Chief David Brown, left, at LGBT Community Center ribbon cutting ceremony on May 21
Resource Center responded to statements by the Rev. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church Dallas by calling for the Dallas Police Department to repudiate any involvement with that organization.
Over the weekend, Jeffress said transgender friendly businesses are a bigger threat than ISIS. Yes, he is saying it is safer to vacation in Fallujah than to go to a Target.
In April, First Baptist Church offered free counseling to Dallas police as well as scholarships to church camp for officers’ children. First Baptist honored Dallas police at service that Chief David Brown attended.
A similar offer of counseling by Cathedral of Hope was ignored by Brown. Brown did, however, attend the opening of the new LGBT community center on Saturday, May 21.
Here’s Resource Center’s statement calling for Dallas Police to repudiate any affiliation with Jeffress.
Resource Center is calling on the City of Dallas and the Dallas Police Department to reassess its relationship with First Baptist Church of Dallas in light of recent statements made by church leadership comparing business supporters of the transgender community with a terrorist organization.
This most recent fanciful statement from the church in and of itself does not deserve a response. Our concern is with the alliance announced last month between DPD and the church, which has a history of making inflammatory remarks about women, Islam, the Catholic Church and the broader lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Dallas Police, as does the city of Dallas, has a responsibility to be an open and inclusive organization that serves all people as reflected in the city’s internal and external nondiscrimination statements. The Center believes the city of Dallas must make decisions and take actions that are consistent with those values. The partnership with First Baptist Church of Dallas fails that test.
