Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C., and committed to banning same-sex marriage, today agreed to visit the home of a same-sex couple for the first time.
After telling CNN's Brooke Baldwin last Thursday that he had never been to the home of a gay couple, Perkins received an invitation from Jennifer Chrisler, the executive director of the Family Equality Council.
In the letter, printed by The New Civil Rights Movement, Chrisler wrote:
"As Christians,I think we can both agree that ours is not to judge and that we must live by the golden rule. I open my table to you and invite you to get to know me and my family."
The letter was sent to the Family Research Council on Friday, and Perkins accepted the invitation on Monday sending a statement to CNN in which he said, "My wife and I will be glad to respond when we receive the invitation to find a time that works."
Chrisler told CNN's Baldwin she was surprised at Perkins' acceptance and doesn't expect to change his mind rather seeking to soften his heart.
In her letter to Perkins, Chrisler wrote:
"I, like you, am a parent. Like you, my spouse and I have shared many years together committed to our family, our community, and to making the world a better place," Chrisler wrote in the letter delivered last week. "I imagine we share many of the same joys and struggles in doing the important work of raising our children and contributing meaningfully to our community. We attend church regularly and our children attend Sunday school weekly. We love our children intensely and feel a deep desireto protect and nurture them as they continue along their journey to adulthood. We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of our third child, due in August, and have worked since hisconception to ensure his health and welfare. This is the face of the one million families you have taken no time to get to know."
Chrisler and her wife have twin 10-year-old boys and are expecting a third child.