Anti-LGBTQ 'Radical' Preacher Bugs Out of Vancouver Event
A self-described "radical" evangelical preacher known for his anti-LGBTQ message failed to show up at a planned event in Vancouver this weekend, but he still has plans for other appearances, reports Canadian news source CityNews1130.
When he arrives, he'll find counter-protestors ready to greet him - not which violent rhetoric, but with song and dance.
David Lynn, the founder of Christ's Forgiveness Ministries, had been scheduled to appear at a rally in Vancouver's gay-friendly West End on Aug. 30. CityNews1130 noted that Lynn "makes a point of targeting LGBTQ+ communities and spreading messages of intolerance," and recalled that he had been arrested after harassing Pride goers in Toronto in 2019.
A counter-protest had been organized to greet Lynn and repel his homophobic message. The West End had already been the scene of loud anti-LGBTQ "street preaching" from a pair of men with a microphone and loudspeakers, one of whom - a man named Dorre Love - is accused of breaking the leg of resident and sports radio host Justin Morissette.
As previously reported at EDGE, Morissette had asked Love and his companion to turn down the volume of their anti-LGBTQ tirade. When Morissette tried to take the microphone away, Love allegedly grabbed him in a headlock, braced his leg against Morissette's, and twisted him until Morissette's leg fractured.
I stood up to anti-gay evangelical bullies in the West End this evening, and they purposefully broke my leg for the trouble. I don't know why I did this. It felt like the right thing to do and no one else would. I'm going to have metal plates in my leg for the rest of my life.— Justin Morissette ???????? (@JustinMoris) August 23, 2020
Love claims that he was "attacked" and he was acting in "self-defense."
The episode raised tensions in Vancouver's West End, with a group called the Disco Task Force having been prepared to greet Lynn at the planned rally - not with force, but with a party, CTV News reported. The group responds when anti-LGBTQ preachers appear on Vancouver's streets.
Disco Tsk Force member Dan Snyder said that his group is ready to counter hateful messages from street preachers whenever they appear in Vancouver.
"They pop up, some of them have their speakers, and they start saying terrible things," Snyder told CTV. "Much of it religious, but a lot of time it goes past acceptable speech. Especially as a gay man, I find it quite offensive."
But fighting hatred and violence with more hatred and violence is not a constructive approach. Noted Snyder: "They don't want a conversation, they want provocation." Hence the approach of Disco Task Force: To publicly celebrate with music and dance.
Though Lynn skipped the welcome that Vancouver's gay community had planned for him, his visits to other communities around Canada have also drawn counter-protestors. Such was the case on the evening of Aug. 31 when Lynn appeared at Sunset Beach, where, CityNews1130 reported, he was surrounded by a protective phalanx of police.
Revelers simply sang and danced around the officers as well as the anti-gay preacher.