Governor Herbert's support for hate group revealed to constituents

Global petition calls for Herbert to cancel speech to World Congress of Families

Crowdfunded Facebook campaign takes message directly to 40,000 Utahns

New York/London - Monday 26 October - Thousands of Utahns just discovered that their Governor is welcoming an anti-gay hate group to Salt Lake City. Utahns heard the news directly thanks to a targeted Facebook campaign, crowdfunded by members of All Out, a global movement for the rights of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people.

Governor Gary Herbert plans to give a welcome speech to the World Congress of Families at their annual meeting in Salt Lake City tomorrow (Tuesday 27 October). This group has been labelled a hate group because of its promotion of anti-gay laws in Nigeria, Russia and Uganda, and its attempts to block marriage equality around the world.

"Love is not a crime. But the World Congress of Families wants it to be - they've called for gay people to be locked up in jail," said Leandro Ramos, Interim Executive Director of All Out. "It's plain and simple - Utah's Governor should not be welcoming an anti-gay hate group to Salt Lake City. He's only getting away with it because Utahns don't realise how toxic this group is. That's why more than 325 All Out members have chipped in to flood the Facebook walls of people in Utah with this shocking news."

Governor Herbert received a global petition with 23,000 signatures last week, calling for him to cancel his speech at the conference. After he didn't respond, All Out members launched a crowdfunded Facebook campaign to ramp up the pressure. 325 All Out members chipped in to pay for carefully targeted Facebook ads to sound the alarm to Utahns that their Governor is welcoming a hate group to the state.

All Out members have used social media ads to fight for equality before. In May, when marriage equality was put to a referendum in Ireland, over 400 people chipped in to place ads all over Facebook to push young people out to the polls in the critical final hours before the vote.

For an up-to-date petition signature count click here:

https://go.allout.org/en/a/wcf-utah/

For an up-to-date count on crowdfunding donations click here:

https://go.allout.org/en/a/utah-herbert/

About All Out

In 75 countries, it is a crime to be gay; in 10 it can cost you your life. All Out is mobilizing millions of people and their social networks to build a powerful global movement for love and equality. Our mission is to build a world where no person will have to sacrifice their family or freedom, safety or dignity, because of who they are or who they love. www.allout.org