This negative media campaign includes a personal attack upon Rev. Perry -- and a call for President Clinton to withdraw his invitation to Troy.

This media campaign, as characterized by UFMCC, is "unusally vicious, ugly, meanspirited and untruthful." For example, the staff at the Family Research Council released a news release with the title, "President Clinton to Honor Homosexual Minister Who Advocates for Sadistic Sex," and characterizes Rev. Perry as a "champion of vile perversions" and someone who "glorifies the infliction of pain and humiliation through...torture." The news release goes on charge that Perry and UFMCC "celebrate violent and degrading sexual practices."

The text of the Family Research Council's "hate" release follows. Please note that it is full of misquotes, misstatements and untruths. UFMCC's public response follows.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--President Clinton is honoring a homosexual minister who advocates no limits on sexual practices, Americans for Truth about Homosexuality (AFT) has learned. AFT President Peter LaBarera and other pro-family leaders are calling on Mr. Clinton to revoke the award.

Rev. Troy Perry--who founded the Metropolitan Community Church for homosexuals and who celebrates his "God given sexual orientation"--will be among the 120 American religious leaders honored by the White House tomorrow for their contributions to society, according to an Internet bulletin published by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC).

The vision statement for the UFMCC, which now claims 70,000 members worldwide, call for "inclusive Christian spirituality which celebrates the integration of spirituality and human sexuality." But LaBarbera, Robert Knight, director of cultural studies at the Family Research Council (FRC), and Mark Tooley of the Institute for Religion and Democracy (IRD), said Perry's movement merely celebrates a sin condemned by the Bible and that and that he should NOT be honored.

"Troy Perry is a testament to man's infinite capacity for self-delusion," LaBarbera said. "He's taken all divine judgement out of sexuality and champions the most vile perversions known to man. In addition to promoting sodomy and denying the hopeful truth that homosexuals can change, he glorifies the infliction of pain and humiliation through bondage, whipping and torture. Honoring him further degrades the Office of the Presidency."

As a contributor to the book Leatherfolk: Radical Sex, People, Politics and Practice (Alyson: 1991), Perry describes his "journey into leather," a homosexual slang term for the subspecies of homosexuality which celebrates violent and degrading "sexual" practices collectively known as "sado-masochism." As justification, Perry notes that "John the Baptist, the person who proclaimed the one we believe is the Christ, the Promised One, wore leather..."

IRD research assistant Mark Tooley said, "It is highly disappointing and embarrassing that the White House should honor a church leader whose religious career had been dedicated to the legitimizations of homosexual behavior. Christian leaders are called to offer the world hope and redemption. Troy Perry and his MCC church offer neither. Instead, they distort the Gospel, telling captives to a particular sin that deliverance is not only impossible, but undesirable. The church of Jesus Christ is supposed to transform the world. Troy Perry urges that the church abandon its ancient teaching and surrender to the world. He merits sorrow, not congratulations."

"We are witnessing the Administration's moral meltdown," said FRC's Knight. "What's next? A memorial to Church of Satan founder Anton LeVay?"

To schedule interview with LaBarbera, Tooley, or Knight, call LaBarbera at 202-393-2100. Americans for Truth is a non-partisan group dedicated to countering the homosexual movement in American politics and culture.

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Los Angeles, November 19, 1997—We are deeply saddened by the hostile attacks by the so-called Religious Right upon the Reverend Troy D. Perry, founder and moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, in response to the White House's invitation to participate in the Presidential breakfast for American religious leaders on November 20 at the White House.

This is another instance in which the Religious Right is simply wrong. The news release issued by the Family Research Council and Americans for Truth is full of misstatements and untruths which are designed to inflame and divide the public.

For the past three decades, the Rev. Mr. Perry and the churches of the UFMCC have offered positive, affirming Christian spirituality to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered persons. The Rev. Mr. Perry's work and ministry have been recognized by awards from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign and numerous civil rights organizations. He served with distinction on the Los Angeles Human Rights Commission. His pioneering work in the field of gay spirituality has furthered a dialog of understanding within mainline Christian and Jewish faith communities.

The more than 42,000 members of the UFMCC, and the 225,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons who find hope, faith, and spirituality within UFMCC congregations each year, are eloquent testimony to the Rev. Mr. Perry's ministry and the on-going work of the UFMCC congregations.

Attacks of this nature remind us why the churches of the UFMCC are often referred to as "spiritual outposts" for the gay community. As Rev. Perry's participation last week in the White House Conference on Hate Crimes confirmed, gays and lesbians comprise one of the last minority groups in America for which hate and discrimination are still socially acceptable by too many of our citizens.

Website: http://www.ufmcc.com