Pastor claims ‘God detests Pride’ sign has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ people
Opponents of several bills targeting transgender youth attend a rally at the Alabama State House (Photo by Julie Bennett/Getty Images)
An Alabama pastor has claimed that a “God detests Pride” church sign was not meant for the LGBTQ+ community.
Wesley Whitworth of Wares Ferry Road Baptist Church said the sign instead references “personal pride – pride and arrogance, things of that nature.”
However, he made clear that he does think homosexuality is a sin.
The sign made headlines after being spotted by a lesbian couple travelling through Montgomery, Alabama to visit family.
Lindsey Dukeminier, one-half of the couple, told MSN that they “were very disappointed that, during Pride Month of all months, this church had a sign up like this”.
Whitworth claimed the sign being erected during Pride Month was mere coincidence – he said that the man responsible for changing the church signs told him as such.
He said that it was not “the intent to put that up just to spark controversy.”
Despite this, Whitworth said he believes that the Bible sees homosexuality as a sin, but that it’s not his job “to go around policing the actions of everybody.”
“I would, of course, make it clear, obviously, that our personal convictions are that this is not just an alternate lifestyle, it’s a sin like any other,” he said.
When asked if he thinks members of the LGBTQ+ community should have Pride for their identities, he responded by saying: “I do not, any more than someone should be proud to be a drunkard or a wife abuser.”
Responding to the lesbian couple who called out the sign, he Whitworth said they would be welcomed to the church “with open arms”.
“They’re being disingenuous if they think that most mainstream churches would not have a problem with that,” he said. “Obviously we disagree on that. They’ll have to stand before God for what they do.”
The pastor has since said that he’ll consider having the sign taken down early “because of this reaction”.
“It was not our intention to draw attention to Pride Month. But I know what it looks like,” he added.
