On Wednesday, there was a “Christian” protester, Tony Miano, standing outside of Old Main holding a cross and handing out anti-LGBTQ+ cards. The card had multiple Bible verses referencing pride as a sin and how those with pride should repent and accept Jesus Christ.
There’s nothing wrong with a peaceful protest or freely expressing your faith and religion. However, it is not okay when the protest is a hate crime targeting a specific group of people, in this case the LGBTQ+ community.
Although Miano claimed he wasn’t condemning gay pride, but pride in general, that’s not the message Augustana students interpreted. His cards contained a picture of a rainbow flag on them, which is publicly known as the gay pride flag.
The verses this man referenced in his anti-LGBTQ+ cards weren’t meant to convey pride as a sin. These verses referenced the old negative connotation to the word “pride.” The Bible was referencing pride as being negative when one is haughty and doesn’t humble themselves. It in no way was referencing the positive connotation that we now define pride as, which is associated with a sense of self-respect and satisfaction for one’s achievements, such as overcoming obstacles for one’s sexuality. This “Christian” even put the modern-day definition of pride on his cards not knowing that when the Bible was written and translated pride had more of a negative connotation to it.
This goes for many other anti-LGBTQ+ translated verses in the Bible. Since the Bible was translated in many different languages and originally was written in Hebrew, many of the original meanings of specific Bible verses could have been skewed and changed over time.
More specifically, the Bible verse that homophobic Christians always reference is Leviticus 18:22, which in the New International Version states, “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”
Depending on different translations and interpretations, some believe this verse to mean that homosexuality is a sin, others believe it meant pedophilia with a young boy is a sin (in translations where it says male instead of man) and others simply cherry-pick the Bible and ignore this verse even exists.
Obviously the homophobic “Christian” standing outside of Old Main believes that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong, which I don’t think is okay. How is one’s sexuality deemed wrong? Sexuality is a spectrum and it’s not something that one can control. If God was as perfect as the Bible claims, he wouldn’t create people who are born LGBTQ+ if he really believed being LGBTQ+ was a sin. Even then, the Bible states that one should love thy neighbor. Trying to convert others by hatefully telling those in the LGBTQ+ community they’re sinful is a sin in itself.
Anyone who has read the Bible knows that it says every human has sinned and continuously sins. Focusing solely on one specific “sin” is very hypocritical and disgusting. There are way more horrid “sins” that need to be focused on.
That being said, whether Christianity is real or not real, hating against the LGBTQ+ community is not okay, and it’s up to us to try to teach future generations to love and accept one another for who they are. It’s up to us to vote for candidates who aren’t homophobic. If Miano comes back next Wednesday like he claimed he would, it’s up to us to peacefully protest and stand our ground to let the LGBTQ+ community know that they’re loved.