Church tells parents to avoid park because of ‘in-your-face homosexuals’
The post has sparked controversy (central arkansas pride and Glenwood United Methodist Church/facebook)
A church has attracted backlash after warning its followers to avoid an amusement park so their children didn’t see an LGBT Pride celebration.
On Tuesday, it was announced that a major Catholic rally taking place this summer will host workshops on welcoming LGBT people to the Church.
This expression of goodwill does not seem to have reached Glenwood United Methodist Church in Arkansas, which posted to its Facebook page on the same day to tell congregants: “Please avoid taking your children to Magic Springs on June 30th. It is LGBT Pride Day.”
The original post (Glenwood United Methodist Church/facebook)
The church then reacted to its own post with a ‘sad’ emoji.
In a second post, the church said it was “feeling concerned.”
It sought to clarify its stance, writing: “I encouraged our members (especially those bringing children) to avoid attending on that day (for obviously reasons).
The church sought to clarify its position on “homosexuals” (Glenwood United Methodist Church/facebook)
“While homosexuals are free to use the park any day they choose, ‘Gay Pride’ events are typically ‘in your face’ promotions of homosexuality and transgenderism.”
The message continued: “I removed the post because members of the LGBT community started commenting on the post.
“As usual, ANY disagreement with the ‘gay agenda’ is considered hate. We are already seeing that in our own denomination, sad to say.
“But, my intention was simply to warn those who were planning to attend about the event (NOT sponsored by Magic Springs) and suggest they might want to skip that day,” the church added.
The church has come under fire (KARK.com)
“For those of us who have tickets to Kansas and did not know about the event, I can only suggest going later in the day for the concert only.”
The church’s Facebook page has since been deleted.
The park is not holding an official LGBT event on June 30, but Central Arkansas Pride is organising a trip for that day under its programme Out Days.
The organisation’s executive director, Zack Baker, told local TV station KARK: “We are a little shocked.”
Central Arkansas Pride is organising a trip to the park (central arkansas pride/facebook)
The news comes just days after a group of gay evangelical Christians claimed that they were being forced to leave their churches due to their sexuality.
Several claimed they were “booted out” of the church by clergy after coming out, while others say they were allowed to remain but prevented from taking any meaningful role in the congregation, with some even being banned from making tea and coffee.
Earlier this year in Arkansas, a Libertarian candidate who vowed to “Make Arkansas Great Again” ended his bid for office after he was caught using anti-gay slurs.
Justin Jones, who was running for District 87 in the Arkansas House, wrote on Facebook: “The likelihood of a fag catching HIV is 1000% more likely then any straight person… fags are disgusting.”
Responding to criticism, he added: “I shouldn’t have said ‘fags’ should have said homosexuals. But I won’t apologise of the moral of my comment, homosexuality is wrong, and shouldn’t be publicly endorsed.”
