Protest planned outside Baptist convention

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI - As the Southern Baptist Convention opens Tuesday, gay rights supporters plan to rally outside the Edward Jones Dome over concerns about comments and policies they say promote hatred and violence against homosexuals. <br> <br> Several thousand representatives of the Southern Baptists, the nation&#39;s largest Protestant denomination, are meeting here Tuesday and Wednesday. The voluntary association represents 42,300 churches with 16 million members nationwide. <br> <br> Up to 150 protesters plan an act of nonviolent civil disobedience that may disrupt the convention, said Laura Montgomery Rutt, spokeswoman for the Laguna Beach, Calif.-based gay rights group Soulforce Inc. She wouldn&#39;t discuss specifics. The group also protested at Southern Baptist conventions in 2000 and 2001, and has protested outside gatherings of other religious organizations. <br> <br> ``There are people who will be trying to get inside to get our message heard,&#39;&#39; Rutt said. <br> <br> At the root of this year&#39;s protest is a legal opinion written by Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, a Southern Baptist. <br> <br> In February, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision that awarded custody of three children to their lesbian mother rather than their heterosexual father. As part of the ruling, Moore wrote that homosexuality makes a person unfit to be a parent. <br> <br> In the opinion, Moore noted that Alabama criminal laws prohibit sodomy, and said the state ``carries the power of the sword ... to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Moore&#39;s spokesman, Scott Barnett, said, ``The chief justice was merely quoting Alabama law. He never said homosexuals are evil people. <br> <br> ``These groups just clearly do not like the truth. It&#39;s a valid, legal opinion. Under the civil and criminal laws of the state of Alabama, it (homosexuality) is prohibited.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Soulforce faxed a letter to Southern Baptist president James Merritt in May, inviting him to join the rally to denounce Moore&#39;s comments. Merritt has declined, Rutt said. <br> <br> Rutt said comments like Moore&#39;s and policies advocated by the Southern Baptists condone hatred against homosexuals. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s verbal violence against gays and lesbians,&#39;&#39; she said. <br> <br> Telephone calls to a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention were not returned.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/6/193732