Stand Up for Civil Rights

I’ve pastored churches where LGBTQ+ people were afraid to be fully seen.

I’ve met teenagers kicked out of their homes for coming out. I’ve listened to people share their stories in whispers, worried about how their family, their job, or their community would respond.

And I’ve also seen what happens when people choose to live openly, love fully, and speak freely, even when it comes at a cost.

That’s the difference freedom makes.

I’m running for Congress because if we say we believe in freedom, it has to belong to everyone.

Right now, it doesn’t. And in some cases, it’s being taken away on purpose.

In Arkansas and across the country, we are seeing laws that target people because of who they are.

Books are being pulled from shelves. Drag shows are being banned. Trans kids are being singled out and denied care.

These aren’t abstract debates.

They affect real people. Your neighbors. Your coworkers. Kids trying to figure out who they are and where they belong.

And they send a message:

You don’t belong here.

That’s not freedom.

That’s exclusion.

Here’s what I believe:

• No one should lose their rights because of who they are or who they love

• LGBTQ+ people should be protected from discrimination in their daily lives

• People should have the privacy and freedom to live without being targeted or silenced

You don’t have to agree with someone’s life to believe they deserve equal rights.

That’s the point.

As a pastor, I believe every person is made in the image of God. That includes people who are gay, trans, nonbinary, or anywhere in between. It includes people who believe differently than I do.

It includes everyone.

Freedom of religion matters.

But it cannot be used as a reason to deny someone else their rights.

Because when rights become conditional, they stop being rights at all.

We’ve seen this before.

When laws are used to target people because of their race, their identity, or who they love, it doesn’t make communities stronger.

It divides them.

It creates fear where there should be trust.

And it tells some people they matter less than others.

We can do better than that.

We can build a country where people are free to live honestly, speak openly, and be treated with dignity under the law.

Not just some people.

Everyone.

Because freedom that only applies to some isn’t freedom at all.