As the battle for transgender rights increases in America more and more 'Christians' have entered the fight in order to decry equality and demonise victims of transphobic hate in a bid to turn America into a country whose laws are dictated by religious values.
In one of the latest displays of public hate towards the transgender community a transphobic preacher Angela Cummings took to screaming hate and abuse at children outside of Scotia-Glenville High School in New York this Monday.
The woman's crazed rant covered a wide range of subjects, including drug use and Isis, but many of her statements were centred on the LGBT+ community, especially the recent guidance from President Obama on transgender students.
As students tried to make their way home after school the woman screamed at them 'Next year Obama is going to let you men, you young men, use the girl's bathroom! It's time for you to start homeschooling!'
As school staff tried to get the woman to leave she began shouting about sex in high school bathrooms until police officers intervened and convinced her to move off of private property. As she left the school she continued to shout abuse at students, calling them 'fools' and 'future wife beaters'. She went on to describe the country as 'the United States of Sodom and Gomorrah' because of legalising marriage equality, and said that the flag should be flown upside down.
The preacher posted the video on Youtube, laughingly entitled 'Scotia New York High School ... Angry Vice Principal ... Loving Street Preacher'.
It's amazing how a woman who is screaming abusive messages at teenagers, at children, who calls them fools, drug addicts and future wife beaters, who makes allusions to sexual misconduct and violence feels that she is the one being loving.
She is calling for the rights and freedoms of the oppressed to be taken away because she has a deep rooted belief that a deity may not like it based on the words in a book written hundreds of years ago and says that it is coming from a place of love. She is using her right of freedom of speech to argue that others should not have rights and believes that to be acceptable behaviour.
This woman is not a Christian. She is a 'Christian', someone who uses religion as a mask for their hatred and bigotry. Someone who wants to feel superior to others. Someone who feels good because there are people worse off in the world than she is. Those are not Christian values, that is not how a true Christian would act.
Religion is supposed to encourage love and understanding, it's supposed to bring people together and create harmony, but whilst extremists like this woman (and the other 'Christians' who have been doing the same) exist it hurts everyone. It makes true Christians look guilty of the same kind of hate by association, and it hurts those in vulnerable positions, such as transgender people.
True Christians need to stand up and call out these bigots for the frauds they are. They need to tell them that enough is enough and if they want to go on believing these things and acting this way then they have to stop calling themselves Christians.
Angela Cummings is saying that America is supposed to be a great country, one with freedoms and values, but it's people like her to prevent America from actually being that. She is the type of person that is destroying not only that country, but all countries. As long as people can hide behind their beliefs to spread hate and fear we all suffer, even those not within those communities. If people continue on along this road, if they let intolerance and hatred rule in the name of religion then one day people will look back on us and talk about the second religious dark age.
Amy.
xx
