NCC's Bob Edgar Speaks at Pro-Homosexuality Rally in Philadelphia
David Sheaffer
5/9/2007

As I wandered into Christ Church in Philadelphia past dozens of police and a few protestors on a warm sunny day in May, I could see the rainbow balloon arch in the background spanning across Market Street. This section of Philadelphia was shut down to traffic, and filled with thousands from the homosexual community celebrating SundayOUT the final day of the Equality Forum—a weeklong festival of the “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered” communities that includes concerts, dinners, and parties searching for the “hottest lesbian in the USA.” About 150 individuals took an hour, to gather in historic Christ Church for an Interfaith Service.

A strong sense of irony overwhelmed me as I sat next to George Washington’s box, listening to quiet organ music, and read the memorials on the walls of the saints that served this congregation over its 300 plus years of history. I was sitting alongside individuals proudly wearing rainbow t-shirts, “Adam + Steve” t-shirts, “God Made Me Gay” stickers, and one woman wearing a t-shirt that asked, “What kind of Man are you?”

Historic Christ Church in Philadelphia was host to an interfaith worship service, in connection with the Equality Forum.That was just the beginning of a service that could have come out of what Seinfeld called “bizarro world.” For on this day Bob Edgar and the Institute on Religion and Democracy may have found common ground. the rest