WACO, Texas – 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 advocates as guest speakers.
“All Are Neighbors” will be held in a banquet hall on campus April 22, the same day as the TPUSA “This Is the Turning Point” event in Waco Hall.
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.
Baptist News Global 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
Texas Baptists said in a statement about the event April 10: “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. …
“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.
Then today (April 17), BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri sent a follow-up letter saying he has had conversations with Baylor leadership, Texas pastors, the convention’s executive board and others.
“As executive director, I agree that hosting speakers who are Christian, identify as gay, and practice LGBTQ+ advocacy at a university-approved event is inconsistent with the convention’s long-standing views on biblical sexuality,” Guarneri said. “It is likely that the viewpoints to be shared at this event and others may not represent either BGCT’s or Baylor’s official positions and convention messengers have made it clear that the traditional view of biblical sexuality is a matter of fellowship and harmonious cooperation.
“I share the concerns of many of our Texas Baptists pastors and churches. While I respect the BGCT governance process and the final authority of convention messengers, I will ask the directors attending our upcoming May Executive Board meeting to initiate a study of our relationship with Baylor through our Institutional Relations Committee. Baylor University leadership is aware of this decision and has expressed interest and willingness to engage in this process.”
Guarneri also says in the letter that he has heard similar concerns from some Texas Baptists about Baylor’s hosting of the TPUSA event.
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 Texas Baptist 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 2025 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.”
This article originally appeared in the Baptist Standard. Baptist Press contributed to this report.
