An Alabama town’s annual Christmas parade has been turned into a battleground between Christians who believe that Jesus is the reason for the season and a LGBT group that says Jesus would party with drag queens.
Prattville Pride had petitioned to be included in the town’s annual Christmas parade. They vowed to make the town’s yuletide celebration “merry and gay.”
President Adam Hunt told the Alabama Political Reporter that their float would have included a single drag queen dressed in family-friendly garments.
“We not want to disrupt the parade … we’re not trying to turn the kids gay,” Hunt told the news organization. “We’re just here as citizens that want to be involved in the community. Whether people like it or not, we are part of this community and we shouldn’t have to hide … A lot of people who came up said they are Christians; maybe they should love more like God. Jesus would be walking in that parade with us 100 percent.”
However, the good church-going people of Prattville decided that decking the halls was one thing, but donning gay apparel was a bit too far. A Catholic church announced their congregation would not be participating in the parade.
The controversy spilled over into the national news cycle as other communities grapple with whether to make every holiday a gay pride celebration.
On Wednesday Mayor Bill Gillespie announced that the LGBT group would not be allowed to participate due to safety and security concerns.
“This morning, it was brought to the City’s attention from Prattville Pride that there are serious safety concerns regarding Prattville Pride’s participation in the Christmas parade,” Gillespie said. “Until today, there has only been conjecture and speculation regarding potential safety concerns that Prattville Pride’s participation in the parade may cause. The City will not put the rights of parade participants ahead of the safety of its citizens. Because of the safety concerns for Prattville Pride, other parade participants, as well as parade bystanders, the City has made the decision to remove Prattville Pride from the Christmas parade. This decision was made with careful thought and consideration while balancing the rights of parade participants against the overall safety of everyone involved at the parade. The City will always respect freedoms and rights of expression. However, as in this instance, it must put the overall safety of its citizens first.”
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Clean Up Alabama, an organization that has been pushing for inappropriate books to be removed from libraries, says drag queens have no business anywhere near a parade honoring the Baby Jesus.
“The Christmas parade is a celebration of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ the Messiah. It is NOT a time to celebrate someone’s sexual preferences. And it is certainly not a place for a drag show,” read an email from the group obtained by Alabama Political Reporter. “The parade rules clearly state that ‘the city reserves the right to reject any parade entry for any reason whatsoever, and to determine participation based on suitability for the occasion.'”
They also distanced themselves from any persons who had made any threats against the LGBT group.
Clean Up Alabama, the group founded out of the Prattville library controversy, has been spearheading efforts to have the float removed from the parade. After Gillespie’s announcement, the group released the following statement:
“We’ve been vocal about our concerns with Prattville Pride being allowed to sexualize the Prattville Christmas Parade, but threats and violence are unacceptable,” they said in a statement to the Todd Starnes Show. “Clean Up Alabama does not condone threats or violence. We continue to pray for those we disagree with and hope the authorities will deal with this situation appropriately.”
Local residents have been posting about their outrage on social media saying a parade float filled with drag queens and gay pride flags is not appropriate during the Yuletide season.
“This is a Christmas parade and small children do not need to be forced to look at provocative Drag Queens dancing in front of them,” one concerned resident wrote on social media. “If we can’t get this stopped, please don’t take your small children.”
“Conservative folks with kids may want to skip the horror show,” wrote another. “The city has to let them participate due to lawsuits and civil rights. Sad news that this agenda has invaded our city.”
However, there are others who say the LGBT activists had every right to march in the Christmas parade.
“Bigotry, hate and intolerance oozes out of Clean Up Alabama,” one resident wrote on Facebook. “We never progress Alabama if we continue to be close minded and isolate different groups. Inclusion is for everyone.”
I wonder if the local media and activists would be so “tolerant” and “inclusive” if three dozen churches petitioned to include anti-gay floats in the city’s pride month celebration?
