‘We are wonderfully made.’ Record number of faith groups join Lexington Pride Festival.

Marion Joseph gazed at the row of tents at Lexington’s Pride Festival Saturday on the Stephens Courthouse Plaza and marveled how many were occupied by faith-based organizations.

“We call this ‘religious row.’ It is growing,” said Joseph, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington, which she said was with the gay community in Lexington even when it held small picnics decades ago instead of the annual downtown festival that now attracts thousands in its 12th year.

This year’s festival had about 200 vendors, and a record 20 of them were with religious groups ranging from Catholic LGBTQ+ Ministry Lexington to Woodland Christian Church, said Jacob Boyd, treasurer of the Pride Community Services Organization. The group educates the community on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues and worked on the festival.

He said the festival usually has had 10 to 12 religious organizations involved.

“My personal opinion is that we are seeing more religious groups at Pride festivals in Lexington because most religions are not against us,” said Boyd.

Jonathan Coleman, who also worked at the festival, agreed but added, “Some faith-based groups still do not agree with us and we consider them most dangerous to our rights.”

He was speaking of a small group of five or so men on the corner of Limestone Street near the festival who used a bullhorn to proclaim that homosexuality is a sin and participants in it face eternal damnation. “Judgment is coming, Turn to Jesus. He can save you and set you free,” said one of the signs they held.

Asked about the increase in the number of faith-based organizations with booths at the festival, Zachary Humphrey, minister of Public Proclaimer Ministries, said, “Faith-based doesn’t mean Bible-based.”

From his group’s tent at the festival, John Curtis, a retired priest and spiritual director of Catholic LGBTQ+ Ministry Lexington, pointed to a letter that Bishop John Stowe of the Catholic Diocese of Lexington issued Friday for the Lexington Pride Festival.

In it, Stowe pointed to Psalm 139, which he said “celebrates God’s intimate knowledge and deep love of each son and daughter he has made in his image and likeness.”

“There are so many things which can divide us, let’s all come together in the recognition that we are wonderfully made and we are made to reflect the glory of God.”

Staffers in a tent occupied by “The Source: A United Methodist Community,” a first-time participant at the Lexington festival, distributed copies of a statement from this month’s Kentucky Annual Conference that said, “We will implore families and church not to reject or condemn lesbian or gay members and friends.

“We will seek intentional ways to welcome and include LGBTQ persons into the life of our church. We commit ourselves to be in ministry with and for all persons.”

Chris Hartman, director of Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign, said the growth of faith-based organizations is “a natural evolution. In the ‘90s, some religious groups were integral in promoting gay rights

“I’m just surprised that it has exploded so exponentially.”

This story was originally published June 29, 2019 at 3:51 PM.