Andrew Marin

Andrew Marin (born December 16, 1980) is an American author, evangelical Christian,[1][2] and founder and current president of The Marin Foundation,[3] a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose purpose, according to their mission statement is "to build bridges between the LGBT community and conservatism through scientific research, biblical and social education, and diverse community gatherings."[4]

Marin, at one of The Marin Foundation's Living In The Tension gatherings, in Chicago, Illinois (2012)

Biography

Early years

Andrew Marin was born in 1980, to parents Beth and Peter Marin. The family lived in what Andrew described as "a very white, very conservative upper middle class suburb of Chicago."[2] Marin's parents are Pentecostal Christians, and the family attended church services with the Assemblies of God.

Marin attended Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois. Marin (then known as Andy) was involved in team sports, playing on his high school's baseball and hockey teams. In a 2010 interview, Marin described himself, in his youth as being "the biggest Bible-banging homophobic kid you ever met."[2] He graduated in 1999.

College years

Marin attended the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) on a Division I athletic scholarship, where he played baseball for the UIC Flames.[5] Marin studied Applied Psychology. In the summer of 2001, after his sophomore year, Marin moved to the predominantly LGBT Boystown neighborhood in Chicago.[2]

While in college, Marin was named the NIDRR Scholar through the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), for the summer semester in 2002, where he conducted research through UIC's Department of Disability and Human Development.[6] In 2003, Marin received his college's Chancellor's Student Service & Leadership Award.[7] Marin received his BA in Applied Psychology from UIC in 2003.

After college

In 2005, Marin founded The Marin Foundation.[8]

In 2011, Marin graduated from Eastern University with a master's degree in Urban Studies, with a concentration in Social Change.

In 2013, Marin began working on his PhD in Divinity from the University of St. Andrews.[9]

The Marin Foundation

History

Marin states that in the year 2000, the summer after his freshman year in college, his three best friends all came out to him, and that these experiences affected him so deeply that he was moved to create The Marin Foundation (in 2005).[10]

I'm Sorry Campaign

The Marin Foundation is most well known for their I'm Sorry campaign,[11] where their LGBT and straight members attend gay pride parades, and hold up signs apologizing for how Christians have treated LGBT people. A photo of one of these demonstrations in 2010, labeled "Christians Hugging a Gay Man in his Underwear" went viral and, according to The Marin Foundation's website, was shared "over 34 million" times and viewed "over 116 million" times.[11] In 2012 on Buzzfeed, the photo was the top-listed photo in a collection of "Pictures that will restore your faith in humanity".[12] In 2014 CNN called The Marin Foundation's I'm Sorry Campaign a "joy" to see the group "blocking hate speech with signs of love."[13]

Other activities

Besides the I'm Sorry Campaign, The Marin Foundation holds public gatherings in a series called Living in the Tension. They meet twice monthly in Chicago. The Marin Foundation has made appearances on major conservative media outlets such as the 700 Club,[2] and on LGBT outlets such as The Gay Agenda Show.[14] The BBC World News featured The Marin Foundation's gatherings held at a popular gay bar in Boystown, in print and on a 30-minute World News special; calling Marin's work a model of hope for the future.[15]

Controversy

When asked, Marin has always refused to answer the question of whether he believes that homosexuality is immoral,[16] citing an interest in promoting dialogue with both sides of the culture war. Marin justifies this through his belief that "sustainable social change cannot happen unless both sides are an active participant in the reconciliation process."[17] The reaction from LGBT community members[18][19] and religious conservatives[20] has been disapproving.

In October 2006 Marin came under scrutiny from LGBT activist and author Michelangelo Signorile in the LGBT interest magazine The Advocate, for purportedly misrepresenting his beliefs about LGBT people to various LGBT organizations.[21] The Marin Foundation had previously claimed endorsement from such organizations as the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, and the Gay Men's Health Crisis, but The Marin Foundation no longer claims affiliation with any LGBT organizations on its website[21] (though The Marin Foundation claims no affiliation with any entity on its website, whether LGBT or conservatism).[22] Though in 2011 The Marin Foundation was featured on the official blog of GLAAD, written by GLAAD Director of Programs, Global and US South, regarding Andrew Marin's social media post urging Christians, particularly evangelicals, to show solidarity with the LGBT community by participating in Spirit Day by wearing the color purple.[23][24] Then in January 2013 GLAAD Director of Religion, Faith and Values wrote a piece in the Huffington Post including Marin on the list of potential nominations to pray for America at President Obama's second Inauguration.[25] A few months later in an April 2013 review, syndicated advice columnist and LGBT activist Dan Savage referred to The Marin Foundation as "sneakily homophobic".[26] Marin responded to Dan Savage's statements in a blog post, citing supportive comments from various people, including LGBT people.[27] This prompted responses from various other bloggers.[28][29]

In the same Signorile October 2006 interview above in The Advocate, two women named Emily Webster and Melissa Garvey identified themselves as two of the "friends" to whom Marin had referred, in his story.[21] Webster and Garvey stated that Marin, without their knowledge or permission, had posted the women's full names and photos on his website, publicly identifying the two women as gay. Garvey asserted (and Webster agreed) that Marin had outed the two women for his own purposes. Marin later removed the photos, but left a description of how "Emily and Melissa" had come out to him, and how these experiences had marked a turning point for him. In the interview, Emily Webster and Melissa Garvey asserted that neither of them had ever come out to Marin, and that the entire story was a fabrication. In April 2008 investigative gay blogger David Roberts of the LGBT activist website Ex-Gay Watch made contact with Marin via email, and Webster and Garvey via Facebook, to verify who was telling the truth. Both of Webster and Garvey responded to Roberts with no comment. This led Roberts to be skeptic of Webster and Garvey's claim the story was fabricated by Marin. Roberts later interviewed Marin on an Ex-Gay Watch podcast.[30]

In July 2014 the same LGBT interest magazine The Advocate published an article, written by bisexual Christian Eliel Cruz, about the important work of The Marin Foundation and its I'm Sorry Campaign, after Cruz personally attended and documented his experience with The Marin Foundation in June 2014 in Chicago.[31]

Bibliography
  • Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community (paperback,[32] ebook,[33] audio,[34] May 2009, InterVarsity Press)
  • Love Is an Orientation DVD and Participant Guide: Practical Ways to Build Bridges with the Gay Community (DVD and paperback,[35] December 2011, Zondervan)
  • Our Last Option: How a New Approach to Civility Can Save the Public Square (ebook,[36] November 2013, Patheos Press)
  • Us Versus Us: The Untold Story of Religion and the LGBT Community[37] (paperback, ebook, audio, June 2016, NavPress)

Here is a list of Marin's other publications: chapters in edited books, academic journals, print and online articles, foreword to other books[38]

Awards

Love Is an Orientation book

Marin's book Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community (InterVarsity Press, 2009), won the following awards:[39]

  • Outreach Magazine - Resource of the Year Award: Culture Category (2010)
  • Leadership Journal - Golden Canon Leadership Book (2010)
  • Relevant Magazine - Top 20 Best Overall Books (2009)
  • Englewood Review of Books - Top 20 Best Overall Books (2009)
  • Christian Manifesto - Lime Award for Top 10 Best Nonfiction Books (2009)

Besides the Bible named Love Is an Orientation as one of the "One Hundred Books of All Time that Have, Should or Will Create Christian Culture".[40]

Personal

In 2014 Marin was named by the publication FAITH as one of the '25 Most Influential Christians for the Next 25 Years'[41]

References
  1. Crumm, David. "444 Conversation with Andrew Marin on a moratorium from anti-gay preaching". Read The Spirit. David Crumm Media, LLC. Retrieved 2013-09-05. Broadly speaking, I call myself evangelical.
  2. Sells, Heather. "Christian's Outreach to Gays: I'm Sorry". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  3. "The Marin Foundation". Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  4. "Mission". The Marin Foundation. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  5. Andy Marin, profile, UIC Flames Baseball
  6. NIDRR Scholar Andrew P. Marin, National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research
  7. Chancellor's Student Service and Leadership Award Archived December 12, 2012, at Archive.today
  8. "The Marin Foundation". GuideStar. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  9. Big Announcement and Transition at The Marin Foundation
  10. Marin, Andrew (2013-06-20). "Andrew Marin on Alan Chambers and the Closing of Exodus International". Love Is An Orientation. Patheos. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  11. The Marin Foundation. "I'm Sorry Campaign". The Marin Foundation. Archived from the original on 2013-06-02. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  12. 21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity, Buzzfeed
  13. "I'm Sorry Campaign Blocks Hate Speech with Signs of Love". Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  14. The Gay Agenda Show
  15. Why conservative Christians flock to a Chicago gay bar, BBC
  16. "Homosexuality - Answering the Tough Questions, with Andrew Marin". Archived from the original on 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
  17. Belmont May Change Actions Toward Gay Groups 1-24-2011, WSMV
  18. More on False Prophet Andrew Marin, The Gist, Michelangelo Signorile
  19. Part 3: Note to Skeptics, Love Is An Orientation
  20. Truncated Love: A Response to Andrew Marin’s Love Is an Orientation, Robert A. J. Gagnon, Ph.D., graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
  21. Signorile, Michelangelo (2006-10-10). "The Preacher Lied". The Advocate. Here Media. Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  22. "The Marin Foundation website". Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  23. "Christians Put the "Spirit" in Spirit Day". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  24. "Wear Purple on Spirit Day to Combat Bullying". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  25. "Who Can Pray for America? The Inauguration Benediction Question". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  26. Savage, Dan (11 Apr 2013). "What God Wants 'Does Jesus Really Love Me?' by Jeff Chu". New York Times. Retrieved 2013-06-22.
  27. My Response to Dan Savage’s Accusations about The Marin Foundation in the New York Times, Love Is An Orientation
  28. Why Straddling the Fence on LGBT Issues Doesn’t Work: Andrew Marin’s Response to Dan Savage
  29. Dan Savage vs. Andrew Marin
  30. "LaBarbera's Shameless Self Promotion May Damage a Real Ministry". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  31. "Christians Say 'Sorry' at Chicago Pride". Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  32. "Love Is an Orientation book". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  33. "Love Is an Orientation ebook". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  34. "Love Is an Orientation audio book". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  35. "Love Is an Orientation DVD and Participant Guide". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  36. "Our Last Option". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  37. "Us Versus Us". Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  38. "Marin Publications (Other)". Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  39. Love Is An Orientation Archived 2012-10-16 at the Wayback Machine, InterVarsity Press
  40. Besides the Bible Archived 2012-10-23 at the Wayback Machine, Relevant Magazine
  41. "Andrew Marin bio". Retrieved 2016-02-29.
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