Members of the LGBT community across the nation have been expressing outrage at President-Elect Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. Mr. Warren heads a megachurch in California and has been a strong opponent of equality for gays and lesbians, going as far as to equate homosexuality with incest. He is also a vocal opponent of reproductive freedom.
In an open letter to Obama, the Human Rights Campaign called this move “a genuine blow to LGBT Americans,” further saying that
Rev. Warren cannot name a single theological issue that he and vehemently anti-gay theologian James Dobson disagree on. Rev. Warren is not a moderate pastor who is trying to bring all sides together. Instead, Rev. Warren has often played the role of general in the cultural war waged against LGBT Americans, many of whom also share a strong tradition of religion and faith.
The full text of the Human Rights Campaign letter is available here. The Washington Post story on the reaction to this choice is available here.
