Bishop Harry Jackson, a vocal opponent
of LGBT rights and an advisor to President Donald Trump, died on
Monday. He was 66.
“It is with a heavy heart that we
notify you that our beloved Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. has
transitioned to be with the Lord on November 9, 2020,” Jackson's
church, Hope Christian Church in Maryland, wrote on its website.
“Please pray for the Jackson Family's
comfort and respect their right to privacy at this time,” the
church added.
Religion News Service reported that
Jackson attended the White House ceremony announcing Judge Amy Coney
Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court in September. The event has
been linked to many COVID-19 infections. Jackson's cause of death has
not been announced.
Jackson joined Trump's Evangelical
Advisory Board during the 2016 presidential campaign. Some outlets
list Jackson as an “unofficial” faith advisor to the president.
Jackson, the author of A Manifesto:
Christian America's Contract with Minorities, was a vocal
opponent of LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage.
Jackson was a vocal leader in the
effort to stop marriage equality in Maryland and the District of
Columbia.
In a 2011 interview, Jackson suggested
that same-sex marriage is evil.
“I'm an African-American and I
specially believe that what we're dealing with is a Satanic plot to
destroy our seed,” Jackson
said. “I think where we are now is that there is an issue of
justice that's being perverted and we have a minority group, in a
sense, that has decided that they are going to impose their will on
the culture – by force – and redefine God's law.”
The following year, it was revealed
that Jackson received thousands of dollars in donations from the
National Organization for Marriage's (NOM) education fund. NOM at the
time was the nation's largest single-issue group opposed to marriage
equality.
As a member of the Coalition of
African-American Pastors (CAAP), Jackson condemned former President
Barack Obama's marriage equality endorsement. Right Wing Watch called
CAAP “a NOM front group.”