The purpose of this message is to invite you to meet with religious leaders and Gay and Lesbian support organizations around Cleveland to discuss the article on Gay issues and religion that appeared on your front page on Good Friday - and especially the accompanying graphic. I cannot emphasize enough our distress over what appears to be the Plain Dealer's implied declaration that three harsh, condemnatory statements represent "What the Bible says about homosexuality." I spoke with David Briggs on Friday, and he agreed to meet with us, but I told him that I felt that it was important that you be included, for the decision to include the graphic and give it Page One status was an editing decision.

I am also delivering in this e-mail message a proposed "letter to the editor" cosigned by 16 leaders of Cleveland-area churches, synagogues, and community organizations. That letter explains our concern with your editing decision more completely, and introduces the position that the publication of this biblical interpretation on your front page requires explicit and visible corrective action. We believe that publishing our letter would be a useful first step in addressing the situation, but would certainly not be sufficient to correct the damage we believe has been caused by your high-profile biblical interpretation

All of the people listed below have read the letter and given me explicit permission to use their names. We felt that in the interest of time, it would be expedient not to try to get physical signatures from everyone. We hope that you will accept our request to meet so that we may work together to heal the wounds that your front-page article has caused.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Robin Richmond
PFLAG-Cleveland

On April 21, 2000, on the front page of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a graphic titled "What the Bible says about homosexuality" quoted three brief passages selected from the hundreds of Biblical texts that that deal with morality, human relationships, and judgment. Those three quotes are commonly used to vilify gays and lesbians, and do not come close to being an accurate representation of the overall Biblical message on what we understand as homosexuality. Nor do the acts mentioned in those quotes represent "homosexuality" in a meaningful way. Because of the sensitivity in the community over homosexuality and religion, we believe that your distorted representation of "what the Bible says about homosexuality" must be corrected.

Your own article that accompanied the graphic described deep division in religious communities about "gay issues". Why in the world did you think you could summarize "what the Bible says" on the matter in just over three inches of type? For you to present just that one view of Biblical interpretation - unaccompanied by any credits or disclaimers - conveys the very strong impression that you are presenting that interpretation of the Bible as somehow "correct".

The passages you quoted and the issue you tried to summarize are not just part of academic discussions in theological circles. Gay and lesbian people struggle every day with the widely held view that their religions and their God condemn them. And many other people use the passage you quoted to justify criticism, condemnation, or even harassment gays and lesbians, or, at minimum, to withhold full participation in their churches and synagogues. As the most widely read and influential newspaper in Northeast Ohio, and as a publication with a national reputation, the Plain Dealer both represents and affects thought and understanding within the community. The presence of your declaration of "What the Bible says about homosexuality" on your front page will have a heartbreaking effect on the morale of gays and lesbians, and will boost the morale of people who condemn them.

Just as your front-page graphic cannot accurately capture what the Bible says about homosexuality, we cannot do so in this letter, either. Books, articles, and essays have been written on the subject, and they haven't resolved the question. The Plain Dealer article mentioned Soul Force; we can refer to so several essays that are posted on the Soul Force web site at www.soulforce.org. A pamphlet called "Is Homosexuality A Sin" posted at the web site of PFLAG (Parents, Family, and Friends of Gays and Lesbians), at http://www.pflag.org/store/resource/isitasin.html, directly addresses the quotes used in your article, and does so in the context of the time and place they were written.

To emphasize - we believe that your mistaken effort at biblical interpretation will cause harm to the community, and must be addressed through direct action on your part - not just by allowing dissenting opinions to be heard.

Signed

Rev. Dan Bryant
Church of the Redeemer
Cleveland Heights

Phillip H. Gillis
United Methodist clergy, retired
Cleveland, OH

Rabbi David Horowitz
Temple Israel, Akron, OH
President, PFLAG-Akron

Rev. Tricia Dykers Koenig
Noble Road Presbyterian Church
Cleveland Heights, OH

Rev. Kathryn Matthews Huey,
Pilgrim United Church of Christ
Cleveland, OH

Bruce Kriete
Vice President, PFLAG-Cleveland
Akron, OH

Rev. Laury Larson
The Church of the Covenant
Cleveland Heights, OH

Linda Malicki
Executive Directory, Lesbian/Gay Community Service Center
Cleveland, OH

Judy Montgomery
Co-Chair, GLSEN-Cleveland
(Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network)
Cleveland, OH

Frank November
Co-chair, Human Rights Campaign Cleveland Steering Committee
Cleveland, OH

Rev. Bill Pierce
United Methodist Church
Fairview Heights Park??, OH

Robin Richmond
President, PFLAG-Cleveland
Cleveland, OH

Rev. Robert T. Strommen
Association Minister
Western Reserve Association, United Church of Christ
Cleveland, OH

Rabbi Susan Stone
Temple Beth Israel
Hudson, OH

Rev. Thomas S. Taylor
Chair, Reconciling Congregation Program of East Ohio
Cleveland, OH

Rev. Judith Vasile
Euclid Avenue Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
Cleveland, Ohio

(Note: Congregations are listed for identification only)