Volume 25, Number 3    December 2003

Mel White: A Gandhian response to antigay violence

Rev. Mel White used to be a speechwriter for Jerry Falwell and was well known in the Christian fundamentalist community. This involvement ended when he came out as a gay man. Now he and his partner deliberately live across the street from Falwell's church in Lynchburg, Va., and are co-founders of Soulforce, a grassroots organization that uses Gandhian nonviolence to combat spiritual violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons by religious institutions.

“Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are victims, too,” said White to his CTA audiences. And he added with a smile, “Pray with me that very soon Jerry will have twin lesbian grandchildren.”
White expressed frustration with the U.S. Catholic bishops. They have admitted in meetings with him that the Church’s teachings are destructive to the mental well-being of GLBT persons, sometimes even leading to suicides. But they say they are powerless to do anything because of pronouncements from the Vatican. White said that Soulforce has found it impossible to negotiate with the bishops, so the only choice remaining is direct, nonviolent resistance such as occurred at the bishops' meeting last November when three gay men were denied communion and were later arrested for protesting this refusal in the lobby of the bishops’ hotel.

“As Christians, we're committed to a radical gospel,” White said. “Jesus told me what to do, but Gandhi told me how to do it.” One must experience suffering, identify the cause of the suffering and then help those who suffer. White showed video examples of ways the religious right uses the media and their links to the power elite to spread its hateful message about homosexuality.

Mel White and Soulforce joined ranks with Dignity USA for several days of protest at the Vatican in January 2001. White said he and Soulforce will return to Rome as soon as a new pope is elected, to deliver the message: “Stop spreading violence by the Church against God's gay children.”

Key websites: www.soulforce.org and www.dignityusa.org