“God hates gays,” the man’s voice blared out of what I imagine was a bullhorn. “You’re all going to hell!”
Revelers at the Pride parade shouted him down, but he came back again and again. After about five minutes, he gave up. I couldn’t see him. I just saw the rainbow-clad crowd having a good time, exercising their freedom to be who they are.
The words “God hates gays” ripped through me. It was one of the vilest things I have heard in my 54 years. I could feel the man’s hate. His voice was full of violence, of anger. It was as if he was spitting the words out.
The man with the bullhorn was doing his thing at the end of Bisbee, Arizona’s Pride parade. With a population of 5,000, Bisbee is a liberal tourist town nestled in the mountains of Arizona near the Mexican border. It’s a hub of small cafes, antique stores, art galleries, and places where you can buy soap, incense, and jewelry in the same shop. It’s the perfect place for a Pride celebration.
I was there with a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) minister friend of mine. I pastor a church in a nearby town, and she asked me if I wanted to march in the parade with her and her church. I said yes. I’m a relatively newly minted PC(USA) minister, and as such, I believe that we are all God’s children and we as human beings should be treated with respect.
The morning started off well. Our small band of Presbyterians from Covenant Presbyterian Church marched on Main Street with people cheering us on. Several people thanked us for marching along the way. I suspect their perception of Christian churches is not one of welcome for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Bisbee’s St. John’s Episcopal and Sky Island Unitarian Universalist from nearby Sierra Vista, Arizona, joined us — and I had more fun than I have in a long time. I laughed a lot. I waved my little rainbow flag, and I wore my clerical collar. It was a joyous, freeing experience. I felt the love and gratitude of people along the way. They were thankful that faith leaders stood with them.
About two blocks from the end of the parade route I saw a man in his early 20s shouting at us progressive Christian folks. Several of the people marching with us stopped to talk with him while the rest of us kept going. I don’t know if it’s the same guy who had the bullhorn later. He was the same young man who was at a joint worship service the night before, a thanksgiving service to mark Pride weekend. The young man sat in the sanctuary for the whole service. He wore a T-shirt with a Bible verse on it, but I didn’t look close enough to see or remember the verse.
And there he was the next day, wearing jeans and a white shirt, spewing hate upon everyone he saw.
I don’t believe that God hates. It is not in God’s nature. As 1 John 4:8 states, “Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.” Jesus did not hate, and it is quite clear that he called on everyone to love each other. If one calls oneself a follower of Jesus, logic dictates that they would follow Jesus’ command and example to love their neighbor as themselves (Matthew 22:39) and, as he instructed his disciples at the Last Supper, to love one another (John 13:34).
I don’t believe that God hates. It is not in God’s nature.
My friend pointed out that the young man must be so broken and poisoned to have so much anger and hate in him. She was right, and it made me think. Who influenced him to think like this? Who injected these ideas into his head?
Those of us who pastor churches that allow women and queer pastors in southern Arizona are sensitive to this type of hate. We know how destructive it can be. Just this past May, two churches were burned in Douglas, Arizona — not too far from Bisbee.
The suspect was captured and is now in federal custody. According to a court filing, in 2021 the defendant told the priest at the Episcopal church in Douglas he would not attend a church that had a gay pastor. The defendant also had lunch with another pastor in Bisbee and told him women shouldn’t be in positions of authority in the church. A neighbor of the defendant told investigators that the accused arsonist “didn’t like gays, didn’t like politicians and didn’t like women in general leading the church,” according to a court filing on June 14.
The defendant allegedly set fire to First Presbyterian Church and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Douglas. First Presbyterian is led by a woman, and St. Stephen’s is led by a gay priest. The defendant, a 58-year-old man, allegedly had so much hate that he set fire to two churches because he did not agree with who the pastors were.
After the parade, my friend and I were sitting at Bisbee Coffee Co., cooling off with some iced drinks on a 93-degree day. Across Main Street was the same young man who was at the worship service the previous night. He was screaming at some Pride Weekend celebrants across the street. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I can tell you it wasn’t nice. He was worked up, screaming, all by himself, not convincing anyone of anything, as my friend pointed out.
There is so much hate, from the man who allegedly set fire to the churches to the young man screaming in vain to the people across the street from him in Bisbee. A darkness has seized them.
Fortunately, their darkness did not ruin the day of light and love in Bisbee. Their hate was drowned out by the festive applause, and the love from people to each other along the parade route and in the booths set up in the park on Main Street. It was drowned out by the love and support of my friends in my denomination and my siblings in the Episcopal and Unitarian Universalist churches.
As I look back on that afternoon, what keeps coming back to me is this from the gospel of John, 13:34-35: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
