Picture / Facebook A Bay of Islands woman left simple signs reading "Love and acceptance, not self-hate" and "Free 2 Be" on the fence of Paihia Baptist Church, where an ‘ex-gay’ man gave a talk yesterday. Alissa Gibbs carried out the peaceful protest action by herself. It followed a flood of angry comments on Paihia Baptist Church’s Facebook page, and across the social media site, when the church advertised for people with “same-sex attraction issues” to come and hear the story of a man who “overcame” being gay, and has helped others do the same. Gibbs has told GayNZ.com Daily News it was an irresponsible thing to print. “How must that ad make a young person, who is struggling to come to terms with their sexuality, feel? More so if they're from a religious family. I hate to think that people believe what they're feeling is in anyway ‘bad’ or sinful, surely we should be teaching people love, compassion and acceptance, of ourselves and of others.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 14th April 2014 - 9:14am