Trigger Warning: The following is a story about a violently queerphobic church and may be triggering to those with religious trauma or suicidal ideation.
On June 29, an Indiana Baptists Church held a “Men’s Preaching Night.” Preacher Stephen Falco led a sermon titled “Pray the Gay Away.” He used slurs when urging LGBTQ+ individuals to commit suicide (“blow yourself in the back of the head”) or be executed under state law.
This sermon was originally streamed on YouTube where it was taken down due to violating platform policies and was given a lot of backlash. The church, however, doubled down. With Evangelist Justin Zhong stating LGBTQ+ people are, “worthy of death … executed by the government,” calling them, “domestic terrorists.”
In response to this, faith leaders spoke out. The concerned clergy of Indianapolis deemed the sermon as “theologically irresponsible and pastorally dangerous.” He stated, “The Gospel is for everyone,” and “True Holiness is not about those we hate, but about those we love.”
Equality Indiana and other LGBTQ+ advocates also spoke out against the sermon. They described the remarks as “inflammatory” and cautioned that such rhetoric could lead to real-world violence.
After all this had happened, on July 13, LGBTQ+ allies and faith leaders gathered during a Sunday service demanding accountability from the church.
Church security turned away Charlize Jamieson, a trans woman who came seeking worship. They even snapped her license plate, so she later joined the protesters.
Again, a second sermon continued pushing the anti-LGBTQ+ message. “Love Thy Neighbor” was a speech in which Zhong framed protesters as “perverts” and urged children to reject LGBTQ+ messaging.
Sure Foundation Baptist Church haa historically been known for their anti-LGBTQ+ sermons. It has been a part of an extreme fundamentalist Baptist tradition that has called for the death penalty for homosexual behavior previously.
This incident shines a dark light on the most extreme fringe of religious rhetoric. The church should not be a place of hate and violence, but this representation and attitude turns it into an unholy and threatening place for, but not exclusive to, the LGBTQ+ community.
This extremism and hate directed towards the LGBTQ+ community is so troubling because it never gives them a chance to simply exist. This ongoing extreme religious rhetoric is dangerous and dehumanizing. It influences others to believe it and repeat that behavior. The community should be welcomed into faithful space; however, they are pushed out of those spaces and are reinforced to a false binary. This increases trauma, religious PTSD, and resentment og the church, which is not what the church should be.
This story should teach us how toxic and dangerous certain ideologies can be. When church leaders preach death over dialogue, or exclusion over love, it’s a failure of compassion, not a reflection of those they target.
Photos courtesy of social media
