Statement from November 11th:
On Sunday, November 9, a band of about 30 gays stormed a church in Lansing, Michigan. Some were well dressed and were stationed inside Mount Hope Church; others were outside dressed in pink and black. The group of self-described homosexual anarchists, Bash Back!, claims the evangelical church is guilty of “transphobia and homophobia.”
The protesters outside the church were beating on buckets, shouting “Jesus was a homo” on a megaphone and carrying an upside-down pink cross. Fire alarms went off inside the church, protesters stormed the pulpit and a huge rainbow-colored flag was unfurled with the inscription, “IT’S OKAY TO BE GAY! BASH BACK!” The church was vandalized, obscenities were shouted and worshippers were confronted. There were no arrests.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue addressed this issue today:
“The real story here is the refusal of the mainstream media to cover what is surely one of the most disturbing events of 2008. If an organized group of gay bashers stormed a gay church, there is not a single sentient person in the United States who wouldn’t know about it.
“This is urban fascism come to America’s heartland. It must be quickly stopped before it gets out of control. We are contacting Mike Cox, the Attorney General of Michigan, calling for an investigation.”
Please contact Mike Cox at [email protected]
Followup statement, November 12th:
Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on new developments surrounding the radical gays who stormed a church on Nov. 9 in Lansing, Michigan (see Catholic League news release 11-11):
“On Nov. 11, I asked Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to launch an investigation into what happened at Mount Hope Church. We knew yesterday that a group of gay fascists stormed the church during a Sunday service. What we did not know is that this is a nationwide organization that has been planning to terrorize the church for the past month.
“The facts are not in dispute-all one has to do is tap into the website of Bash Back! There one will find that on Oct. 12 and Oct. 23, a memo was sent to members of the group to commemorate the founding of ‘Michigan’s newly formed chapter’ asking ‘Queers and Trannies’ to join in storming the church. The group boasts that in 2008 there has been ‘an explosion in Radical Trans/Queer organizing,’ citing progress that has been made from ‘Maine to the Midwest to The Bay Area.’ Bash Back! was founded to fight ‘State recognition in the form of oppressive institutions such as marriage and militarism’; it says both are ‘steps towards heteronormative assimilation.’ The radical nature of the group has led it to protest pro-gay marriage organizations like the Human Rights Campaign.
“It is important that law enforcement from all quarters address this issue. We will now contact Eaton County Sheriff Mike Raines and Eaton County Prosecutor Jeffrey L. Sauter to work cooperatively with Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox.
“A left-wing website, the Daily Kos, labeled news reports on what happened at the church ‘a funny story,’ and conducted a survey on the subject. Only 19 percent thought what Bash Back! did crossed the line.”
Contact Sheriff Mike Raines: [email protected]
Contact Prosecutor Jeff Sauter: [email protected]
