Not All Like That 1 Favorite 

John Shore and his wife Catherine had been attending the First Presbyterian Church of San Diego for six years when they were nominated to serve as deacons. But before they could be ordained, they were asked to sign a document agreeing that no person in a same-sex relationship should hold any position of authority within the church, which is one of the city’s oldest. It was 1990. The couple had never heard the pastor or any of his fellow church-goers talk about homosexuality.

"At first, I thought she was kidding," John says. "I said something to the effect of, 'Wouldn't it be funny if there really were a document like that?'" John and his wife refused to sign. A few days later, copies of an article the pastor had written calling acceptance of homosexuality a heresy were stacked at the church's entrances. "That's how we learned there was a whole world of Christians out there that doesn't condone homosexuality," he says.

Since then, John has dedicated himself to fighting the idea that being a good Christian means hating gay people. He has been blogging about faith and gay rights since 2007 on his own website. He also wrote a book on the subject, Unfair: Christians and the LGBT Question in 2011.

But his message is about to get a much bigger audience: He has teamed up with several prominent gay-rights activists—including sex columnist Dan Savage and Truth Wins Out founder Wayne Besen—to launch the NALT (Not All Like That) Christians Project. The project centers around notalllikethat.org, a website where gay-affirming Christians can upload video testimonials in support of LGBT people. The site, which went live today, takes its inspiration from the "It Gets Better" project, a similar media campaign started by Savage to counteract bullying of LGBT teens. Like "It Gets Better," the NALT Christians Project is also intended to serve as a resource for LGBT youth seeking guidance about the connection between themselves and their faith.