Philadelphia had its gay pride festival, Outfest, this weekend. They were preached at by Repent America (the same good folks who told us God sent hurricane Katrina to stop Southern Decadence). From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Last year’s city-sanctioned street festival was blemished when 11 members of Repent America, a local antihomosexual evangelical Christian group, were arrested for refusing to move from in front of a stage performance.
Yesterday, some of those protesters joined members of the Street Preachers’ Fellowship, which is based in Johnstown, Pa., for a total of about 30 antigay activists who spread their word at the festival in small groups.
“At this point, you’re not going to get converts. This is their big day. But I’m here to rain on their parade,” said street preacher Ruben Israel, 43, who had flown in from Los Angeles. He carried a sign that said the letters in gay stand for “God Abhors You.”
Often those who seek to make gay people invisible say they are doing so “for the children”.
When 9-year-old Christopher Gomez saw the protesters, he was confused.
“Mommy,” he asked, “what’s that about?”
Mary Gomez replied, “Some people don’t like gay people.”
The answer seemed to further puzzle Christopher, whose mother is in a lesbian relationship. Mary Gomez, 44, said this was the first event she had attended with her four children, ages 9 to 18.
“You’ve just got to ignore them,” Gomez, of Reading, said of the protesters, “but it’s hard for kids. They’ve never seen this nastiness before.”
I saw Repent America in a documentary called “Flag Wars”.
Several of the youngsters there in Repent America’s group had Ken dolls in their hands that had been glued into sexually explicit positions.
I remember how shocked and angry I was that a parent would give children dolls glued together like that to make a point about sex at all, let alone gay sex.
They are guilty of taking graphic extremes and putting them in front of the young…something the gay persons present weren’t doing and wouldn’t in front of their own children.
To employ a tactic like that…what does that make Repent America?
Really?
I think scum is too good a word to describe them.
Can someone point out to me where “raining on their parade” is sanctioned by Jesus’ message?
Exodus President Alan Chambers praised the values and tactics of Repent America on his blog here.
It looks like this group was protested yesterday in retaliation for their Philly Protest/arrest.
The gay activists protesting were arrested this time.
I wonder if Alan Chambers will be calling for free speech rights this time around.
https://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13344995.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp