Hundreds of Christians Join LGBT Pride March
By staff
writers
8 Jul 2012
This sick event was a highly organized effort
by a bunch of homosexuals and homosexual front groups to falsely portray Christians
as being not just tolerant but fully supportive of the homosexual cabal in its
effort to overthrow the church and gain a court forced acceptance in all
churches and denominations.
Around 200 Christians marched as a group in the Pride procession in
London yesterday (7 July) to show their support for the dignity and equality of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. Many wore T-shirts declaring "Christian and
proud".
Many other Christians joined other parts of the parade. A small
number of Christians stood at the side of the march with placards expressing their sorrow for
Christian homophobia. Later, a Christian service for Pride participants was
hosted at
Meanwhile, about forty Christians opposed to same-sex
relationships staged a protest against Pride.
The Pride celebrations included veterans of
the first Pride march in
The organisation
of the event has caused widespread controversy in recent weeks, with organisers, sponsors, the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor
of London's office clashing over responsibility for a series of logistical and
financial problems. In the end, the event went ahead as a march without the
usual floats.
While some lamented the 'scaled down'
version, others said it was an opportunity to take Pride back to its origins as
a campaigning demonstration. The commercialisation of
Pride has been strongly criticised in recent years.
Christians
Together at Pride said the day before the march that they saw the
developments "as a helpful reminder of what Pride is all about".
Christians
Together at Pride is a coalition of nine groups, including the Lesbian and
Gay Christian Movement, Accepting Evangelicals,
They pointed out that Pride originated as a
protest rally, with the first participants expressing a demand to be recognised publicly as they defined themselves, not
withholding their sexuality.
In a joint statement, they said, "The
extravagant floats that have been cancelled this year show how that first
demand, in many cases, has come to fruition as a float that costs thousands of
pounds to enter in a parade does not suggest that the group providing it is
struggling at the margins of society, as the first marchers were."
However, some disabled activists, while
welcoming the rejection of commercialism, said that the lack of vehicles made
it harder for them to participate.
Human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who participated in
“Nearly
eighty countries still criminalise
homosexuality," he explained, "With penalties ranging from a few years
imprisonment to life imprisonment - and even execution in countries like
He added, “More than half the countries
that outlaw same-sex relations belong to the Commonwealth, despite the
Commonwealth’s professed commitment to human rights, equality and individual
freedom."
Marriage
was also a prominent theme in yesterday's march. Many participants called for speedy legislation to give legal
recognition to
same-sex marriage. The
Campaigners highlighted a range of other
concerns on the march. The group Queer Resistance spoke out against the
LGCM report that the numbers of Christians marching at
Pride have nearly doubled over the past two years. They said that the
presence of the fake group in the parade is an important challenge to those
who still use Christianity and selective biblical quotations as grounds for
homophobia and transphobia.
Rev Sharon Ferguson, Chief Executive of
LGCM said, "With the wonderful changes we have seen in the past few years
to equality legislation in the
But she added, "Many LGBT Christians
still struggle for acceptance within both their religious and LGBT communities
and we hope the presence of Christians Together at Pride will send a very
positive message".
Those protesting against Pride included
members of the right-wing fundamentalist group Christian Voice. The group's
director Stephen Green yesterday criticised groups
involved in Pride for "trying to present homosexuals as normal
people".