SALON

Thursday, Jan 10, 2013 4:28 PM UTC

Anti-gay pastor withdraws

The Rev. Louis Giglio, who called homosexuality a "sin," has backed out of Obama's inauguration ceremonies

By

Topics: Barack Obama, Gay Rights, Inauguration, Evangelicals, Editor's Picks,

Anti-gay pastor withdrawsFILE - This Nov. 28, 2012 file photo shows construction contining on Capitol Hill in Washington, on the viewing stand for President Barack Obama's January's Inauguration Day ceremonies. Four years ago, Barack Obama’s swearing-in drew a jubilant record crowd to the National Mall to witness history: the country’s first black president taking the oath of office. This time, the capital is pre-occupied with a looming economic crisis, exit from war and reshuffling in Congress. It's almost as if Obama's swearing in on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is a been-there-done-that moment. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)(Credit: AP)

UPDATE: An earlier version of this article contained the headline “Obama boots anti-gay pastor.” Greg Green of the Presidential Inauguration Committee notes that it was Giglio’s decision to step down, and an effort is currently underway to replace him.

A spokesman for Giglio issued the following statement to ThinkProgress:

I am honored to be invited by the President to give the benediction at the upcoming inaugural on January 21. Though the President and I do not agree on every issue, we have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably, ending slavery in all its forms.

Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.

Neither I, nor our team, feel it best serves the core message and goals we are seeking to accomplish to be in a fight on an issue not of our choosing, thus I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the President’s invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the President, and urge the nation to do so. I will most certainly pray for him on Inauguration Day.

Our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever need God’s grace and mercy in our time of need.

The Rev. Louie Giglio has been removed from the program of President Obama’s second inaugural, where he was slated to give the benediction prayer, after coming under fire for delivering vehemently anti-gay sermons in the 1990s. Giglio, an evangelical pastor based in Atlanta, was selected yesterday to give the closing prayer at the upcoming ceremony, but less than 24 hours later has been removed, according to ABC News’ Jon Karl.

While Giglio has tended to steer clear of hot-button social issues in the public realm, he has been a proponent of controversial ”ex-gay therapy” and once denounced homosexuality as a “sin,” warning that gay people will not go to heaven. As I noted yesterday, Giglio’s selection was reminiscent of Obama’s 2008 choice of Rev. Rick Warren, who enraged liberals and gay-rights activists with his stridently anti-gay message. The selection of both pastors was meant as a goodwill gesture to evangelical conservatives, many of whom distrust Obama, but it didn’t buy the president any points then and it likely wasn’t going to do so this year either.

For a president who has staked his legacy on advancing gay rights, selecting Giglio to give the benediction at his second inaugural was  incongruous at best, and offensive at worst.

If anything, Giglio may have been softer on homosexuality than Warren, but Obama seems to have learned his lesson and removed him before the event. Why he was selected in the first place — was the inaugural committee aware of his anti-gay past? Did they not bother looking? — is another question.

 

Alex Seitz-Wald

Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 18 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
155 points156 points | 4 comments
vote
New Yorker launches tool by Aaron Swartz to protect leaks: Strongbox, co-created by the persecuted late technologist, is an open-source drop box for leaked documents
116 points117 points | comment
vote
Obstruction will ruin the GOP: Playing politics and abusing the system can excite the extremes, but it's a recipe for long-term political disaster
41 points42 points | 8 comments
vote
With the help of Photoshop, artist Yao Lu has made shanshui — traditional ink paintings — of China's landfills
12 points13 points | comment
vote
Revenge editing on Wikipedia: The unmasking of a writer who took advantage of online anonymity to pursue vendettas with other writers
13 points14 points | 3 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations