Trump campaign to hold a rally at a church so homophobic it makes Franklin Graham look like Cher
Donald Trump holds a rainbow flag given by a supporter during a 2016 campaign rally in Colorado. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
The Donald Trump campaign is set to host a rally at a church that is so stridently anti-gay that it makes Franklin Graham look soft and cuddly by comparison.
The Evangelicals for Trump rally will be held in Solid Rock Church in Ohio and will be hosted by Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White.
It looks as though Trump will not make an appearance at the rally, which is convenient given the violently anti-LGBT+ views the church’s pastor has spouted in the past.
Lawrence Bishop II, who took over as pastor after his father and the church’s founder died, has repeatedly lashed out at gay people in his sermons.
Donald Trump rally will take place in church of Lawrence Bishop II, who hit out at ‘limp-wristed’ pastors in anti-gay rant.
In one sermon, which was uploaded to YouTube just over a year ago, Bishop slammed “effeminate looking” worship leaders and “limp-wristed” pastors.
“Is anybody else saying ‘what in this world is happening?'” Bishop said.
“When you have a guy that’s limp-wristed in his skinny pants dancing like a fairy on the stage and people are standing there worshipping? Are you kidding me? What is wrong with pastors?
He insisted that he wasn’t “gay bashing”, but went on to claim that gay people can be “free” from homosexuality.
If you’re a young man in here and you struggle with homosexuality, I’ll give you my phone number, I’ll pray with you anytime in the middle of the night.
“If you’re gay I will pray with you for 12 hours right here to get you delivered if that’s what it takes,” he said.
“I will minister to you. I will tell you that God can set you free. I will show you love – real love – of Jesus Christ. If you’re a young man in here and you struggle with homosexuality, I’ll give you my phone number, I’ll pray with you anytime in the middle of the night.
He continued: “Jesus can set the homosexual free. If you’re a homosexual, please come to this church. I desire so bad to get you set free from that.
He added: “But listen, I’m not going to welcome and put it on the stage and put it on display just so we can be the hippest and the trendiest.”
Furthermore, his mother, who is a co-founder and a senior pastor at the church, has also hit out at queer people. In screenshots uncovered by GLAAD, she called same-sex marriage a “perversion”.
President is courting evangelical votes, but is facing pressure over policies.
Gaining support in the evangelical Christian movement in the United States will likely be important to Donald Trump as the 2020 presidential election draws nearer.
He has recently come under pressure from evangelical advisors over his administration’s policy to decriminalise homosexuality around the world.
Tony Perkins, who serves as a faith adviser to Trump and sits on his religious freedom commission, questioned whether “president Trump – or anyone else in the administration – authorised this campaign,” which is reportedly being put into action by Trump’s former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell.
In a blog post, Perkins wrote: “Our own criminal laws against homosexual conduct were struck down by the US Supreme Court in 2003.
“Despite what some on the left claim, we are not advocating for their return. But that does not mean we should engage in ‘cultural imperialism’ by imposing policies that were imposed upon us by our court on other countries with different cultures, traditions, and values.”
