Harlem Church announce plans to burn Pride flag

A pastor at the All The Land Anointed Holy (ATLAH) Church has announced plans to burn an LGBT Pride flag.

Reverend James Manning is hoping to burn a rainbow flag in his church’s courtyard to celebrate a postponement of a bankruptcy auction.

According to Gay Star News, the Ali Forney Centre, an organisation helping LGBT homeless youth, have announced a demonstration to protest the flag burning.

Carl Siciliano, founder and executive director of the centre, released a statement saying:

“Reverend Manning’s threat to burn the rainbow flag in the courtyard of his church is reprehensible, especially in the aftermath of the Orlando Massacre.”

“We plan to surround his church with rainbow flags, the symbol of our pride as a community, to show that our pride cannot be destroyed, symbolically or otherwise. The best response t his hate is a display of community love and pride by the LGBT community and our allies.”

The church was facing closure after failing to pay water bills. This isn’t the first time Manning has hit headlines as he’s frequently given hate speeches about President Obama and LGBT people.

Back in 2014 the church was vandalised with spray paint that read: “God is gay.”

Speaking about the incident, Manning said that gay people are “outright bullies.”

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