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A sign of Baylor University is seen on South University Parks Drive in Waco, Texas, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (Jae S. Lee\/The Dallas Morning News)<\/p>\n
Jae S. Lee\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
Baylor University approved two gay Christian advocates to speak on campus this month as part of a student-led counter event to a Turning Point USA tour stop planned for the same day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The speakers include Kelley Robinson, a Catholic and president of\u00a0LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, and Paul Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and president of social justice nonprofit Interfaith Alliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The private Christian university in Waco has\u00a0long denounced same-sex relationships<\/a> and affirmed its stance that marriage between a man and a woman is the \u201cbiblical norm.\u201d The school\u2019s policies state that while it welcomes all students to campus,<\/a> it expects they \u201cwill not participate in advocacy groups which promote understandings of sexuality that are contrary to biblical teaching.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Baylor University did not charter an LGBTQ student group<\/a> until 2022, and school officials recently returned a research grant<\/a> to study the exclusion of LGBTQ individuals and women from churches, citing concerns about the work\u2019s alignment with Baylor\u2019s policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Robinson and Raushenbush will speak at \u201cAll Are Neighbors,\u201d an April 22 event that student organizers, including the\u00a0College Democrats of Baylor,\u00a0Baylor’s NAACP chapter and Texas Rising, say will serve as a celebration of religious and political diversity and\u00a0inclusivity on campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The event was planned as an alternative to conservative youth organization Turning Point USA\u2019s \u201cThis is the Turning Point\u201d tour, which will stop at Baylor\u2019s campus on the same day. Speakers at the Turning Point USA event, which will be hosted by the school\u2019s chapter, include Donald Trump Jr., border czar Tom Homan and political commentator Benny Johnson.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hanna Al-Hayek, a Baylor senior and organizer of \u201cAll Are Neighbors,\u201d said the student groups intend to provide \u201ca different space for all students who otherwise wouldn\u2019t feel welcomed and supported\u201d at the Turning Point USA event.\u00a0<\/p>\n Robinson will talk about advocacy as a spiritual and moral imperative, while Raushenbush will cover \u201clove and joy as a tool for inclusive religious freedom and resilient democracy\u201d and lead an interactive storytelling\u00a0activity,\u00a0Al-Hayek said.\u00a0<\/p>\n News of the event has drawn \u201cstrong concerns\u201d from some Texas Baptists, according to the Baptist General Convention of Texas,<\/a> which is composed of the state\u2019s congregations and institutions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAt this time, we are working with University leadership to gather additional information, convey the seriousness of the concerns being shared, and consider an appropriate course of action,\u201d a Friday statement from the group read. \u201cWe value our longstanding partnership with Baylor University and remain wholly committed to our long-held view of Biblical sexuality as we equip churches to be faithful to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In a statement Monday, a Baylor spokesperson said the school is \u201ccommitted to ensuring open dialogue and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHistorically, Baylor has opened its doors to a wide range of student-invited speakers with differing viewpoints on theology, politics, research and many other subjects as we prepare our students for a challenging, diverse world post-graduation,\u201d said Lori Fogleman, assistant vice president of media and public relations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The school has previously hosted LGBTQ speakers, including Christian author and advocate Justin Lee in 2019.<\/a><\/p>\n Baylor does not \u201cinstitutionally endorse the views of speakers at these events,\u201d Fogleman said, adding that the university worked with student organizations hosting both events to \u201calign their events with institutional policies and procedures.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Al-Hayek said she believes the \u201cAll Are Neighbors\u201d event does reflect Baylor\u2019s values and beliefs. She referred to Baylor\u2019s motto, which promotes the school\u2019s three commitments to Christian faith, to Texas and to the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The counter-event \u201caffirms that everybody is included, and that we are all made with Jesus’ command to love thy neighbor,\u201d Al-Hayek said. \u201cHe never specifies who that neighbor is, because we all are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sign of Baylor University is seen on South University Parks Drive in Waco, Texas, Tuesday, May 3,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,95009,95010,95012,88032,95008,89396,90041,89204,95011,92240],"class_list":{"0":"post-250611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-news-faith","12":"tag-news-politics","13":"tag-news-texas","14":"tag-tp-dallas-fortworth","15":"tag-tp-charlie-kirk","16":"tag-tp-ed-lab-college-career","17":"tag-tp-ed-lab-school","18":"tag-tp-education-lab","19":"tag-tp-lgbt","20":"tag-tp-religion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775016909_917_rawImage.jpg\" "\\"#\\"")
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