Grand Falls-Windsor Pride co-chair Alice Frampton, left, and former co-chair Rebecca Blackmore say a local church has refused to allow a Pride tour planned by the local Lions Club at her property. (CBC)
An LGBTQ Pride organization in central Newfoundland says an event she attended was canceled after a church refused to allow the group into her property.
In a statement Wednesday, the Grand Falls-Windsor Pride said the healthy lifestyle walk led by the city’s Lions Club at The Salvation Army Park Street Citadel’s property had been canceled.
In an interview with CBC News, Alice Frampton, co-chair of the Grand Falls-Windsor Pride, said the church had not asked the Lions Club to cancel the event, but instead asked the club to cancel the invitation to the Grand Falls-Windsor Pride.
“They didn’t want to do that,” Frampton said. “They thought it was not equality, it wasn’t inclusion.”
Lions Club Grand Falls-Windsor chose to cancel the event altogether instead of denying the Grand Falls-Windsor Pride, Frampton said.
“The Lions Club Grand Falls-Windsor believes in an inclusive environment for all people,” the club said in a statement.
The Salvation Army Park Street Citadel did not respond to requests for an interview, but in a statement emailed a spokesman for the National Salvation Army, saying the church was disappointed with the way the situation was unfolding and never asked for the event to be canceled.
“We would like to confirm that as a religious organization, The Salvation Army Park Street Citadel is guided by the core values of the organization and welcomes everyone into church ownership.”
CBC News specifically asked whether the church had asked the Lions Club to cancel the invitation to the Grand Falls-Windsor Pride and whether it would allow a Pride event to be held at its property.
“The Park Street Salvation Army Citadel has not asked for the event to be canceled, we welcome everyone to enjoy what church property has to offer,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Rebecca Blackmore, another member of the organization, said the statement did not correspond to her.
“We were not welcome on church property. It was clear.”
At the national level, the Salvation Army explicitly condemned LGBTQ therapy and discrimination.
Change of plans
Frampton and Blackmore said the organization was overwhelmed with support after the event was canceled.
Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Barry Manuel told CBC News that the city had approached the Lions Club to offer an alternative place to walk.
“Any kind of discrimination really has no place in our community and we want to be active, obviously to continue working with the Pride group,” he said. “I just hope the parties talk and discuss, and I hope they can fix that, because that’s not what we usually see in Grand Falls-Windsor.”
Barry Manuel, mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor, says the city has offered an alternative place to walk. (CBC)
Although there is currently no new date for the walk, Pride Grand-Falls Windsor said it plans to take part in a healthy lifestyle walk organized by the Lions Club in the near future.
Grand Falls-Windsor Pride ended a month of celebrations with a movie night on Wednesday.
System problem
A former ordained minister said she was not surprised to learn of the incident.
Although she was not part of the Salvation Army Church, Catherine Roberts has been ordained for years as part of Victory Churches International.
“I believed that every word in the Bible was true, and if it said that homosexuality was an abomination, then it was an abomination. I had no doubt about that.
Catherine Roberts, a former Christian minister, says she was not surprised by the incident. (Submitted by Catherine Roberts)
That is, until her two children came out as gay.
“I found myself, as I said, contrary to my morals and part of the morality that the Bible teaches about women’s rights, gay rights, trance rights, just a lot of things,” she said. “Eventually I felt I had to leave it behind. I just wasn’t convinced it was real anymore.”
Roberts said she was encouraged to read supporting comments on the Grand Falls-Windsor Pride Facebook page from members of the Salvation Army Church.
“There were a lot of people who said they were the Salvation Army and they were disappointed with the organization that they were doing it that way,” she said.
“People are making room for more [inclusive.]”
Roberts said the incident pointed to a systemic problem – and Frampton agreed.
“There are definitely so many young people still receiving these messages that they are not welcome in different spaces,” she said. “It’s not just this church.”
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