By: Ryan Shaw Re: Rev. White 2/2 UNIVERSAL FELLOWSHIP OF METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCHES M

By: Ryan Shaw
Re: Rev. White 2/2

UNIVERSAL FELLOWSHIP OF METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCHES
Ministry of Justice
Contact Dawn Rankin-Phelps: 804-855-8450

PRESS RELEASE: February 15, 1995

Rev. Mel White Arrested At Christian Broadcast Network Complex

       Virginia Beach, VA, (February 15, 1995)...At approximately 12:30, today,
Gene Kapp, spokesperson for Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), accepted a
letter to CBN Founder Pat Robertson and then requested that Rev. White and his
delegation leave.  Rev.White replied, "As an act of civil disobedience in the
name of Christ I choose to stay".  At that time, Rev.White was arrested and
placed in handcuffs by Lt. Boswell of the Virginia Beach Police and removed
from the CBN property. He was charged with trespassing at an institution of
higher learning.
       Rev. White remains incarcerated at the Virginia Beach jail under $2500
bond. He has vowed to fast until Robertson agrees to meet with him. His fast
continues. --end--

Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches
          The Reverend Troy D. Perry, Founder
UFMCC 5300 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite 304, Los Angeles CA 90029,
         Tel (213) 464-5100 FAX (213) 464-2123
    The Reverend Dr. Mel White, Minister of Justice

(THIS OPEN LETTER FROM DR. MEL WHITE WAS RELEASED BEFORE HIS ARREST)
           An Open Letter to Pat Robertson        February 15, 1995

Dear Pat:

       Yesterday, February 14, 1995, when our delegation of 12 Christian
leaders tried to meet with you at CBN (as we have been commanded by Jesus in
Matthew 18:15-17), we were met at the gate by a small army of security officers
who informed us that we were not welcome.  And though they allowed us to
proceed to CBN's visitor center, after a few moments there, your spokesman,
Gene Kapp, asked us to leave.  Because the Virginia Beach Police Department had
warned us that they had been called to arrest us if we insisted on waiting to
see you, the delegation embraced and left quietly. I refused to leave, went to
the lobby bookstore, purchased the book I had written for you, America's Dates
With Destiny, and sat down to read.
       Your security officers sealed the area from the media and from my
friends. When Dr. Jack Aja came to bring me my topcoat, even he was hurried
away.  Your people were polite but firm, anxious to resolve this matter without
more confrontation.  I want to thank them for their courtesy. In an effort to
explain your unwillingness to meet with me for these past 20 months, your CBN
Chaplain, Mark Johnson, explained it this way: "Homosexuals represent the cult
of death," he said, "because you don't procreate. If Pat meets with you, he
would give your movement credibility." It is that kind of false and
inflammatory claim against us that we have come to discuss.
       At 5:30 PM, after four and one half hours in your lobby, I was forcibly
ejected out the back door by your security personnel. Just before I was
physically removed from CBN Center, your corporate attorney warned me that if I
returned, I would be considered a trespasser. How sad. CBN is not your
property, Pat. It is God's property. Thousands of Christian people like my
Grandmother, Noni, and my Mom and Dad have given to money to build that
impressive campus.  Would Jesus have called the police to keep us out? We came
in His name, asking for one thing only, to talk to you about the suffering of
God's gay and lesbian children and how your false claims against us help
contribute to that suffering.
     We don't come to change your mind about the nature or theology of
homosexuality. We come simply to talk to you about the plight of gay and
lesbian Americans who, because of their sexual orientation alone, are abandoned
by their families, excommunicated from their churches, fired from their jobs,
evicted from their apartments, robbed of their earned benefits, discharged from
the military service, cut off from their own children, deprived of the rights
guaranteed them by the Constitution, harassed in public and private,
terrorized, beaten and murdered.
       Our primary concern, Pat, are the hate crimes against us increasing at
an alarming rate in numbers and in brutality all across the nation. You have a
national news service at CBN. We thought you would be interested in the anti-
gay hate crime statistics we have gathered. And because we know that you
deplore violence, we wanted to demonstrate to you how, inadvertently, your
false charges against us contribute to that violence as they are repeated
endlessly on The 700 Club, in your fund raising letters, and in the materials
of the Christian Coalition.
       We just want to talk to you, Pat, about the suffering of our brothers
and sisters and how you might help us end the suffering. We believe that you
are a reasonable man and that eventually you will find one hour in your busy
schedule to see us. You wouldn't make an appointment to see us yesterday.
Maybe, today, you will see us or make an appointment to see us in the days or
weeks ahead. And though your attorney has warned us if we come back today we
will be considered trespassers, we must come back today and tomorrow and for as
long as it takes until you find it in your heart to see us. Lives are at stake.
Please, in the Name of God, meet with us, hear our case, and then decide for
yourself what must be done.

       Sincerely,

       Mel White

(THIS OPEN LETTER FROM DR. MEL WHITE WAS RELEASED AFTER HIS ARREST)
           An Open Letter to Pat Robertson        February 15, 1995

Dear Pat,
       Today, once again, when I returned to CBN with our delegation of
Christian leaders (as Jesus commanded us in Matthew 18: 15-16), your security
force met us at the gate. After warning us that we were not welcome, your
spokesman, Gene Kapp, ordered the Virginia Beach Police to arrest us.
       At that time, I spoke with my delegation and told them to go ahead and
leave the property, respecting your wishes and said to Mr. Kapp, "As an act of
civil disobedience in the name of Christ I choose to stay". I was then
handcuffed and led off the CBN property, while the delegation softly sang a
hymn.
       It is growing more apparent, even to the eternally optimistic, that for
some reason you have decided never to meet with our small delegation of
religious leaders who come to you on behalf of God's gay and lesbian children.
       For twenty months I have asked for such a meeting, first in a private,
off the record discussion, then in a more public forum. When you refused to
meet us on Tuesday, February 14, I began a fast for understanding, hoping that
this small sacrifice would convince you of my sincerity. And though I will
continue to hope and pray that you will meet with us to review the hate crime
data, let me summarize our simple request.
       First, acknowledge the growing number of hate crimes against gay and
lesbian Americans.
       Second, condemn those hate crimes and the people who incite or commit
them.
       That's what we came to ask. Will you use your powerful voice to take a
stand against the suffering of innocent Americans? When I hear that you have
taken this simple stand, I will end my fast. Is it too much to ask of  you to
report the hate crimes and to do your best to end them?  In the name of God,
please, Pat, help us end the suffering.
___ FMail/386 1.0g
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