After receiving strong criticism for hosting a Turning Point USA event on campus, Baylor administrators granted permission for student groups to host a separate event featuring two well-known gay Christians as guest speakers.
“All Are Neighbors” will be held on campus April 22, the same day as the TPUSA “This Is the Turning Point” event in Waco Hall. No information is currently available on where the “All Are Neighbors” event will be held.
It is believed this is the first time an openly gay Christian advocacy speaker has appeared on Baylor’s campus, Baptist News Global reported.
Students petitioned Baylor’s administration and received permission April 8 to feature keynote speakers Kelley Robinson, president of the leading national LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, and Paul Raushenbush, a Baptist minister and president of Interfaith Alliance, a D.C.-based national nonprofit organization founded to defend religious freedom and promote democracy.
BNG columnist and Baylor faculty member Greg Garrett also will speak at the event.
According to BNG, the student groups that petitioned Baylor for the event “include the student NAACP chapter, Students Demand Action, Hearts for the Homeless, Baylor Democrats, and Texas Rising.”
BGCT responses to Baylor
The Baptist General Convention of Texas said in a statement about the event: “We are aware of recent reports regarding the student-initiated ‘All Are Neighbors’ event being planned at Baylor University and are hearing strong concerns from members of the Texas Baptists family. We take these concerns seriously.
“At this time, we are working with University leadership to gather additional information, convey the seriousness of the concerns being shared, and consider an appropriate course of action.
“We value our longstanding partnership with Baylor University and remain wholly committed to our long-held view of biblical sexuality as we equip churches to be faithful to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission,” the statement said.
In July 2025, Baylor University rescinded a nearly $644,000 grant to Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work for the study of the “disenfranchisement and exclusion of LGBTQIA + individuals and women” in churches.
More than 60 BGCT pastors and church leaders endorsed an open letter of support for Baylor President Linda Livingstone and for Baylor’s decision to return the grant.
During the 2026 BGCT annual meeting, the convention’s 2026 budget drew motions from pastors Mike Miller and Kody Alvarez to remove funding for Baylor University.
Miller, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Jacksonville, called for the defunding of Baylor primarily in response to Baylor chartering PRISM, an LBGTQ student group, in April 2022.
“According to PRISM’s constitution,” Miller read during the 2025 BGCT annual meeting, “the mission of PRISM serves Baylor University and its students through creating a respectful space that embraces diverse sexual identities.”
Though Baylor has made official statements affirming the biblical understanding of sexuality, Miller asserted, “Baylor has chosen to contradict its own Statement on Human Sexuality.”
Baylor’s response
“As an academic institution, Baylor University is committed to ensuring open dialogue and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives,” an official statement from Baylor reads. “We hold this commitment along with an obligation to provide a safe and nurturing educational environment within a caring Christian community.”
The statement noted the university worked with the student organizations from both TPUSA and “All Are Neighbors” to align their events with institutional policies and procedures.
“Historically, Baylor has opened its doors to a wide range of student-invited speakers with differing viewpoints on theology, politics, research, and many other subjects as we prepare our students for a challenging, diverse world post-graduation. Baylor does not institutionally endorse the views of speakers at these events or other individuals invited to speak by student organizations.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Kendall Lyons and Faith Pratt and originally published by Baptist Standard.
