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| Harlem Pride President Carmen Neely |
A planned gay pride picnic in Harlem has some local church leaders clutching the pearls, particularly preachers from the Church Of God In Christ, a.k.a COGIC, according to
New York Daily News.
"If children start to believe it is okay to be gay, they will think it's okay to be a pedophile or have sex with animals," said Dr. Ronald Ferguson, the senior pastor at Antioch Church of God on W. 124th St. "It's a slippery slope."
Ferguson, who has three adult children and four grandkids, said he expects parishioners to follow his lead and stay indoors when the second annual Harlem Pride event arrives June 24. "This gay pride nonsense is an abomination," Ferguson told the Daily News. "God does not want to see homosexuals in our parks."
Neither do Ferguson or some other local pastors fuming over the celebration of gay rights set for Marcus Garvey Park.
"The park is a family area, and the homosexual agenda will do nothing but harm the community," said Pastor Charles Curtis of Mount Olivet Baptist Church. "Due to our religious beliefs, we do not support ... that event."
Ahh, the old slippery slope argument. We can't the homosexticals marry! Then people will wanna walk down the aisle with dogs, cats and chickens and kids! Of course if they thought it through, they'd probably realize that children and animals can't give consent to be married, but these folks have never let logic and reason stand in the way of a good anti-gay diatribe.
Regardless, Harlem Pride President Carmen Neely says the pride celebration will take place.
"I want the gay and lesbian people of uptown to have a celebration of our own," she said. "This will be different than the events in the West Village because it will be filled with people of color. I realize the church plays a big role in the black community," Neely said, "but we're people, too, and deserve our day in the sun."
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