Traveling anti-gay preachers to come to North Carolina colleges
Saw this on a LiveJournal blog. Thought it might be something folks want to know about:
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Subject: Traveling Anti-Gay Preacher Alert!
Hello from Texas!
I am speaking for GLOBAL, the GLBT organization at the University of Houston. Our university was recently visited, for the second year in a row, by a religious group called SoulWinners Ministries International. Please do not take this message lightly
I am writing to you in hopes that I can help fellow GLBT students prepare for their arrival, and also offer some suggestions about how to respond to the group.
They have a website: www.soul-winners.org
If you have received this e-mail, your university is on their list of schools they plan to preach at. We are not sure where they are now (their website does not list dates), but we think they may be near Florida. This is a chronological list of the schools they will visit:
Florida State U
Florida A & M U
U of Florida
U of Central Florida
U of South Florida
Florida International U
Valdosta State U
Georgia State U
U of Georgia
Clemson U
U of South Carolina
North Carolina State U
U of North Carolina
SoulWinners has a campaign called S.O.S., or Save Our Students, which is run by Michael and Tamika Venyah. They are extremely anti-gay evangelical Christians. When they arrive, they may be wearing shirts that say “All Homos Go To Hell.”
After dealing with them for 2 years, GLOBAL has some suggestions:
1. If you plan to protest them, get as many people involved as you can. This includes campus religious organizations and faculty members who are Allies. Organize a phone tree so you can get the word out quickly when they arrive. Bring snacks and water (you will probably be there for several hours).
2. Make signs ahead of time. They have a giant banner that they display, and it helps to have something visual that passing students can read.
3. Don’t let them film you (you may end up on their website). If they do, take note of the time and find a campus police officer ASAP so they can confiscate the tape and, hopefully, remove them from campus. Better yet, make signs or shirts that say “SoulWinners may not film me.”
4. Have a police officer standing by for protection. They can also serve as witnesses if need be.
5. The Venyahs believe that making people angry means that God’s message is getting through to them. They stoop to personal insults and slurs frequently. If they yell names at you or others when you are not engaging them in conversation, file a complaint with your Dean of Students. This is most likely the easiest way to get them banned from your campus. Encourage anyone they insult to report it and bring witnesses.
6. Don’t bother arguing with them. They are unwilling to defend their beliefs against others and will simply ignore you.
7. Read your school’s Freedom of Expression policy. Make sure you stay within their guidelines, and check to see if the SoulWinners are breaking any of them. If they are, report them.
8. Try forming a large circle of people around the area in which they are speaking (not too close!), and keep your backs turned to them.
9. Bring noisemakers or loud whistles (if the policy permits it), and make as much noise as possible when they say hateful things.
10. Turn their preaching into something positive. I know this sounds strange, so I will give an example: GLOBAL turned the event into a fundraiser. For every hour that the SoulWinners preached, students and faculty would pledge a set amount of money, or they could give single donations. It was the best fundraiser we have ever had! Be sure to announce every 15 minutes or so the amount that has been raised, and thank the SoulWinners for their “support.” Using this tactic forced the group to leave earlier than they had planned.
11. Be aware that they usually appear for at least 2 days in a row. Try writing opinion articles to your school newspaper to raise awareness and involve other students in the discussion. You can also involve your local media by calling newspapers and TV stations.
I hope this helps, and good luck to anyone who is dealing with them now!
- GLOBAL at UH
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There’s a facebook group called Students Against Soulwinners Ministries International which decribes them as, “Soulwinners Ministies International is an evangelist group that travels to college campuses all over the country, telling gay, lesbian, muslim, buddhist, and atheist students that they are going to burn in hell for all eternity. They verbally accost students who they deem to be “the right type” of persont to go to hell, telling them that God doesn’t love them. If you disagree with the creators of this evangelist group, Michael and Tamika Venyah, then join this one in protest.”
Matt, 22, is an LGBT journalist, activist and youth advocate currently living and working in Charlotte, N.C., where he serves as the Editor of Q-Notes, the Carolinas' LGBT news source. A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Matt attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is still continuing to pursue his bachelors degree. He is the Owner & Editor of InterstateQ.com and has been active in LGBT advocacy work since the age of 14.
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