Gay minister finds homophobic note on car celebrating Trump win ‘Dear father homo…’
A Presbyterian minister has found a note on his windscreen in the wake of the Trump election win which threatens that his same-sex marriage will be taken away.
Randy Lee Webster is a minister of faith and worship at the First Presbyterian Church in Burlington Iowa.
He said he found the note on his windscreen, a picture of which he posted on his Facebook page.
It reads: “So, father homo —
“How does it feel to have Trump as your president?
“At least he’s got a set of balls. They’ll put marriage back where God wants it and take yours away.
“America’s gonna take care of your faggity ass.”
Responding on Facebook, the minister writes: “Many of you have already seen the note that I found on my vehicle this morning, but I’m sharing it for those of you who haven’t. You always hear about these kinds of things, but you never think they’ll happen to you or those you love and care for. We are ok, we are strong folk with a strong faith, and we have a myriad of people who have already expressed their care for us. I worry about those who are neither as strong or have support systems for themselves, and especially for children who find themselves being bullied because they are different somehow.
“The dark underside of our society must feel that it has been given permission to express bottled up fear and hatred. I can only hope that we hold all those we love and care for close, and to pray always for those in our society who have no hope. Perhaps that’s our greatest vocation.”
The US Presidential election was last night called for Trump, who won a shock victory over rival Clinton.
Secretary Clinton had held a narrow lead in polls ahead of the vote, but Mr Trump built up a lead in the electoral college system by taking swing states of Florida and North Carolina.
Trump had pledged to sign the ‘First Amendment Defence Act’ to permit religious homophobic discrimination, promised to “consider” appointing ultra-conservative Supreme Court justices to repeal equal marriage, and come out in favour of North Carolina’s anti-trans law – while running mate Mike Pence confirmed a plan to dismantle Barack Obama’s protections for LGBT people.
The Republican Platform passed earlier this year contained some of the most anti-LGBT provisions in decades, opposing a ban on ‘gay cure’ therapy and attacking same-sex adoption and parenting.
A hardline evangelical, the Governor of Indiana stirred up international outrage last year when he signed Indiana’s controversial ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’, which gave businesses the right to discriminate against gay people on the grounds of religion.
Governor Pence previously suggested that HIV prevention funding be drained in order to fund state-sponsored ‘gay cure’ therapy, and earlier this year appeared unable to answer when asked whether it should be legal to fire people because of their sexuality.
An investigation last month found that Pence approved extreme anti-LGBT articles when he was the head of the Indiana Policy Review journal in the 1990s.