By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Pence's Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech was followed by a sermon saying LGBTQ people represent the work of the devil.
Vice President Mike Pence spoke Sunday about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. at a church where, moments later, the pastor delivered a sermon saying LGBTQ people represent the work of the devil -- and the White House livestreamed the whole event.
While Pence is certainly known for his anti-LGBTQ ideology, his remarks were fairly innocuous, urging Americans to remember the late civil rights leader's work (without mentioning that many conservatives opposed King in his lifetime). King challenged the nation to "live up to our highest ideals by speaking to our common foundation of faith," Pence said at Holy City Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tenn., on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"I know in my heart of hearts if we rededicate ourselves to the ideals that he advanced, if we strive to open doors of opportunities for every American, and if we more faithfully follow the one that he followed, we'll see our way through these divided times," Pence continued, emphasizing King's Christian faith.
Pence also praised the church's pastor, Bishop Jerry Wayne Taylor, who followed the vice president's speech with a sermon in which he said "a demonic spirit" causes people to be LGBTQ, and that they and reproductive rights activists are seeking to destroy marriage, the family, and essentially the world.
"It's a demonic spirit that causes another woman to want to lie with another woman," Taylor said. "It's a demonic spirit that causes another man, a man, to be attracted to another man."
"God didn't make us for that," the pastor went on. "He made a man to be a man. If you want to know what God made you, when you go to the bathroom, just check your plumbing. What kind of plumbing are you using?" He added that any man attracted to him would "get in trouble."
He also said, "Two men can't have a baby. Two women can't have a baby. ... We allow abortion to go, we're cutting off presidents and queens."
GLAAD denounced Pence's appearance at Holy City and noted that it is the 136th anti-LGBTQ action of Donald Trump's administration. "Wish we could say we were surprised that the Vice President spoke at a church event where the bishop spouted vile things about LGBTQ people," GLAAD said a statement. "But here we are."
Video of the entire service is below. Pence's remarks start at about the 1:55 mark, while Taylor's sermon begins at about 2:28.
