Harlem Hates Hate At ATLAH Church

On Saturday, March 29th, 2014 more than 50 LGBT activists from groups like ACT UP demonstrated in front of the ATLAH Church on Lenox Avenue in Harlem, protesting the church’s controversial sign (right) that called for the stoning of gay people. They demanded that James Manning, the church’s homophobic pastor, come out and administer the stonings he called for.

The group reports, via press release:

Holding a forty-foot rainbow banner and shouting chants like “Harlem queers under attack! What do we do? ACT UP! Fight back!” and “Hey hey! Ho ho! David Manning has got to go!” the multiracial crowd also brandished signs that read, “God is love” and “Let he without sin cast the first stone.”

At one point the rowdy group moved to the side entrance of the church, repeatedly ringing the building’s buzzer and raising their fists while they shouted, “We’re here for out stoning! We’re here for our stoning!” Several church members watched from inside through a glass door, smiling and chatting.

Activist Jennifer Louise Lopez, whose one-woman protest at ATLAH earlier this month inspired Saturday’s action, addressed the crowd:

Lopez told the crowd that Manning had served time in prison for larceny, burglary, and criminal possession of a weapon, and said, “He is a very hateful and dangerous man.” She spoke out against using scripture to brainwash congregations by delivering hateful messages. “We will no longer stand by while Evangelical Christian churches misrepresent us,” she said. Lopez, a United Methodist Christian, called for an Easter day global demonstration of solidarity against churches that preach hate. She led the crowd in demanding, “Not one more day!” of misrepresentation.

Let us remember, we have a long tradition in Harlem of hating hate (Source).