Comments to the Mobile City Council Regarding the LODA Art Walk

These comments were delivered at the Mobile City Council Meeting on June 6, 2023. 

I stand here today to express my deep disappointment and strong disapproval of the City’s decision to sponsor and promote a Pride Parade and drag show on June 9th. 

To be clear, the issue I raise today is not the permission of this event by the city, but the promotion of this event by the city.
If this merely involved private individual adults hosting a private event, I would not feel compelled to speak up. Though private events grieve my soul, they neither pick my pocket nor break my leg. 

The fact that this is a city-promoted and taxpayer-funded public event does pick my pocket. It does break my leg, in that it is the establishment of religion at the expense of others, insofar as LGBTQ is a denomination of the religion of expressive individualism.

This event is out of step with the stated mission of the Parks and Recreation Department, which is to bring people together in fun and inclusive ways. Every Parks & Recreation Department event that we have ever participated in has been a family-friendly and inclusive event. 

This event is not. 

For one thing, no reasonable person would or should conclude that a sexually-charged drag show is “family-friendly” or “child appropriate.” Drag shows involve men portraying sexually stereotyped women. Such portrayals further the harmful objectification of women, they serve to normalize gender confusion, and they turn a serious moral issue into little more than entertainment.

Further, this event is offensive to Christians who believe, in good faith, that God has made humanity in His own image in two genders (male and female), and that homosexuality is sinful in the sight of God. 

We believe that Jesus Christ died for sinners so that all who repent and believe may be forgiven and accepted in His sight. 
We believe that sin—all sin, homosexually not excepted—is so offensive to God that it sent Jesus Christ to the cross (Rom. 5:8-10). 

Therefore, to celebrate sin is to trivialize the cross. The city of Mobile is actively involved in such celebration of sin, and is violating the consciences of thousands by using our tax dollars to do it. 

While we harbor no personal animus toward gay, lesbian, or transgendered individuals, we call all to find forgiveness in Christ (I Cor. 6:9-11) as we call upon the Mayor and Council to end the City’s sponsorship and promotion of this event.