Pro-Gay Billboards Cause Stir

This story from Towleroad.

A quote:

Pastor Richard Parsons of Consecration Temple Church of God Christ complained to the Times Union: "It's directly against God's word and what God hates, I hate."  

So . . .  how does this "Pastor" know God hates "it" (Posters of fully clothed gay men?  Gayness?  Being kind to gays?  Or all of the above?)  Well, Jesus doesn't mention gays.  Not once.  St Paul has a go at us, but is this personage a Christian or a Paulist?  There's jolly old Leviticus, too, but somehow I don't think this guy will be in favour of bringing back slavery.  Or, for that matter, putting to death people who eat shellfish.  Or banning cotton-lycra socks or polyester-wool jackets.   Why not?  Why does the anti-gay proscription in Leviticus apply but all the others do not?  Why?

Then there's this other gem:

Rev. Alfred Thompkins of Calvary Tabernacle told the Daily Gazette: “A thirteen-year-old looks at these billboards and says, ‘That must be it, I must be gay.' That goes directly against God’s purpose. As a resident of Schenectady, a pastor who works with young people, with families, frankly I’m really bothered by the message these send."

Why would a thirteen-year-old look at these billboards and say, "That's it, I must be gay"?  I don't get it.  As Harvey Milk said, "If it were true that children mimicked their teachers, you'd sure have a helluva lot more nuns running around".  

Ok, so explain it to me.  Why would a thirteen year-old decide he was gay because of this billboard?  Answer: he would only do that if he was already gay.  No straight kid would even notice.  So what the "Reverend" is really saying is that he wants gay kids to remain closeted, to remain unhappy, to pretend to be straight and then when they are grown up get married and have anonymous sex on the side.  The message the billboards send is that being gay is OK.  He's against that, is he?  Surprise.

A Belgian Catholic bishop said a coupla years ago on TV that some people can't help being gay (oh, thank you!  thank you!  you've made me so happy!) but others are just doing it for pleasure (how naughty!)  Thus letting the cat out of the bag:  the church's opposition to gays and gayness is about stopping the whole range of male bisexuals (20 or 30% of the population) from falling in love with or having sex with men.  The fact that  "true" gays (and no doubt this august bishop thinks there are only a tiny number of us) will be made miserably unhappy and lonely because of the homophobia engendered by the church, doesn't count.  We are mere collateral damage.

Love one another as I have loved you.