Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have been fighting for equal rights since the early days of the civil rights movement in the late 19th and early 20th century. In this episode, Pastor Ken teaches us about the history of the LGBTQ movement and how the church has played a role in it.
00:01:31.000I like to think I've been defending freedom from an early age.
00:01:34.000Many people were sounding the alarm saying that this is a slippery slope and this is just the beginning of kind of the eroding of the moral fabric of the United States, what we're really based on with our Judeo-Christian values.
00:01:47.000The governor says she is ready for this weekend's Pride Parade.
00:01:50.000Looking out at all of you, I see America!
00:01:57.000That happened was a push for gay marriage where you had the state now telling the church how they had to view marriage, an institution that the church was really responsible for historically.
00:02:11.000The church had been left to do what they thought was correct for recognizing marriage in a religious perspective and the state was recognizing marriage to make sure that people had equal rights.
00:02:25.000Once this became the law of the land under Barack Obama, we really thought everybody was going to be happy, and that was going to be the end of this push, or at least we hope so.
00:02:35.000The justices rule 5-4 that states do not have the right to outlaw same-sex unions.
00:02:42.000The high court also rule that all 50 states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
00:02:49.000But then, very quickly, what started out as LGB... Became LGBTQ. You had people like Bruce Jenner, who was an Olympic decathlon champion, becoming Caitlyn Jenner and winning the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2015 for it.
00:03:08.000I competed hard, and for that, people respected me.
00:03:12.000You had Bradley Manning, convicted of espionage, becoming Chelsea Manning, and was given a sex change while in prison, paid for by our tax dollars.
00:03:24.000This trans movement was really just getting started.
00:03:27.000Trans influencers across social media started showing up in places that were unexpected.
00:03:33.000We started seeing more and more openly trans individuals being elevated to positions of power and influence for seemingly no other reason than they were trans.
00:03:44.000And then, by 2024, there were 73 genders.
00:03:51.0002025 and President Donald Trump could not arrive fast enough.
00:03:56.000President Trump campaigned on many things, but one area that he focused on specifically was rolling back these radical views.
00:04:03.000The left absolutely hated it, as evidenced by this pastor's speech after President Trump's inauguration.
00:04:10.000In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.
00:04:22.000There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families.
00:04:51.000Dismantling and doing away with DEI. Look, these are huge wins.
00:04:55.000But this really is just the beginning.
00:04:57.000If we want to change people's hearts, we have to go beyond public policy that can just be changed by the next administration if they see fit.
00:05:05.000And since the Bible is always the best place to start, I wanted to look at what it has to say about LGBTQ issues.
00:05:12.000And really ask the question, does the modern church stay true to what is found in Scripture?
00:05:17.000When you don't teach the truth in love, you leave a void that will be filled with compassionate people willing to twist scripture to fit their own ideas of what God should be.
00:05:29.000We sent one of our journalists undercover into one of the largest gay churches in the country to hear from them specifically how they justify their position on homosexuality and trans ideology and square that with the Bible.
00:05:46.000Loving creator, holy one, and diva of the world.
00:05:52.000Does the modern church stay true to what is found in scripture?
00:05:56.000Your word shine upon us like glitter under the stage lights.
00:06:01.000We're hoping to offer a little balance to all of the hateful rhetoric that's out in the country, and especially coming from churches and from politicians.
00:06:12.000When you don't teach the truth in love, you leave a void that will be filled with compassionate people, willing to twist scripture to fit their own ideas of what God should be.
00:06:22.000If you're a drag queen and you don't blow a kiss!
00:06:25.000Senior Pastor Neil Thomas called this a part of a growing persecution of drag queens and transgender people in the U.S. What was going on back then should not be influencing what we're doing today.
00:06:36.000Rip out one page of scripture and tell me what truth you have lost.
00:06:40.000Things that pertain to heterosexual people.
00:07:13.000To tell someone that they can't be what their imagination tells them they can, that's a...
00:07:21.000That's a violation of what's sacred about us.
00:07:24.000This radical ideology is making its way into one of the most sacred institutions that we have.
00:07:31.000Whenever the Bible mentions Sodom, homosexuality never appears to be a cause of the destruction.
00:07:37.000So make sure that you know the truth and you speak the truth in love.
00:07:50.000We already knew that the LGBTQ community was making inroads in government, in big corporations and some of the protocols they had, and even in our schools.
00:07:59.000So obviously you've heard about our church here, right?
00:08:02.000The way that we approach it here is we really try to create, as much as possible, kind of a genderless school.
00:08:11.000Everything in school is for boys and girls.
00:09:00.000So whatever all these little micro moments that your child has where they might be wanting to do something or say something or identify themselves or express themselves in different ways that might be different from what's traditional.
00:09:38.000So I could really be thinking here, how do I create a space so whoever this hasn't come out yet, I know they're already going to feel safe when it does emerge.