Dr. Mel White Begins Week Two of Prison Fast Protesting Pat Robertson's
"Anti-Gay Rhetoric"

February 21, 1995, Virginia Beach, VA

Locked up for seven days now in an isolation cell in the Virginia Beach
City Jail, Dr. Mel White still refuses to eat or to be released on bail
after his arrest for "trespassing" at CBN, Pat Robertson's television
production center.

"This is not a publicity stunt," White wrote from his cell. "Innocent gay
and lesbian Americans face suffering and death because of Pat's false and
misleading rhetoric. We must take our stand against this toxic flow
of misinformation from Robertson, Falwell, Dobson, Kennedy and the 
others. Their misunderstanding of a handful of biblical texts endangers
the freedom and the safety of millions of Americans."

White, a former ghostwriter for religious celebrities including
Robertson, is now a clergyman with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan
Community Churches, a largely gay and lesbian Christian movement with
300 churches in 17 nations. The Reverend Elder Troy Perry, founder of
the UFMCC says, "We are asking people of faith across the nation to
join with us in prayerful support of Mel's protest in Virginia Beach."

At 12:00 noon every day, 12 clergy or lay leaders of various faith groups
continue to walk arm-in-arm to CBN Center. "We walk to show solidarity with
Dr. White's prison fast," explains Dr. Bob Bradford, a Presbyterian
minister with a gay son, "and to continue asking Pat Robertson to meet
with us."

"The connection between Pat's inflammatory words and the rising acts of
violence against us should be even more obvious since the abortion
clinic murders," says White in a jail interview. "I'm fasting and praying
that Pat will acknowledge publicly the rise of hate crimes against gays
and lesbians and condemn publicly anyone who commits or incites those
crimes."

When asked if he really believes his fast, arrest and time in jail will
do any good, White grinned and answered without a pause. "Pat Robertson
is just another victim of ancient misinformation that has victimized
us all. It took me 30 years to understand and accept myself. I'll give
Pat the time he needs, but I must go on warning him about the tragic
effects now of his rhetoric on the life of this nation. I believe that
Pat, too, can change if only he will hear the truth. And I'm going
to pray and fast, love and lobby him until that date.

Pat Heck, of Virginians for Justice, is asking everyone to write or fax
Pat Robertson urging him to meet with Mel's delegation. "It would also 
be nice," Heck adds, "for all of us to write Mel in jail to express
gratitude and solidarity. That's James Melville White, P.O. Box 6098,
Virginia Beach, VA 23456."

Already letters, faxes and calls of support have been received at FAST
headquarters at the New Life Metropolitan Community Church in Norfolk.
"They're contacting us from as far away as Brazil," says Carol Wier,
the congregation's new pastor. "They are sending prayers, best wishes
and donations to help."

"Dr. White's acts of civil disobedience 'in the name of Jesus' and his
prison fast have made a lot of Christians think," says The Reverend
Darlene Garner, a UFMCC elder. "Jesus told us to love one another,
but love doesn't roll over and play dead in the face of injustice. Love
resists oppression. And whatever you think of Mel's motives or methods,
I believe that's what he's trying to do."

For more information contact: Dawn Rankin-Phelps (804) 543-2460
For interviews with White in jail, contact: Virginia Beach City Jail
                                                (804) 427-4073
For information regarding the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community
Churches contact:       Rev. Kittredge Cherry
                        UFMCC, Suite 304
                        5300 Santa Monica Blvd.
                        Los Angeles, CA 90029
                        (213) 464-5100 Fax (213) 464-2123