A gay rights group has slammed a pastor for referring to homosexuals as “disgusting and unnatural” during a church sermon.
The Triangle Project says steps should be taken against Ghanaian Bishop Dag Heward-Mills, who made the statements at Grace Bible church in Soweto on Sunday.
This after outspoken Idols SA judge Somizi Mhlongo stormed out during the sermon and complained about it on social media.
In a video shared on the church’s website, Heward-Mills also compared homosexuals to animals: “Dogs, cats, leopards, mention the animal. Which one has one partner? It is just like homosexuality, you don’t have male and male.
“If you use that reasoning, you will find that homosexuality is not natural... there’s nothing like that in nature” said Heward-Mills to loud applause.
It was at this point of the sermon that Somizi made his dramatic exit.
In a video posted on Instagram on Sunday, the emotional celeb says: “I just stood up. The lady next to me was begging me not to leave. And I asked her why?
“It’s like going to a seminar, and the person who is supposed to be motivating you is being racist,” Mhlongo said.
Somizi told The Star he had been a member of the church since 1995 but is now planning to boycott the institution.
“The topic was fine; it was about why the soul was important. Then all of a sudden he switched and started speaking about homosexuality. How homosexuality is disgusting, and even animals don’t do it,” he said.
“There are so many gay people in the church, and they sat there throughout the whole service. I just thought I am not going to sit there and listen to somebody offending me.”
An unapologetic Pastor Ezekiel Mathole, from the Grace Bible church, said yesterday: “Grace Bible Church welcomes everybody and does not discriminate against anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation.
“The bishop’s views are not our views. People should respect his views and agree to differ on those views.
“And it is the right of the individuals to sit through them or decide to walk out,” Mathole added.
Matthew Clayton, spokesperson for the Triangle project, says: “Using religious opinion as a way to spout homophobia is nothing new, unfortunately. We applaud [Somizi] and his brave stance in leaving the church and hope that his public position encourages more people of faith to stand up to what they know is nothing but hate.”
Clayton says the matter should be reported to the Equality Court as Heward-Miller’s comments “amounted to hate speech”.
“Grace Bible Church’s apology rings very hollow, and they must also not shirk their responsibility for things that are said in their church by guests they invite,” he said.