A gay “kiss-in” descended into a
war of words Sunday when a group of mostly Christian protesters
staged a counter protest in Fort Worth, the Star-Telegram
reported.
The gay rights group Queer
Liberaction's “kiss-in” was suppose to be about showing a
little bit of queer love in the conservative Stockyards, a uniquely
Texas scene of rodeo, shopping and dining.
About 40 people on each side of
Exchange Street faced off with bullhorns, signs and chants.
“This is the most homophobic place
that I've ever lived in,” Joe Remsik, 37, told the paper. “I'm
concerned about my safety in the Stockyards and in the rest of Fort
Worth. The constant drumbeat of the religious right telling us that
we're sinners and deserve to go to hell is more than I can stomach.”
As the group chanted for equal rights,
opponents on the opposite side of the street countered with signs
that read “Homosexual acts is a sin!” and “Jesus is coming
REPENT!”
“They're saying that we're going to
be militant and you must accept what we're doing as legal and moral,”
Howard Caver, pastor of Fort Worth's World Missionary Baptist Church
on Bessie St., told local ABC affiliate WFAA TV 8. “And we're
saying we will not accept what you're doing as moral.”
The demonstration is the latest volley
in the ongoing debate over gay and lesbian rights in the Fort Worth
area that was sparked when police
raided a gay bar in June that left one man seriously injured.