On Saturday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry will host The Response, a prayer rally at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The event is funded and organized by the American Family Association, a group with a history of making derogatory remarks about gays and lesbians, progressives, Native Americans, African Americans and non-Christians. The event will also feature a number of Religious Right leaders with a history of pushing far-right views into American politics.

People For the American Way’s African American Ministers in Action, a nationwide network of African American clergy, urged Gov. Perry to focus his rally on bringing Americans together, rather than creating divisions based on fear and intolerance.

“Gov. Perry has a great opportunity to bring together people of faith to work toward the betterment of our country,” said Leslie Watson Malachi, Director of African American Ministers in Action. “Unfortunately, in planning his prayer rally, he has chosen to ally himself not with voices of unity and hope but with forces of division and intolerance. On Saturday, I will be praying for our country to continue on the path of acceptance, inclusiveness, equality and opportunity for all. I urge Gov. Perry to publicly denounce the divisive rhetoric of the American Family Association and join me in praying for a better future for all Americans.”

More information on the American Family Association and The Response can be found at https://www.pfaw.org/media-center/publications/gov-rick-perry-s-extremist-allies

###