Why Our Missing Voices Matter

My Huffington Post response to GLAAD’s "Missing Voices" (the study finding that LGBT faith voices were underrepresented in the mainstream media) concludes:

If information is power, then this information gives us the power to challenge media outlets to balance their reporting; to cultivate diverse religious voices; and to include our voices in the public discourse on LGBT equality. It also challenges progressive people of faith to stand up and speak out, by email, blog comments, Twitter, and even telephone, if necessary, and to "believe out loud" in order to be the change we want to see in the world.

Read the rest here, including:

Our missing voices matter because the traditional Biblical values we proclaim -- justice, love, and compassion -- offer an antidote to the judgment, literalism, and condemnation of the religious right. Our missing voices matter because there are legions of folks out there yearning for a spiritual community and thinking they know enough about being a Christian not to want to be one. And who can blame them when everything they know about what Jesus taught is what Jerry Falwell said or Pat Robertson preached. Our missing voices matter, because when we let Rick Warren speak for Christianity, we let Jesus down.

Our missing voices matter because in town halls, state houses, and the halls of Congress, legislators are lobbied by those determined to write their theology into our democracy. Our voices matter because in order for the First Amendment to protect our freedom of religion, it must also protect our freedom from religion, and the best rebuttal to the rabid religious right is a mobilized messaged religious left.

Our missing voices matter because there are LGBT youth growing up with no clue that there's a God who loves them just the way they are, and that there are communities of faith that would support and encourage them as they grow into the full stature of their gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender adulthood. As my friend Bishop Gene Robinson said, "These are kids who couldn't find Leviticus if their life depended on it, and they end up suicidal because they're convinced God thinks they're an abomination." Our missing voices matter because no child should ever believe he or she is beyond God's love, and our voices offer a lifeline to kids who think their precious lives aren't worth living.