Search This Blog

Monday 24 November 2008

Ad watchdog knocks church's homophobic protest

The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that an ad in a local paper in Northern Ireland – placed by Sandown Free Presbyterian Church ahead of this summer’s Pride event in Belfast – breached its code.

The 540-word ad was inserted in the Belfast News Letter on 1 August, calling gay people perverts and urging “religious” people publicly to oppose gay rights and Pride events.

Pink News cites a BBC reports that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has “ruled that the ad breached decency codes”.

The story continues, “It reportedly said the advert must not appear again and in future ‘particular care should be taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of sexual orientation’.”

The ASA has refused to comment on the BBC report.

The offending ad read:

The act of sodomy is a grave offence to every Bible believer who, in accepting the pure message of God’s precious word, express the mind of God by declaring it to be an abomination.

This unequivocal statement clearly articulates God’s judgment upon a sin that has been only made controversial by these who are attempting to either neutralise or remove the guilt of their wrongdoing.

The issue of human rights is no longer a basis for this parade, as successive governments have legislated for the lowering of the age of consent, the authorisation of civil partnerships and the inheritance rights of a nominated partner.

This parade is not a welcome addition to our city, neither is it a positive celebration of a profitable lifestyle flaunting a form of sexuality that generations of men and women have righteously resisted and by gods grace will continue to resist.

Yeah, right.

Pink News tells us that the News Letter has said that it will examine the ASA adjudication, which has not been made public yet.

It was the Rev. Ian Paisley Sr, a former First Minister of Northern Ireland and noted homophobe who shouts a lot, who founded the Free Presbyterian Church 56 years ago. The church mounts an annual protest against Belfast Pride.

“Last year,” says Pink News, “veteran politician Paisley resigned as leader of the Church after coming under pressure from its members over gay rights issues.

“The fundamentalist Christian sect were outraged that Mr Paisley and other members of his Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ignored their objections to government financial support for Pride marches, which they called a ‘celebration of sodomy’.”

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OK the ad says, "The act of sodomy..." How is this word defined? I assume they mean anal sex? Or does it include oral sex? Most definitions Im finding say it is anal sex. Well if this is sodomy and is so hated by God, do any of these religious fundies realize how many non-gay individuals have anal sex? I mean, if you look at any str8 porn nowadays, the man poking the woman in the fudge factory is a pre-requisite. Hell Im gay, and most of the str8 porn I look at contains this. And Ive heard so many str8 men talk about wanting it, or doing it...

Im desperate to find a fundie who will address this....are all those men who wanna ride the hershey highway with a woman going to hell along with the gays? Any why does God care so damn much?

- Jay in Nashville