The Cathedral of Hope — an LGBTQ±affirming United Church of Christ in Dallas, Texas — has made a concerted effort to defend the queer community from “persecution,” as the state government targets drag queens and transgender people.
The church recently held a service where they blessed drag queens and pledged to “stand for justice, proclaim love, and protect the rights of all people.”
While about three dozen protestors stood outside of the church hurling slurs and threats, approximately 850 people attended the service.
“Anyone check the weather today?!” one protester screamed. “’Cause it might rain fire and brimstone on this church and burn every homo inside!”
But for the ugliness on display outside, the congregation filled the building with love and “radical inclusivity.”
“We recognize that all people are made in the loving image of God, no matter who they are, how they dress, express themselves, or who they love,” the pastor intoned during the service. “We celebrate this divine diversity and commit to lifting up the voices of the LGBTQ+ community and creating spaces where everyone can thrive.”
As one worship leader noted as the pastor gave communion, “Drag queens are often targets of hate and violence.” The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, in particular, were singled out for particular honor due to their lifesaving work during the AIDS epidemic.
“These Sisters were at the bedsides of men dying of AIDS,” Rev. Dr. Neil G. Thomas said. “They bring humor, they bring activism, they provide and bring a level of spirituality that many of us have had taken away from us. Despite the humor, they take their spiritual work very seriously.”
The service was a response to recently passed legislation meant to make a drag a crime. The law, passed by Republicans, has been challenged in court by civil rights groups and blocked repeatedly by federal courts.
The law punishes drag performers and venues with a $10,000 fine if they allow a minor to see a “sexually explicit” performance. Such a performance is defined as one in which “a male performer [is] exhibiting as a female, or a female performer exhibiting as a male, who uses clothing, makeup, or other similar physical markers and who sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience.”
Lawyers from the Texas Attorney General’s office argued that because the law didn’t specifically mention drag, it wasn’t discriminatory to drag performances. However, in June, Gov. Greg Abbott ® shared a story about the law’s passage that contained the headline, “Texas Governor Signs Law Banning Drag Performances in Public,” and added the comment, “That’s right.” Many state politicians who supported the law also publicly stated that it was meant to target drag, specifically.
But would the law apply to churches? That’s unclear.
“My kid was here,” the lead pastor said. “I don’t have the right to choose to bring my kid to church when there are drag queens?”
I mean it’s all make believe anyway but I don’t recall the Bible actually condemning homosexuality. It condemns perversion, as in molestation or sexual assault, but doesn’t say anything about homosexuality to my knowledge.
You need to look again, because it absolutely does. Or do you think, “if a man lies with another man,” was just talking about best buds sleeping in the same bed.
Well super easy to verify. Can you cite the verse where it says this?
Cite the whole passages, friend. If you’re going to argue your point, bring the receipts and let people discuss. You’re making the claims…
LEVITICUS 20:13, fwiw.
In case you didn’t see the other replies, Leviticus 20:13:
Seems pretty black and white to me.
I’d be interested if you could share the original text, what you’ve shared is a translation. I don’t read Sanskrit or Aramaic so I am not sure I’d be super useful, but I imagine other people might be able to help.
It’s pretty close to the beginning, which is kind of telling… maybe try actually reading your holy book. You may be surprised what you find.
It isn’t my holy book. I read enough as a child to figure out it wasn’t a divinely inspired work.
I’m not going to engage too heavily in an online religious discussion, but as with most things it really is more complicated than that. Many, many Christians acknowledge these parts of the Bible while still being LGBTQ affirming. In brief terms there’s a very good case these passages largely are speaking of some kind of sexual abuse, or the use of sexual activity as an act of worship.
If you can filter your mind of centuries of homophobic biblical rhetoric and biased translations, it’s surprising how little there is to read on the subject.
Yes and they are hypocrites.
It’s amazing the mental gymnastics Christians will do to justify their hateful beliefs.
Someone else pointed out it’s Leviticus 20:13. Fair! It should be noted though that passage was to Moses about Jewish law as it goes on to talk about not eating unclean animals, etc… which is generally ignored by Christians but your point stands