(Photo credit: Gage Skidmore)
An Indiana church has sparked national outrage after a preacher openly called on the Trump administration to “execute” members of the LGBTQ community, citing the Bible as justification for the extreme rhetoric.
According to a report from WISH-TV 8 in Indianapolis, the incendiary comments were made during a sermon titled “Pray the Gay Away” by Stephen Falco, an evangelical preacher with the Sure Foundation Baptist Church.
In the sermon, which was part of the church’s “Men’s Preaching Night” and live-streamed on its Facebook page, Falco shouted, “They’re all a bunch of f—–, that want to walk around, come on our streets, and demand our children. And we should look them in the eye and say, ‘No, you’re not going to have our children!’”
When pressed about the sermon’s content, the church responded with a written statement, doubling down on its stance. “The preacher was only calling for the death penalty and suicide for the actual sodomites (homosexuals). The Bible teaches that those people are worthy of death. They are supposed to be executed by the government. We are not to take the law into our own hands,” the church said.
The hateful language has triggered condemnation from LGBTQ advocates and faith leaders alike. One member of the LGBTQ community, speaking to WISH-TV, said, “Children are targeted silently and violently. These children don’t know social constructs until we teach them that. And, so, when we’re teaching them through hate and disguising it as scripture, what we’re doing is abusing them.”
Kyla Russell, reporting for WISH-TV, noted that the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis swiftly rebuked the message, calling it “theologically irresponsible and pastorally dangerous.” In a statement, the group added that they “stand for dignity, inclusion, and justice for all people, including their LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters.”
The backlash underscores a growing tension between freedom of religious expression and hate speech, with many now calling for increased scrutiny of extremist rhetoric in religious spaces. Despite the outrage, the church has not walked back its comments, leaving many in the community fearful and appalled.
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