Trump’s Easter blessing delivered by anti-gay bishop who compared marriage equality movement to Nazi Germany
Bishop Harry Jackson has called marriage equality a "Satanic plot" and claimed that gay people are trying to "recruit" children
The White House’s Good Friday Easter blessing was delivered by an anti-gay pastor who has compared the marriage equality movement to Nazi Germany and said it would “destroy children.”
Bishop Harry Jackson, introduced by Donald Trump as a “highly respected gentleman,” delivered the blessing from the Oval Office alongside Trump.
He thanked Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for their efforts to “protect our nation” during the COVID-19 pandemic and praised the inclusion of church funding in last month’s stimulus bill, The Hill reports.
“You’ve included the churches in your relief efforts,” Jackson said to Trump. “Many churches would have had to close down had it not been for your insightful leadership. So thank you both.”
Jackson also prayed for the United States to “come against the spirit of division” — which could potentially be viewed as hypocritical, given his past statements on LGBTQ equality.
Per LGBTQ Nation, Jackson has a long history of anti-gay statements, including calling marriage equality a “Satanic plot to destroy our seed” and saying that the marriage equality movement was coming after Christians “just like during the times of Hitler.”
Jackson has urged Christians to “steal back the rainbow” because they “can’t let the gays have it.”
He has called for pastors to fight the “radical homosexual agenda that is trying to take over the nation,” and teach their congregants that “God didn’t make anyone that way.”
Jackson also decried marriage equality and said that “folks who cannot reproduce want to recruit your kids.” And in a column for the Christian Post, he argued that marriage equality would “destroy children,” because same-sex marriage would create “broken relationships.”
In 2018, he said that Black Lives Matter could never achieve true justice because “a few lesbians” are in leadership positions. “We can’t have social justice, we need biblical justice,” he argued, saying that it “matters that Black Lives Matter has, at the head, a few lesbians who are against the patriarchal society.”
Read more:
Leftover fabric from AIDS Quilt will become coronavirus masks for community workers
An Indonesian trans woman was burned to death. Police won’t charge anyone with murder.
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
