PhoboQuotable - Eric Teetsel

"Symbols still matter. When I moved to Washington I noticed these small blue stickers with two yellow lines permeating the city. They were on cars, t-shirts, and lamp posts. It wasn’t long before I Googled 'blue sticker yellow lines' and discovered it is the logo of the Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation's largest gay rights organizations. As a signer of the Manhattan Declaration, you are part of a movement of 532,000 individuals whose faith in Jesus leads you to stand for life, marriage, and religious liberty. We are a massive movement! Yet, how often do you encounter fellow Christians who have never heard of us? Or have never 'gotten around' to signing? Frankly, we punch below our weight. It’s time for that to change." - Manhattan Declaration executive director Eric Teetsel, in a press release launching a new lapel pin so that homophobes can identify each other in public.

Signers of the Manhattan Declaration vow to disobey laws that protect LGBT Americans from discrimination. Here's their description of the lapel pin:

Three stripes in a stylized “M” symbolize three core issues of life, marriage, and religious freedom and our diverse coalition of Catholics, Orthodox, and Evangelicals. The increasing size of stripes shows momentum – the building of a movement. Gradient orange invokes a flame, for truth, and the wildfire of enthusiasm for our cause. My hope is that soon this symbol – and the movement it represents – will be immediately recognizable nationwide.

UPDATE: Rob Tinisai points out the below sad sad new message from the administrator of the Manhattan Declaration's Facebook page.

This morning I'm returning phone calls to some who wish to have their name removed from the Declaration. It's quite deflating. It seems a handful of signers don't wish to be affiliated with an ecumenical movement. How they missed that part when they first signed is anyone's guess. At Manhattan Declaration, we don't color over the distinctive characteristics of any Christian tradition; rather, we seek to be united despite those differences, in faith in Jesus Christ, to accomplish a mission we can all agree is of the utmost importance. Thank you to the vast majority of you who have signed your name and left it there.