MRCTV attended the annual Equality March in San Diego, Calif., on Sunday, one of many marches across the nation celebrating Pride month.
Participants marched from Balboa Park through downtown, wielding rainbow flags, wearing shirts with the words “Love Trumps Hate,” and chanting phrases like, “Love, not hate, makes America great.”
The march culminated into a rally at Waterfront Park in front of the San Diego City Administration Building. Drawing in a less-than-impressive turnout, the rally was relatively mellow, with the exception of the occasional “F—Donald Trump,” a loud “F—the wall” chant, and a handful of offensive signs.
The event seemed less focused on spreading awareness about LGBTQ issues and more focused on bashing conservatives, religious leaders, and, especially, President Trump.
One man with a “Hillary 2016” t-shirt was holding a sign of Trump with a Hitler mustache titled, “Twitler.”
Another had a sign that read, “Your tiny hands can’t cover our mouths.”
One attendee held a painting of Trump kissing Russian President Vladimir Putin, gripping him at his genitalia. “Grab America by the Putin,” the sign reads.
Speakers such as CEO of RISE San Diego, Dwayne Crenshaw, criticized the president as not only anti-gay, but also anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-reproductive rights, anti-Muslim, and the list goes on.
Laurie Coskey, rabbi at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral and CEO of The United Way San Diego, criticized other religious leaders for being at church on Sunday instead of attending the march. How dare they.
She called for religious leaders to speak up in support of LGBTQ rights. Coskey added that pride marchers were doing God's work by "praying with their feet" at the "mega church of justice."
Sen. Toni Atkins (D-Calif.) also spoke at the event. She said that the LGBTQ community is "truly the inclusive community" and that "all beliefs are welcome," except if those beliefs disagree with the community's.
While they preached tolerance and equality, the Equality March organizers and speakers didn't hesitate to bash Republicans, conservatives, and religious leaders as narrow-minded. They denounced Trump as the king of all intolerance.
But not all gays believe Trump is a bigot.
On Thursday, a group called “Gays for Trump” were banned from marching with Charlotte Pride in Charlotte, N.C.
“All we wanted to do is let the community know the gay community does not speak for every single gay – just like the mayor of Pittsburgh does not speak for every single person in Pittsburgh,” group spokesman Mr. Van Cleve told Fox News.
Apparently Charlotte Pride never gave the organization an explanation. They simply defended their right to “decline participation at our events to groups or organizations which do not reflect the mission, vision and values of our organization.”
Didn’t Gays for Trump know? If you have a difference of opinion, the Left doesn’t want to hear it.
While Trump did not formally recognize June as LGBT Pride month this year, which has brought on a great deal of anger and backlash, the President has voiced his support for the community in the past.
Following the terror attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Trump at the Republican National Convention pledged to protect LGBTQ people from “violence and oppression.”
Nonetheless, the community rejects him and continues to propagate the narrative that Trump is a homophobe, citing his support for religious freedom.
Even at the rally, participants and speakers seemed to blame the Orlando terror attack on Republicans, conservatives, and anyone who disagrees with them, when it was a gay Islamic extremist who committed the mass shooting.
After offering the victims of the terror attack a moment of silence, one of the speakers preached, "Honoring their lives with silence is one thing, but honoring their lives with action is what we need to do."
Yes, standing united in the fight against terrorism is what we need to do. Unfortunately that's not what he meant.
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