Gay News

Church's anti-gay ad campaign banned in Belfast

Friday, 5th December 2008

Written by Francesca Cookney

A full page ad campaign, encouraging people to align themselves with "the word of God against sodomy" has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after it appeared in the Belfast Newsletter last August.

The ad, put together by the Sandown Free Presbyterian Church, referred to homosexuality as an "abomination" and "a cause for regret that a section of the community desire to be known for a perverted form of sexuality". As such it was ruled that it "caused serious offence to some readers" and prohibited from being published again.

That said, the ASA actually only received seven complaints about the ad, although the Belfast Newsletter also admitted to getting a few letters from its readers. Belfast's gay community, it seems, are able to raise above such petty tactics – the church claimed to have published the ad in response to a banner reading "Jesus is a fag" at last year's Gay Pride.

Upon seeing this, they apparently felt "obliged under God to publicly challenge the vices of this generation". The newspaper also defended its decision to run the ad, saying that they had simply desired to set the Gay Pride event "against the background of ongoing public debate regarding issues it provoked".

The church argued that it could "not be held responsible if readers were offended by the message of the Bible". As it turns out, they were wrong on both counts.