After Heterosexual Pride Day Trends On Twitter, Pastor’s Shirt Reveals The Real Sentiment Behind It
Heterosexual Pride Day recently became a trending topic on Twitter, and social media users were quick to shut it down, pointing out (some seriously and some with a healthy dose of irony and sarcasm) that LGBT Pride came about because of discrimination and the real risk of physical danger. While LGBT Pride is about being able to live openly in a world that isn’t always accepting, critics said heterosexual pride was all about having to be included in everything.
However, a pastor who frequently posts sermons and other videos online shared with his following yesterday that he had purchased a new t-shirt advertising his “straight pride.” Steven Anderson is the pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, and his video is below.
“The thing that’s so cool about this shirt is that, you know, it definitely sends a really strong message, but at the same time it’s not really too offensive. I don’t see how anybody could really get offended by it…”
Hemant Mehta, of The Friendly Atheist blog, has covered a number of Pastor Anderson’s sermons, such as when the pastor said the massacre in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando should be celebrated because there “fifty less pedophiles in the world,” and when he claimed Christianity and feminism can’t coexist.
Mehta was quick to note exactly why people might very well be offended by the Hetereosexual Pride shirt.
Check out the image below, showing the sleeve of Anderson’s Straight Pride shirt.
Via BibleHub, God’s Word translation:
“When a man has sexual intercourse with another man as with a woman, both men are doing something disgusting and must be put to death. They deserve to die.”
Further, Anderson explained on the Faithful Word Baptist Church Facebook page that the shirt isn’t really about pride for him at all, but about mocking LGBT people’s fight for rights.
“…obviously it is a joke. It is making a mockery of their ‘pride’ slogan. Obviously we are not actually ‘proud’ of being straight since it is just being normal!”
The shop from which Pastor Anderson received his heterosexual pride t-shirt describes the item as a way to
“Stand up for your right to pursue your non-alternative lifestyle – Straight Pride!”
That rather harkens back to the idea of just not wanting to be left out. However, the store has other apparel that isn’t just pro-heterosexual, but very clearly expressing an opposition to LGBT rights — including a “not equal” shirt to…
“…take a stand for your normal lifestyle and proudly proclaim the truth – that being a homo isn’t equal and is in fact disgusting.”
Huffington Post discovered the poster who seems to have started the Heterosexual Pride Day (#heterosexualprideday) trend, and it looks as though he intended it as satire, though he declined to give any further comment.
However, there’s no question that Straight Pride is serious business for a lot of people.
Straight pride, world wide???? #HeterosexualPrideDay pic.twitter.com/kIpjUx6GVX
— Wife With A Purpose (@apurposefulwife) June 29, 2016
Perhaps for some, it’s simply a matter of not realizing the origins of LGBT Pride.
To anyone who thinks that there should be a #HeterosexualPride when there is #GayPride. Quick answer… No. Long one pic.twitter.com/AxFTQzbB9Y
— Lupo (Leon Fletcher) (@LeonJFletcher) July 2, 2016
For others, though, Pastor Steven Anderson’s shirt, his video, and his post on his church Facebook page tell what it’s about.
[Image via YouTube]
