church.

Date: February 27 to March 2, 1027

Time: Email for this sensitive information.

Location: Marriott World Center Hotel located 8701 World Center Dr, Orlando, FL 32821

The activists are committed to continued vigil after the launch until forcibly removed, and the host hotel has promised to remove them. It is yet uncertain whether those steps will include arrest.

“The NRB has blood on its hands. They create the conditions that make our community a target of violence,” stated Rev. Alba Onofrio, the group’s spiritual strategist. “In Orlando, where the LGBTQI community is still reeling from the violence done at the site of the Pulse Massacre, it is an affront to our human dignity to have such a hate-based conference here.”

The doves have shipped in from LGBTQI and allies people across the country in solidarity with the Orlando community and in remembrance of the 49 Latinx people lost at the Pulse Massacre.

This is not the first interaction between the activist group and the NRB. The NRB and host hotel had the activists removed after they interrupted the keynote address from Rick Warren at Proclaim 2016. The NRB updated their policies in response to include explicit rejection of transgender and gender non-conforming people the day after.

Community members are invited to join the protest, as the group intends to be present all week inside the hotel, though Soulforce has formally been told they are not welcome to conduct their protest activities. The security has assured the activists they will be removed from the premises.