Christian TikTok star refuses to back down after slamming gay people as ‘agents of Satan’ in homophobic video with ‘ex-gay’ leader
Christian influencer Joanna Theng (left) and City Revival founder Jaime Wong (Instagram/City Revival)
A Christian influencer has quietly withdrawn from social media after featuring in a video which listed reasons why LGBT+ people are satanic.
Singapore-based Joanna Theng, 22, had over 47,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 140,000 on TikTok when she appeared in a video alongside the group City Revival, which describes itself as a “inter-generational” and “inter-denominational” Christian community.
In the 14-minute video posted to Instagram on Wednesday (July 22), Theng and the group’s founder Jaime Wong explained that the gay “movement” was a manifestation of the devil’s plan to insult God.
“Have you ever wondered why the ‘gay Pride’ celebrates pride?” Wong asks. “Because Satan knows that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. So Satan wants mankind to celebrate the very thing that God opposes: pride.”
Wong goes on to claim that the six-coloured rainbow flag is further evidence linking LGBT+ people with Satan, since the Biblical rainbow has seven colours and the number 666 is the “mark of the beast”.
Theng continues: “Is it a coincidence that the gay Pride celebrates taking pride in distorting the true symbol of the love and peace of God with the six-coloured rainbow flag?
“We believe this movement is one of the ways that Satan the spiritual force has influenced the physical realm to manifest in ways that insult and show contempt for God.”
Joanna Theng issued a tepid half-apology.
When the pair were met with a torrent of criticism, Theng defended herself on Instagram by claiming that she has many LGBT+ friends.
“I have never hated and never will hate on anyone in the LGBTQ+ community in my midst,” she wrote. “Disagreeing with an act does not mean I do not love a person.”
Joanna Theng scrubs social media amid backlash.
With the backlash continuing, on July 25 all of Theng’s social media accounts appear to have been scrubbed or made private.
Her last Instagram post told followers: “Before I go, I would like to publicly say that all I’ve said in City Revival’s video was never out of the intention of my heart to hurt anyone, but I understand how some of the parts had played out and were received.
“I am sorry that the way it was shared caused so much hurt. I sincerely apologise for that.”
Wong also posted a video in a video revealing that she identified with the LGBT+ community “the most” because she was “one of you” — until she was told that homosexuality is a sin.
“I understand the hurt and anger that some of you may be experiencing, and the motivation behind your comments in my last video. I accept them, and I am sorry my video has caused you to feel this way,” she said.
She deleted the video “in the spirit of peace” without retracting any of her statements, and reiterated that she only wanted to share what she believes to be “the truth of God’s word”.
