.png){kind=logo} | |
| Formation | November 1997 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Rev. Mel White Gary Nixon |
| Type | Nonprofit (501(c)(3)) |
| Legal status | 501(c)(3) organization |
| Purpose | Ending religious and political oppression ofLGBT people throughNonviolent resistance |
| Headquarters | Abilene, Texas |
Region served | Worldwide |
| Methods | Nonviolent resistance Direct action Advocacy Education |
Executive Director | Rev Alba Onofrio |
| Website | soulforce |
Soulforce is a US-based501(c)(3)nonprofitsocial justice organization that is working to end the religious and political oppression againstLGBTQIA+ people throughnonviolent resistance.[1] It is led by Reverend Alba Onofrio.
Soulforce operates transnationally to create cultural shifts that reduce spiritual violence, includingreligious abuse and spiritual terrorism related to the misuse of religious teachings. It also challenges ideologies associated with white Christian supremacy and advocates reclaiming faith as a positive resource for healing and justice.[1]
Soulforce was founded in November 1997 by married life partnersRev. Mel White and Gary Nixon, based on principles ofnonviolent resistance.[2][3] Prior to co-founding the organization, Mel White worked forevangelical Christians as a pastor, seminary professor, filmmaker, and communications consultant, including work as a ghostwriter for several leaders of theReligious Right.[2][4] After publicly identifying as a gay man in 1994, he published an autobiography titledStranger at the Gate: To Be Gay and Christian in America.[3] He subsequently began organizing protests aimed at challenging the positions and practices of Religious Right leaders regarding their treatment of LGBTQ+ people.[3][4]
In October 1999, Soulforce gained national attention by organizing a historic meeting inLynchburg, Virginia, between 200 LGBTQ Christian volunteers led by White and 200 members ofRev. Jerry Falwell’s Baptist church.[3][5]
Following Lynchburg, Soulforce pursued a strategy of nonviolent direct action at sites of religious or political conflict over LGBTQ rights. In May 2000, Soulforce coordinated a large protest at theUnited Methodist ChurchGeneral Conference inCleveland, where the denomination was debating LGBTQ inclusion. The protest culminated in 191 people (including one bishop) being peacefully arrested after blocking exits to urge the church to stop treating “God’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered children” as second-class.[6] White and Soulforce activists similarly demonstrated at other church conventions, such asPresbyterian andSouthern Baptist meetings, whenever policies against LGBTQ clergy or unions were on the agenda.[6] This wave of civil disobedience was dubbed as the “Stop Spiritual Violence” campaign.[7]
In January 2001, a Soulforce/DignityUSA delegation even traveled to theVatican to protest Catholic teachings on homosexuality; although barred from demonstrating inside Vatican City, they staged prayerful actions just outsideSt. Peter's Square wearing shirts reading “God’s Gay Children Bring Gifts – Bless Them”.[7]
By the mid-2000s, Soulforce had broadened its activism beyond church assemblies to target influential organizations perpetuating anti-LGBTQ ideologies. In May 2005, Soulforce organized a high-profile protest atFocus on the Family’s headquarters inColorado Springs, drawing hundreds of LGBTQ people and allies.[8]
Soulforce's Culto Cuir (Church of the Queerly Beloved) is a community-centered collaborative ritual space that focuses onspiritual healing and reclamation withinQueer andTrans communities.[9] It has been hosted inBogotá,Colombia (July 2023),Quito,Ecuador (September 2023),Durham, North Carolina (June 2024), andMexico City,Mexico (October 2024). Each experimentalperforming-arts gathering is organized with local communityactivist groups,LGBTQ performers, and affirming religious leaders, using a theological framework developed by Soulforce and co-adapted for each local context. Services typically include the traditional elements ofprayer andmusic, but centerdrag performances,spoken-word poetry, and other LGBTQIA+artists. The gatherings also feature specific re-imaginedChristian rituals led by LGBTQIA+ clergy, such as the Trans Baptism and Name-Change Ceremony, aCommunion ofmilk and honey, and a reverseAltar Call that responds to LGBTQIA+ experiences of spiritual violence at the hands of faith leaders,therapists and themental-health and religious institutions they represent.[9]
In late 2024, Soulforce and the Teología Sin Vergüenza community organized a transnational summit forQueer/Trans andfeminist theologians, faith leaders, and religious activists inMexico City. Somos Muchxs! (“We Are Many!”) was a three-day event that brought together participants from 13 countries to exchange ideas, build solidarity, and coordinate collective action in support ofhuman rights andsocial justice.[10]
The Institute on Spiritual Violence, Healing, and Social Change is abilingual, transnational, andinterdisciplinary initiative that researches and organizes against institutionalized violence rooted inreligion andspirituality. It brings togethersocial scientists, activists, survivors, theologians, and othercivil-society members across theAmericas. The institute aims to support communities free from spiritual and physical violence and to foster power relations founded on equality and respect forhuman dignity.[11]
Teología Sin Vergüenza (loosely translated as Shameless Theology) is a transnational,interdisciplinary media platform founded byQueerLatinxfeminist theologians. It was developed in response to the dominance ofChristian fundamentalist perspectives inSpanish-language religious media inLatin America and theUnited States. The platform brings together Queer and Trans Latinx scholars, faith leaders, and activists who explore the intersections ofGender,sexuality, andreligion within academic, ecclesial, and activist movements.[12][13]
Soulforce's Spirit Resource Library provides freeonlinebooklets in seven languages. These political and theological resources examine and critique fundamentalist ideologies while offering alternative perspectives on theBible andChristian theology.[14]
The SoulforceEquality Ride was asocial-justice program led by young adults who visitedcolleges and universities across theUnited States that discriminated againstlesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people through policy or culture.[15] The program ran from 2006 to 2012 and involved over 100 participants visiting 101Christian colleges and universities, aiming to facilitate dialogue about LGBTQIA+ issues and support affected students.[16] During these visits, Equality Ride participants often represented the first openly affirming LGBTQIA+ perspectives invited onto these campuses to discuss issues at the intersection of faith and sexuality.[17][18] The initiative provided both an educational and spiritual experience for participants and campus communities. Despite differing theological views, many institutions acknowledged the program’s role in fostering constructive dialogue and greater understanding.[19]
TheEquality Ride was the subject of an award-winning 2008 documentary,Equality U, directed by Dave O’Brien. The film, which chronicled the experiences of the young riders on the inaugural 2006 bus tour, won the Emerging Talent Award for its director atOutfest (the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival) and a Special Programming Award for Freedom atNewFest in New York.[20]
The SoulforceGive Back IX was a campaign focused on promoting fairness, inclusion, and solidarity in the context ofgender justice andsports.[21][22] The campaign originated from concerns expressed by LGBTQIA+ staff and students at conservative Christian institutions, who believed that addressing high-profile areas like athletics and related financial investments was essential to achieve meaningful change. The campaign’s title referencesTitle IX, a U.S. federal law enacted to protect women and LGBTQIA+ individuals from discrimination ineducational institutions.[21] Title IX has historically faced controversy, particularly from conservative Christian colleges and universities, some of which have usedreligious exemptions to avoid compliance.[21][23] While Title IX addresses a wide range of issues, it is most commonly associated withsports, particularly due to the public debates surroundinggender equality in funding for men’s and women’s athletics.[21]
In 2006. Soulforce organized the Right to Serve Campaign, the first nationally organized youth effort to bring attention to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of theUnited States Armed Forces. Youth in 30 cities across the country were recruited to organize events in which openly lesbian, gay and bisexual youth attempted to enlist in the United States Armed Forces while stating their sexual orientation. Headed byJacob Reitan and Haven Herrin, it took place in 30 cities from late summer and fall of 2006.[24]
In May, in Roseville, a suburb of Minneapolis, two men and a woman tried to enlist in the Minnesota National Guard. One application was rejected immediately and the others put on hold.[25] On August 30, in Madison, Wisconsin, an Army recruiter turned away three men, one a college graduate and the others college students.[26] One of them said: "We're not here as a publicity stunt. I want to serve alongside my fellow Americans. That's why we're here."[27] Two men turned away by recruiters in Chicago on September 12, 2006, returned the next day and staged a sit-in.[26] A University of Maryland sophomore was turned away when she tried to enlist on September 26.[28] Other events, some including arrests, occurred in New York; Austin, Texas; and Greensboro, North Carolina.[29] In New York City, the recruitment center was closed, but the Right to Serve protesters staged a seven-hour sit-in.[24]
Books
Booklets
