I asked him what he thought of the Christians, and we began to talk, along with his two male friends. One young man, whom I’ll call Greg, was especially memorable. So I wandered around the pride parade asking people who were staring at “the big, ugly Christians” a simple question: “What do you think of those guys over there?” I ended up having several conversations about the Bible, same-sex morality, and faith in general. I would just ask students looking at the pictures, “So what do you think of this big ugly thing?” Pretty soon we were off to the races having great conversations. I wouldn’t lie about who I was, but I also wouldn’t immediately say who I was with, either. We would setup exhibits with large pictures of unborn children before and after abortion and talk with college students about the pro-life worldview.ĭuring those outreaches I would sometimes walk around and act like a student on campus. Deja vu all over againĪfter college I used to travel the country with a pro-life group named Justice for All.
I’m here today to help you people.”Īs the police stood warily nearby, I watched and observed alongside the festival attendees, getting a feel for the whole situation. Why aren’t you there?” The Christian responded, “I go to the jail all the time. One woman said, “There are real sinners down at the county jail. Others stopped to yell at the Christians or even just plead with them.
An unexpected springboardĪs the Christians preached through bullhorns, most of the LGBT festival-goers walked by laughing or saying things like, “You know you’re probably gay!” or “God is love!” They also said a lot of other things I can’t repeat without diving into indecency. They weren’t doing anything I considered offensive or outrageous, but I also thought their approach would not be very effective-and I was right. The Christians, who I assume were conservative Evangelicals, held signs that said things like, “Jesus is the only way to salvation” and “Love is self-giving.” The participants were joyful and carefree-until they walked by a group of Christians protesting their event.