Bull Run Unitarian Universalist Church is located in Old Town Manassas, Va. They have hosted an annual gay prom since 2009.

Rabbi Melissa B. Simon is director of lifelong learning at Shir Tikvah in Minneapolis. She was previously a rabbinical intern at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in New York City, an LGBT-specific synagogue, where she led some of the congregation’s services for LGBT people. She is an advocate for LGBT rights.

Rabbi Laurie Green is the rabbi at Congregation Bet Mishpachah, a congregation for LGBT Jews and others in Washington, D.C.

A Nov. 17, 2008, report from the Britain-based website Ekklesia notes that one in four young people from across all religions have been bullied because of their religious beliefs.

See an April 16, 2010, article on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s site about some Christians’ concerns that efforts to highlight harassment of LGBT students, such as the “Day of Silence” observed at some schools, are essentially attempts to promote gay rights.

Read an Aug. 29, 2010, Denver Post article about Focus on the Family’s objection to anti-bullying programs that it says promote homosexuality and portray conservative Christians as bigoted.

The Queer Christian Fellowship is part of the The Christian Association at the University of Pennsylvania.

Read a Sept. 8, 2010, Huffington Post column by U.S. Sen. Robert Casey, a Pennsylvania Democrat, criticizing Focus on the Family for opposing a bill he introduced that would combat bullying.

John L. Selders Jr. is an ordained minister and bishop in the United Church of Christ and is the organizing pastor of Amistad United Church of Christ in Hartford, Conn.