Save yOur Kids Campaign successfully impacts the nation at Southern Baptist Convention

Earlier this month, Faith in America traveled to Phoenix for the Southern Baptist Convention with the intent to educate on the detrimental effects of harmful religious teachings on our LGBTQ youth. Through the Save yOur Kids (SYK) Campaign, Campus Pride, Faith in America and other partners made it known that “every child—no matter their sexuality—should feel embraced by their church and by their God.” Through their efforts, Faith in America’s message reached millions of people across the nation.

Below is a summary of the impact of the Save yOur Kids Campaign at the Southern Baptist Convention, put together by Faith in America.

“The first is the potential reach of our online and broadcast publications. The SYK campaign was mentioned in 31 online publications with a potential reach of 59,000,000 and 3 broadcast stories with a potential reach of millions more. We focused on and got the majority of stories in conservative publications like FOX, Baptist News, and the Christian Broadcast Network, which means our work had the potential to reach thousands of LGBT youth who are struggling with their sexuality and their religious beliefs. Stories posted about our efforts in LGBT publications allowed the audience to learn new and important approaches to full and spiritual equality.

Our greatest success of the week was the interview on FOX Charlotte, where Pastor Stan Mitchell, Dr. Jack Drescher and Mitchell were able to speak about the importance of the SYK campaign—kids all over the country were able to hear a positive, non-polarizing message about harmful religious teachings. Watch the clip here and please share, as this is perfect way of getting the message out: SYK Fox Interview.  And worth repeating: this was on a FOX station in the conservative south!

The second metric is the number of direct engagements with SBC members. Together we were a coalition of organizations and churches to work on elevating the the conversation about the harm of religious rejection. SYK volunteers gave out over 3,000 pamphlets to SBC members, which culminated in well over 100 conversations over the course of two days. Some brave souls led by Brandon Robertson and David Key journeyed into the convention (with Mitchell and Tim Gold) where they were able to talk with SBC members and leaders to discuss our work and to open up a line of communication for the future collaboration.

The third metric is the number of online petitions signed. The SYK petitions were part of a well thought out online campaign to build and gauge support for the Save yOur Kids! campaign. We garnered more than 199,000 signatures of individuals who want to join us in our fight to end harmful religious teachings. Help us reach the 200,000 mark by taking the Save yOur Kids! pledge. Click here to sign the petition!“

Faith in America (FIA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to influencing media and faith community narratives on religion and sexuality. Its goal is to move the needle forward on LGBTQ equality in the pews and in legislation.

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Campus Pride is the leading national educational organization for LGBTQ and ally college students and campus groups building future leaders and safer, more LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. The organization provides resources and services to thousands of college students and nearly 1400 campuses annually. Learn more online at CampusPride.org.