WARNING: discussion of suicide
A pastor based in Nashville Tennessee made inflammatory remarks about the LGBTQ+ community. Last week, Kent Christmas claimed that the high suicide rate among the community was because they felt guilty.
Christmas spoke to his congregation and the video was picked up by Right Wing Watch, a group dedicated to monitoring and exposing activities of the far right.
And far right is exactly what this take by Christmas is.
Right-wing pastor (and Dan Flashes aficionado) Kent Christmas says that "suicide amongst the homosexuality community" is prevalent "because of the guilt": "They know that it's not right, but they are bound and they hate doing it."pic.twitter.com/SjiVXxce4Z— Right Wing Watch (@Right Wing Watch) 1633010631
Right Wing Watch often reports on and shares videos of evidence of right-wing extremists sharing their bigoted views. This ensures they cannot hide and pretend like they don't believe these things.
In the video above, Christmas starts talking about homosexuality like this:
"Can I tell you how my heart goes out to the homosexual community because there are so many of them. Suicide amongst the homosexual community is one of the highest rates of suicide of anything in the earth."
"And part, it is because of the guilt: They know that it's not right, but they are bound and they hate doing it."
The ridiculous implication that Christmas said made for joke fodder online.
Don't take advise on life from a man in shirt like that.— Sunshine #BLM (@Sunshine #BLM) 1633111587
Dude\u2019s last name is Christmas and he\u2019s attacking the LGBT community while wearing that awful shirt. Evil exists https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1443577333785391110\u00a0\u2026— BlueBella (@BlueBella) 1633022279
Big time. Speaking of which, \u201cKent Christmas\u201d sounds like a great name for a gay porn star.— Brother Pietro (@Brother Pietro) 1633011472
pic.twitter.com/qoJ8gX3Uv3— L (@L) 1633010856
On one hand, Christmas is right that the LGBTQ+ community experiences high rates of suicide. But the idea that they secretly feel guilty in the eyes of God is more than a little disingenuous.
A recent study found that 30 percent of lesbian, gay, and bisexual cis gendered respondents between the ages of 18 to 25 have attempted suicide. In transgender adults, this statistic increases dramatically.
Studies show that this isn't because of some secret, in-born guilt. Rather, it comes down to how they are treated by the rest of society.
When they receive love, support, and acceptance by their friends, family, and wider community instances of suicide for LGBTQ+ people drop dramatically.
Exactly, no way it's because of things like getting disowned and kicked out of your house when you're 18 and have nothing. That couldn't possibly be the reason.— A.$.A.P General Strikey (@A.$.A.P General Strikey) 1633011790
Nah, it\u2019s cause y\u2019all treat us like shit, ridicule us, exclude us, make and rules preventing us from living our lives.https://twitter.com/rightwingwatch/status/1443577333785391110\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 SHOTS & MASKS!! (@\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 SHOTS & MASKS!!) 1633010732
I don't know, I really like doing it— D (@D) 1633111286
Think the same applies to pastors?— Vegan Dude (@Vegan Dude) 1633125418
and correct me if i'm wrong but in the one time it's mentioned in the new testament it could be argued it's talking about pedophila— mrkoolnerd (@mrkoolnerd) 1633012301
So maybe instead of preaching about how children are being taken over by a demon when they become homosexual, Christmas could help by preaching acceptance.
What makes this even worse, is that Christmas advocates for conversion therapy, a degrading treatment that more than doubles the rates of suicide in gay and bisexual adults who go through it.
But Christmas also claimed that God told him Donald Trump would win re-election in 2020, but that ended up being a dud, so maybe people could just stop listening to him altogether.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/
LGBTQ+ Youth can get help through:
- TrevorChat — 24/7/365 at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/get-help-now/#services
- TrevorLifeline — phone service available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386
- TrevorText — Text "START" to 678678. Available 24/7/365.
- TrevorSpace — online international peer-to-peer community for LGBTQ young people and their friends at https://www.trevorspace.org/
- Trevor Support Center — LGBTQ youth & allies can find answers to FAQs and explore resources at https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/trevor-support-center/#sm.0000121hx9lvicotqs52mb1saenel
Transgender people can get help through the Trans Lifeline at https://www.translifeline.org/ or call US: 877-565-8860 Canada: 877-330-6366
