Gay-friendly church stands up to vandals in the best way possible

A gay-friendly church in North Carolina has responded in the best possible way to vandals who sprayed homophobic graffiti on its doors.

Wedgewood church has come back even brighter than ever, after its congregation refused to be intimidated by the anti-gay message scrawled on it just days after the Carolina Pride festival, WCNC reports.

The church was targeted after putting up a sign that read “LGBT equality” outside its doors a month ago. Last Thursday, (August 20) pastor Chris Ayers arrived at the church to find that the sign had been covered with black paint, and the message “fags are pedos” scrawled on the doorway.

“My heart goes out to all my LGBT friends whose hearts have been pierced so many times. This is one more heart-piercing,” he wrote on Facebook.

“I can’t imagine all the hurt and rejection.”

Rather than bow to the homophobic vandalism, however, the church came together in the days that followed, holding a service focused on community, equality and acceptance, and painting over the graffiti with a giant rainbow.

“No amount of spray paint is going to stop us,” church deacon Kimberlee Walker said.

The church says they may consider taking down the LGBT equality sign, however, in favour of a message directed at the vandals themselves: “We forgive you”.

Watch WCNC’s coverage of the story below:

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