Contact: Peter LaBarbera, Illinois Family Institute, 630-790-8370, 630-546-4439
CHICAGO, July 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- Illinois Family Institute (IFI) will launch a “Love and Truth Offensive” July 15th to lovingly present an alternative Christian message countering the “Gay Games” (July 15-22)—culminating in a peaceful informational outreach in front of a Chicago gay bathhouse that is among the Games’ official sponsors.
The kickoff will be a press conference on Saturday, July 15 at 3:00 at the Congress Plaza Hotel in Chicago, featuring a former lesbian, Linda Jernigan, and Greg Quinlan, who was once a homosexual activist with the “gay” lobby group Human Rights Campaign but is now married and active in the pro-family movement.
IFI is working closely with Pastor Michael Allen of the Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago, who is leading a volunteer outreach of Christians who will present water bottles with a Gospel message to athletes and spectators at “Gay Games” venues across the city.
“We are presenting an alternative message to Gay Games attendees to anyone with an open mind to hear it,” said IFI Executive Director Peter LaBarbera. “Our outreach includes several excellent speakers who embody the spirit of true Christian compassion on this issue. All of us embrace the life-changing hope of Jesus Christ and understand that nobody has to be ‘gay.’”
LaBarbera said the Love and Truth Offensive will conclude Saturday night, July 22, with an informational Christian outreach in front of the homosexual bathhouse Steamworks in Chicago’s Boystown (gay) neighborhood. Steamworks, where men go for anonymous sex with other men, is an official sponsor of the Gay Games. Steamwork’s sponsorship is evidence of the unhealthy “extracurricular” activities that surround this event and the homosexual lifestyle in general, LaBarbera said.
“Because we care about gay men, we will be in front of Steamworks urging them not to engage in destructive and highly dangerous behavior,” he said.
Among the scheduled speakers at IFI’s “Love and Truth Offensive” during the “Gay Games” are the following:
- Robert Gagnon, author of “The Bible and Homosexual Practice,” speaking on, “Is proud homosexuality compatible with Christianity?” [Sunday, July 16 at 10:30 AM at Uptown Baptist Church]
- Linda Jernigan, founder of “RescuingHomosexuals.org,” who lived 19 years in the lesbian lifestyle;
- Greg Quinlan, ex-gay founder of the Pro-Family Network in Ohio;
- Janice Couture, whose daughter is a practicing lesbian: “How to love your gay or lesbian child without loving their behavior”;
- Linda Harvey of Mission America, speaking on, “How the gay movement endangers and corrupts children”;
- James Hartline, former homosexual and Christian activist in San Diego;
- Rev. Al Cleveland, an African American minister, on “Why homosexuality is not a civil rights issue”;
- Tim Graham of the Media Research Center, on pro-homosexual media bias; and
- Dr. John Diggs, on the health risks of homosexual behavior.
A full schedule of speakers, times and locations for the Love and Truth Offensive will be posted on the Illinois Family Institute website.
