The Rev. Ralph Drollinger has blamed
gay men and lesbians for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Drollinger leads a weekly bible study
group for members of President Donald Trump's Cabinet.
In a blog post titled “Is God Judging
America Today?” Drollinger blamed the LGBT community and other
groups, including people with “depraved minds,” environmentalists
and atheists, for bringing about “God's wrath.”
Attendees to Drollinger's weekly
meeting include people who serve on the president's COVID-19 task
force.
In an email to NBC
News, Drollinger said that his blog post had been misinterpreted.
He explained that he does not “believe that homosexuality played
any role whatsoever in the coronavirus.”
He said that the virus is a sowing and
reaping wrath and that homosexuality causes an abandonment wrath. In
his blog post, Drollinger lists “five forms of God's judgment.”
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, criticized Drollinger's
comments.
“At a moment where we need to pull
together by recognizing our shared humanity and mutual dependence,
there are some of low moral character who see it as an opportunity to
continue to try to divide us,” said HRC President Alphonso David.
As late as 2018, Drollinger described
allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry as “a path toward
extinction.”