LGBT Group Faith In America Issues Plea To Pope Francis In Full-Page NY Times Ad: Stop Condemning Homosexual Acts

The LGBT group Faith In America today published a full-page open letter to Pope Francis in the New York Times. The letter was written by Ali Forney Center head Carl Siciliano and financial assistance was provided by furniture maker Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

Your Holiness, I write to you as a Roman Catholic, a former Benedictine monk and as a gay man who has spent over 30 years serving the homeless, first as a member of the Catholic Worker Movement, and now as the founder and Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, America’s largest center for homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth based in New York City. I write on behalf of the homeless LGBT youths I serve. I ask you to take urgent action to protect them from the devastating consequences of religious rejection, which is the most common reason LGBT youths are driven from their homes. At the heart of the problem is that the church still teaches that homosexual conduct is a sin, and that being gay is disordered. I hope that if you understand how this teaching tears families apart and brings suffering to innocent youths, you will end this teaching and prevent your bishops from fighting against the acceptance of LGBT people as equal members of society.

Hit this link and read Siciliano's message in full. In a Facebook page set up to support the campaign, Mitchell Gold writes:

To be very open, this might be one of THE most consequential efforts I’ve ever been involved in. PLEASE take a minute to look at the full page ad in the NY Times today asking the Pope to “take being or acting gay off the sin list.” It’s a big deal that some think is too big of a goal…. BUT it has to start sometime….and it must. Too many people are suffering needlessly. AND the church has changed before and apologized! Please like and share it on FB, forward to friends and family…..do what you can to help to start to move this mountain. Sincere thanks, Mitchell Gold.

A petition to Pope Francis has also been launched.

LGBT History Museum Proposed For DC

Furniture mogul Mitchell Gold and his husband have proposed a national LGBT history museum for Washington DC. They've already started collecting items.

There are protest signs from demonstrations nationwide. There is a filmstrip of a 1970 gay pride parade in New York, which Gold serendipitously found buried in a case of gay porn contributed by the Museum of Sex. (“You can’t know what future generations are going to want to watch,” he said.) There is a sign from Lambda Rising, a Dupont Circle bookstore that closed in 2010, which Gold called “the closest thing I had to being where I belonged” as a college student. There is the violin and music stand owned by Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide in 2010 after a video of him kissing another man was posted on the Internet.  In all, Gold has 5,000 items stored in a climate-controlled warehouse in Forestville. He said there would be many more if being gay weren’t considered taboo by the families of early activists; once they passed away, many of their families tossed the artifacts. He thinks that even the original sign from the Stonewall Inn has been discarded. “So much of our history is unfortunately thrown out,” he said.

The Washington Post reports that Gold envisions a large multi-use complex that would include "a performing arts theater, a cafe, offices and a research center." A foundation has been established and donors are being sought.

Family Research Council vice president Peter Sprigg, who has called for the recriminalization of homosexuality and the "exporting" of American gays, says his hate group will not oppose the museum so long as no government funding is provided.  Meanwhile almost every other American minority has a federally-supported museum.

Visit the website for the National LGBT Museum.

Make donations here.

Mitchell Gold Vs. Peter Sprigg

Family Research Council spokesdouche Peter Sprigg, who has publicly called for recriminalizing homosexuality and for "exporting" gay Americans to other countries, is given airtime by Fox News in a debate with activist Mitchell Gold about California's newly approved LGBT history bill.

REMINDER: Ali Forney Center's Annual Fundraiser Dinner Is This Thursday

True Blood's Denis O'Hare hosts the Ali Forney Center's "A Place At The Table" fundraising dinner gala this Thursday in New York City, where the honorees include furniture mogul/activist Mitchell Gold and a certain "perverted atheist leatherman blogger." Get tickets here. If you can't attend, please consider making a contribution to the Ali Forney Center's desperately needed work for homeless LGBT youth.

October 7th In NYC: Ali Forney Center's "A Place At The Table" Annual Benefit

The Ali Forney Center, NYC's homeless shelter for LGBT youth, will be holding their annual "A Place At The Table" benefit gala dinner on October 7th at 91 Horatio Street in the West Village. Get tickets here. This year's host is openly gay Tony winning actor Denis O'Hare, whom you may best know as True Blood's vicious vampire, Russell Edgington.

The Ali Forney Center's 2010 honorees are furniture mogul, author and gay activist Mitchell Gold...and somehow...yours truly. How'd that happen? I can just picture the King Of Mississippi ripping my heart out in mid-acceptance speech. "Now, time for the weather. Tiffany?" Seriously, I'm very flattered. As longtime JMG readers and my pals know, I can't go two sentences about the noble and desperately needed work of the Ali Forney Center without needing a tissue.

Get tickets here. If you can't attend, please consider making a donation. Times are hard everywhere, but nowhere more so than charities such the Ali Forney Center, where the stream of desperate gay youth is endless, but the money flow is definitely not. If you are a business owner or ad buyer, please consider placement in the evening's program.

RELATED: Check out my post from last year's "A Place At The Table" where the honorees were NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn and City Councilman Lewis Fidler, with entertainment provided by Rufus Wainwright. Also in the house last year: Sandra Bernhard, Dan Choi, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Swag Tuesday

Courtesy of the publisher, today's Swag Tuesday offering is Crisis, the new anthology edited by out furniture mogul Mitchell Gold. Subtitled 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay In America, the anthology contains essays from major gay activists and politicians to midwestern teens and out clergy.

A mental health crisis faces American teens right now--and it is one we can solve. Hundreds of thousands of gay teens face traumatic depression, fear, rejection, persecution, and isolation--usually alone. Studies show they are 190 percent more likely to used drugs or alcohol and four times more likely to attempt suicide. Homophobia and discrimination are at the heart of their pain. Love, support, and acceptance--all within our power to give--can save them. This book is for: clergy, parents, educators, and politicians who cause harm with their words and actions; parents of gay teens; teens navigating this difficult time; and fair-minded people who want to help end the harm. Here are revealing stories by forty diverse Americans, some well known and some not, plus insights from straight clergy and parents explaining their support of gay people as whole human beings guaranteed equal rights by our Constitution.

Contributors include Candice Gingrich, Jim Hormel, Matt Comer, Richard Chamberlain, Jim McGreevey (!), Joe Solmonese, Nate Berkus, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Hillary Rosen, and dozens of others. Crisis is available now via Lambda Rising and Amazon. Proceeds will benefit gay teens.

Enter to win a copy of Crisis by commenting on this post. Only comment once and please remember to leave an email address you check frequently. Entries will close at midnight Wednesday. Publicists: if you'd like to take part in Swag Tuesday on JMG, please email me.