Dozens of local queers in Southwest Washington State celebrated the unofficial start of summer this year with a ‘Big Gay Wedding’, gathering from morning till afternoon on a warm holiday weekend — right outside of a Christian Nationalist hate church that preaches LGBTQ eradication.
Directed and cheered on by Christian conservatives, Republican-captured governments in states like Florida and Texas and around the world continue to race each other passing new legislation restricting queer people’s lives, and specifically those performing gender nonconformity such as drag queens and trans people.
But on Sunday, May 28, about 100 Vancouver and regional residents acted in solidarity to protest the local bigotry of the “King James Conference” that Washington’s Sure Foundation Baptist Church had been putting on since May 25. The church’s leader, Christian Nationalist hate-preacher Aaron Thompson, led the conference that included many speakers from The New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement (New IFB). The New IFB’s members included prominent figures like Aaron Thompson, who has openly advocated for the genocide of Queer folk and has spread of antisemitic conspiracy theories as a central aspect of their doctrine, as well as engaged in Holocaust denial, veneration mass shooters, and called for the beating of children.
Thompson received Internet virality last November as a video of one of his sermons praising the Club Q mass shooter gained widespread attention. In the video, the reverend referred to the Colorado Springs nightclub shooting by a neo-Nazi that left five people dead and 17 injured as “a good thing” and stated that quote “I really don’t care that those people got killed. And you’re like, ‘That sounds really hateful, pastor.’ Well, it is hateful. Because I do hate them.”
A Big Gay Celebration
With the Sure Foundation bringing in outside agitators from around the country for their multi-day Christian Nationalist conference, locals organized a “Big Gay Wedding” to counter the fourth and final day of the hate event. Portland’s local indigenous community, the Native Youth and Elders Council, and folks at the Portland State Universities Native Center took part in writing a land acknowledgement for Ri0t Dad to deliver to start off the day’s protest. Originally written for Multnomah County, the acknowledgement was adapted to to the tribes associated to the Vancouver side of the Columbia River for the event.
Land Acknowledgement
Today we need to respectfully acknowledge that the land on which we are gathering is the ancestral homelands of a diverse array of indigenous tribes and bands. Clark County rests on traditional village sites of the Cowlitz while Chinook (shi-nook), bands of Tualatin (too-la-tin), Kalapuya (kala-puya), Molalla (Mo-lalla) and many other Tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River, and which is now home to a vibrant native community representing over 400 different tribal nations.
We recognize Indigenous peoples as the original stewards of this land and acknowledge the enduring relationship between the land and the people since time immemorial.
It is also important for us to move beyond acknowledgement and reflect on our own history that brought us to this place. We are all responsible for understanding the history of colonization and genocide of indigenous people, and to the commitment to learning from this history.
Acknowledgment by itself is a small gesture. It only becomes meaningful when paired with authentic relationships and informed action. But this beginning can be an opening to greater public consciousness of Native sovereignty and cultural rights, a step toward equitable relationship and reconciliation.
So while the Christian cult spewed all their genocidal rhetoric at their congregation and their hostage children inside a repurposed bank building, locals celebrated queer life in public space under the sun with four marriages and marriage re-commitment ceremonies, musical performances, 2 Indigenous 2 Spirit Poets Ei & Simona Bearcub, and drag show performances by “Izonny, the Goliaths of Glam”: Isiah Esquire and Johnny Nuriel, who also officiated the day’s weddings and ceremonies. Local pastors of inclusive churches including Christian congregations came out to support the queer community and speak against the genocidal rhetoric of the Sure Foundation Baptist Church. Vancouver City Councilmember Kim D. Harless also spoke at the event.
Indigenous punk rock artist Gabe from the band “1876” was one of the musical performers and explained that they were there because they wanted to use their voice to speak out against hate and protect what’s sacred because LGBTQ people have always been party of their community.
“I haven’t forgotten where I come from despite Christians trying to take that knowledge from me,” Gabe said. “I still know who they are in our communities, and I think it is important for everyone to protect each other but especially those who have the voice to do it to protect what’s sacred.”
Cops protect property; we protect us
In the face of rising Christo-fascist violence in the United States, organizers said they wanted to maintain a protest environment that was appropriate for all members of the community, which means keeping everyone safe. They provided free water and snacks for participants, organized a “buddy system” when coming and going from the main protest area for safety-in-numbers against potential ambush harassment or attacks, redirected incoming supporters to alternative parking.
Indeed, the church, parking lot owner, and towing company Chappelle’s worked together to keep a truck sitting in the parking lot waiting for protestors to leave the cars unattended and take them away at the owners’ expense.
The wedding organizers maintained free and clear access to the entrance to the roadway while offering assistance to those pulling out who couldn’t see past the crowd, meaning as a result of their efforts, no vehicles were towed and no one was struck by a vehicle. Even so, the event organized and directed medics to be on scene equipped with individual first aid kits and trauma kits as well as a trauma unit vehicle, as well as a local community defense group who acted as security, trained for de-escalation but many also visibly armed to make it clear the crowd was not a soft target. Ultimately, there were no disturbances, just like there were no wedding-attendant vehicles actually towed, but that doesn’t mean the caution wasn’t warranted.
Although the Rev. Thompson and his church called police 22 times to complain, police only arrived once early in the morning. An officer asked protestors to go somewhere else because they made it uncomfortable for the church to spread their genocidal rhetoric, but the officer gave up when confronted with the property survey map printed ahead of time showed “public space” extended from the middle of the street to far beyond where the protesters currently were nearest the sidewalk. Police left and did not return. What this means is had armed reactionaries shown up or the ones at the conference open-carrying firearms tried to incite violence and call it self-defense, no state protection would have existed despite making no attempt at intimidation from the state upon the protest.
Being prepared looks like being over-prepared when you do it right, but when you do it right, everyone gets to feel safe and be safe.
In another statement by Ri0t Dad about the event postmortem
For too long Vancouver WA has been seen as a safe place for Right Wing Extremist Ideologies to grow, be nurtured and shared. They have been allowed to gather to intimidate citizens through their words and often through violent action. It’s time Vancouver residents organized to stand up knowing if we do not, then no one will. No one is coming to save us. The ranks of these groups are filled with local politicians, police, first responders and church leaders. We are the ones who need to draw a line and stand firm. It’s time we build community resistance through mutual aid, a general discourse, community support and community defense. It’s time to get involved, South West Washington. Remember; We Keep Us Safe. – Riot Dad
How did guns make this event safe?
Guns are a safety precaution that is needed in the current political environment, as the ramifications of stochastic terrorism are felt harder and harder by marginalized communities the more the need for the knowledge and use of guns to not be limited to right wing toxic male culture becomes more and more apparent. In a perfect world we could and would get rid of guns but nothing we can ever do will ever be able to un invent the gun, the means and conditions will always be with us for the possibility of these weapons to exist. Compound that with the fact that this country is deeply saturated in guns, the majority of these guns have and will continue to fall into the hands of individual oppressors than the oppressed by means of economic accessibility alone unless actively mitigated and stockpiled. Guns should be a community tool of protection, not an individualized symbol of power and this has been how the left has used guns to protect marginalized communities historically from John Browns storm on Harpers Ferry, to the strikers in the Battle of Blair Mountain, to the workers revolutions such as the Ukrainian Black Army, to the community defense of the Black Panthers, where ever leftists have made gains for the working class guns have been there at our defense.
Proper use of firearms can save lives in a live shooter situation, which is more likely in certain scenarios, most notably in events such as drag shows that have become hot targets by reactionaries looking to participate in horrific violence against the Queer community. Having autonomous community defense who are openly carrying high powered weapons is essential for drawing attention from potential threats as hot targets away from the mass and acting as a immediate threat and deterrence against a potential shooter to begin with.
Yet guns, though a integral part of proper safety for an event such as this, in order to make a safe environment for all to enjoy and thrive in we must be trained in every possible avenue to avoid their use through de escalation and conflict resolution like the amazing volunteers who organized security at this event. This allowed for an environment despite the presence of armed security and fascists organizing, everyone involved was able to share in a joyous act of queer resistance with memories to last a lifetime.
Who Is The “Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement”?
The New IFB has been reported extensively by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other publications for their extremist rhetoric, listed as some of the key points of controversy around The New IFB are stated as follows in a article published by the ADL.
- The New Independent Fundamental Baptist (New IFB) movement is a loose network of independent churches concentrated in the U.S. connected by their belief in certain religious doctrines and a shared brand of deeply anti-LGBTQ and antisemitic teachings.
- Pastor Steven Anderson founded the movement’s flagship, Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona in 2005, though most of the churches affiliated with the movement today were founded in the past five years.
- New IFB pastors frequently call for LGBTQ people to be killed and make other disparaging, violent remarks about the LGBTQ community.
- New IFB pastors promote antisemitism, claiming that Jewish people today worship Satan and are not “true” Jews.
- Unlike many traditional evangelical Christian churches, the New IFB is staunchly anti-Zionist.
- An extensive digital strategy allows New IFB pastors to reach millions of people online, despite attempts by tech companies to deplatform New IFB-affiliated channels for hate speech violations.
- The New IFB movement is not affiliated with any mainstream Baptist denominations.
(…)
The New Independent Fundamental Baptist (New IFB) movement is a loose, growing network of approximately 30 churches in the United States and around the world that promotes hate and bigotry under the guise of religious doctrine. Anti-LGBTQ bigotry and antisemitism are fundamental to New IFB ideology, as demonstrated by the doctrinal statements on their websites and the content of their sermons.
(…)
Many New IFB pastors do not make any effort to hide their bigotry. They openly promote extreme, hateful rhetoric, and when challenged on these views, double down. The most common forms of bigotry incorporated into New IFB teachings include anti-LGBTQ bigotry, antisemitism, anti-Zionism, misogyny and more. A review of sermons and other church materials demonstrates this shared ideology.
(…)
New IFB ideology promotes the antisemitic notion that Jews today are imposters who are not “true” Jews described in the Bible. They often claim that Jews today worship Satan and that the Star of David represents the Devil. New IFB doctrine promotes the notion of an Antichrist, whom they claim will be Jewish. In their sermons, various New IFB pastors often openly state that they “hate” Judaism. In addition to criticizing Judaism as a religion, many New IFB pastors also promote antisemitic tropes about Jewish power and control over sectors like finance, news media and entertainment.
New IFB pastors have also promoted Holocaust denial. In 2015, Pastor Steven Anderson presented a number of false claims in a video specifically addressing the so-called “Holocaust hoax.” “The numbers don’t add up and the facts don’t add up,” he alleged. Anderson acknowledged that “some Jews” were among the many “casualties on both sides,” but blamed these deaths on starvation and poor conditions, claiming that “just because people were rounded up and put in forced labor camps, that does not mean that they were systematically exterminated and cremated to the tune of six million.”
Anderson also asserted that Holocaust survivors who recall Jews being burned in crematoria are “paid liars” and that Jews lied about the Holocaust to justify creating the State of Israel. “Why would it surprise you that the people who deny the Christ, they deny that Jesus is the Messiah, would lie to you about something else?…The real burnt offering,” he concluded, “is going to be when all of these Jews that don’t believe in Jesus Christ go to hell for eternity. That’s the oven that they ought to be worried about.”
In a more recent example, New IFB Pastor Aaron Thompson of Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, WA, told congregants in 2020: “I don’t believe that [six million Jews died] for one second. If you believe in the whole Holocaust thing, whatever, but you know I’ve studied it and I just don’t think the math adds up.”
More information about the vapid amount of controversies faced by the New IFB in their short history including how their founder became the first person banned from the country of Ireland and the rest of the rest of the ADL article can be found here.
![edited post by Insta @blazakr "[Child] and I at the “Big Gay Marriage” protest in front of the violently anti-gay Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Vancouver, WA." Minor face edited out by us](https://sabotmedia.noblogs.org/files/2023/06/351604958_224038863645953_6062677530830166410_n.png)
What Have We Learned?
The far right current Christo-fascist movement is rising and dangerous. They actively support the genocide of whole communities of marginalized people. The people supporting this agenda are in positions of power within religious and political spaces. The people opposing this movement are those within those communities and their accomplices. In order to be an accomplice in this resistance movement you must be willing to listen to the needs of those within these communities and respond to those needs as asked, not through whatever lens you want to interpret those needs. This is the act of solidarity. The act of truly listening and taking what is said at face value without judgement or interpretation. When a community is under threat they may ask for people with the knowledge of firearms to show up and lend their skills and knowledge, both in the direct protection of an event, and in the training of people on how to properly use firearms.
The right wing is well armed, we will never be able to fully protect against this threat without the use of firearms, like it or not. This does not mean that everyone needs to be armed, the goal of the left should not be to copy the individualized prepper model of firearm ownership that focuses on stockpiling an individual cache of weapons for future use. We need to think radically outside this model when it comes to ownership and use of firearms. Yes, they must be owned individually in our legal framework, but we should strive to find ways to use them collectively for the benefit of the community we are in solidarity with. This means those with firearms and the knowledge of their proper use should be willing to show up when called to. We must all be willing to bring our various skill sets to bear against the rising threat of Christo-fascism. From medics to armed security, artists to organizers; everyone was needed to pull of this event.
Yet to properly have a safe action or protest, especially ones built to be in solidarity with the marginalized though explicitly necessary, it is not enough to have weapons and proper knowledge on how to use those weapons to keep an event like this safe. Though no major incidents happened this day (which itself can be attributed to the deterrence of a well armed community defense group that can offer itself as a hot target to draw attention away from the larger crowds) Had a altercation occurred between anyone be it verbal, physical, or potentially lethal altercation these armed volunteers were trained as they should be to employ every measure of de-escalation and conflict resolution possible until the risk of life is so imminent that action need be taken before ever using a weapon which is much more than we can expect out of our own police forces.
Looking away from the grim realities of modern organizing there are other safety precautions we need to be aware of to when organizing. Proper first response medical care is essential. In a lot of emergencies timing is everything and there isn’t always time to wait for an ambulance not to mention the medical bills and other potential problems if police also respond to the call. Having the knowledge to treat a gunshot wound until proper medical attention can be received, knowing how to administer epi-pens or Narcan, or even knowing how to administer CPR can be life saving in even otherwise safe events, and someone inevitably always needs a Band-Aid.
To reiterate from earlier in this report, Being prepared looks like being overprepared when you do it right, but when you do it right, everyone gets to feel safe and be safe.
Learning how to properly be prepared isn’t the only lesson to learn from this wondrously queer act of resistance or even the main lesson to be learned.
To emphasize joy, in contrast to happiness, is to move away from conditioned habits, reactions, and emotions. Bubbling up in the cracks of Empire, joy remakes people through combat with forces of subjection. …Whereas happiness is used as a numbing anesthetic that induces dependence, joy is the growth of people’s capacity to do and feel new things, in ways that can break this dependence.
(…)
When people find themselves genuinely supported and cared for, they are able to extend this to others in ways that seemed impossible or terrifying before. When people find their bellies filled and their minds sharpened among communal kitchens and libraries, hatred for capitalist ways of life grows amid belonging and connection. When someone receives comfort and support from friends, they find themselves willing to confront the abuse they have been facing. When people develop or recover a connection to the places where they live, they may find themselves standing in front of bulldozers to protect that place. When people begin to meet their everyday needs through neighborhood assemblies and mutual aid, all of a sudden they are willing to fight the police, and the fight deepens bonds of trust and solidarity. Joy can be contagious and dangerous.
Joyful Militancy
Building Thriving Resistance in Toxic Times
Carla Bergman and Nick Montgomery
This is the main lesson that can be learned from this protest against The New IFB, a network of christofascist churches hellbent on the genocide of those they deem less than. A network of people who want nothing else but to see us suffer, we have no better way to fight them than to do the opposite of that.
Our actions must be filled with only the queerest of love and joy for it shows our enemies that they cannot suppress us, they cannot force us into closets. Yet it does more for us still. The day’s events were filled with happy families and children, lovers, protectors, performers, and people of all kinds who came not just to spend a long day fighting the overt fascism that is being inflicted on our communities, but to have a helluva good time doing it as well, including many moments completely carefree. The yells and cries of slurs and insults were drowned out by music, laughter, dancing, and conversations between lovers, friends, and community members across Vancouver and Southwest Washington.
For we must not just fight fascism; we must overcome it and hold on to the very things they are trying to take from us.
And we must always remember that the revolution is not a event, but a process of our every breath and every day and, yes, the friends we make along the way for “joy can be contagious and dangerous”.
“If I can’t dance I don’t want to be in your revolution”
― Emma Goldman
BIG GAY WEDDING FAQs
Q: Who is the Sure Foundation Baptist Church and the IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) Movement?
A: The New Independent Fundamental Baptist (New IFB) movement is a loose network of independent churches concentrated in the U.S. connected by their belief in certain religious doctrines and a shared brand of deeply anti-LGBTQIA2S+ and antisemitic teachings. New IFB pastors frequently call for LGBTQIA2S+ people to be killed and make other disparaging, violent remarks about the LGBTQIA2S+ community. New IFB pastors promote antisemitism, claiming that Jewish people today worship Satan and are not “true” Jews.
Q: Why are we here, today?
A: We are here to support the LGBTQIA2S+ community and stand against hateful rhetoric and calls from the SFBC to commit acts of violence against the Queer Community by a showing of Love and Commitment
Q: Why are there people here with guns? They look scary.
A: We have a presence of armed Community Defense to help keep us safe from acts of violence against those who would wish us harm. They look scary to keep the bad guys away from us. Community Defense Participants are trained and highly qualified and they are here for Our protection.
Q: Why don’t we just have the police protect us?
A: Our community is made up of very diverse and marginalized peoples. Many of us have trauma related to policing. We cannot trust and rely on a system of oppression to safely guard and protect the oppressed.
Q: How does Community Defense work?
A: We have trained Defense Participants, Medics and De-Escalators here to keep things calm and peaceful. Through dialogue and patience our teams will persistently attempt to successfully diffuse any potential conflict. This includes walking the agitated party off-site to where they are no longer a threat.
Q: If the police show up, what do I do?
A: Nothing. You do not have to speak with them. You are here participating in a legal and constitutionally protected activity. We have people designated to handle the police, collect names and badge numbers and to inform them “We are here legally and do not need your assistance.”
Q: Why a Big Gay Wedding?
A: Everyone loves weddings and what better show of Love and Commitment to our community than the ultimate act of Love and Commitment. Plus, there’s cake.
Q: What is a community?
A: Community is a unified body of individuals, or people with common interests living in a particular area or the area itself as defined by Webster’s Dictionary. We believe a community to be truly embodied through direct action, support for those in need and the realization that We are all in this Together. This includes assisting all of those in need in whatever capacity we are able. We believe that “We Keep Us Safe”
Q: How can I help build my community?
A: Reach out to those in need, meet your neighbors, listen to marginalized voices. There are so many ways to build a community, but they all start with dialogue and a willingness to grow and learn. Use today to find common ground with a new person and build trust with them.
Q: How can I help fight Fascism, Racism and Bigotry?
A: If you see something/someone that fits the description of the above mentioned, then speak up. If you feel it is unsafe to speak up, then reach out via community networks, social medias. Involve your community by reaching out to the connections you made here today.
More Information about The New IFB and the Big Gay Wedding can be found in the following links-
SPLC- Anti-LGBT Conference Showcases Breadth of a Church Movement’s Hate
SPLC- “Kill the homos” pastor and hate group leader Steven Anderson pushes into the Last Frontier
ADL- The New Independent Fundamental Baptist (New IFB) Movement
Reddit Event Posts-
Want to oppose hate tomorrow here in Vancouver? Come on down to a real, legit gay wedding by a hate church! These folks literally want the government to arrest the LGBT for sodomy and then have the state execute them and if you think thats bad come spend some time with more loving indivudals 🙂
by u/Hypekyuu in vancouverwa
Yesterday’s Protest Wedding Next to a Hate Church was successful and without issue. Around a hundred people overall attended and folks were honking in support constantly!
by u/Hypekyuu in vancouverwa