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Last week, a group of pastors from Mobile released a joint letter to Facebook opposing the City of Mobile’s funding or support for events related to Pride Month.
The letter includes references to biblical scripture arguing for why the evangelical pastors oppose displays and support for “homosexual sin”. The letter even states that they were compelled to speak out because “to be silent in the face of evil would itself be a betrayal of our Lord’s command.” 43 pastors in total signed onto the letter.
However, the language used in the letter quickly morphs from biblical scripture to culture war dialogue manufactured to demonize LGBTQ+ people. The pastors state that they oppose “sexually-focused activities” in public places “where children may be places in danger.”
And it is for that reason why the pastors oppose The City of Mobile and Visit Mobile publicly funding or endorsing specific events outlined below:
- “Painting the War Memorial Cannon in Rainbow
- Painting downtown Mobile crosswalks in Rainbow
- Drag Queen Story Hour in the Mobile Public Library
- City and county taxpayer funding ‘Visit Mobile’ promoting ‘family-friendly LGBTQ Pride events’ featuring Drag Queens
- Taxpayer-funded Visit Mobile seeming to editorialize on their website and what appears to be on behalf of our city that ‘Mobile embraces all love’
- A Drag Queen Performance held this month in Cathedral Park in front of The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and in front of children during city-promoted Loda Art Walk’s Pride Parade.”
The letter goes on to imply that drag performances in front of children and reading LGBTQ+ material in front of them at a public library is a moral hazard. The letter also says that, “many in our community would regard such performances to be grooming.”
The pastors also state that, “the activist use of voter and tax-payer funds creates deep division” in the community. This is written as church leaders are using culture war buzzwords and hysteria to imply that LGBTQ+ people in their community are groomers and pedophiles targeting children with no factual, statistical basis .
