The 70,000-square foot Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky — where attendees are reminded the earth is only a few thousand years old and aliens are probably responsible for all those dinosaur fossils — hosted a ticketed “Date Night” event on Friday. For $71.90 per couple, attendees could listen to Ken Ham, the museum’s founder, explain “the biblical view of marriage.” (There was a musical portion of the evening, too.) But when a straight couple tried to attend the event with their friends Joe and Brandon, a gay couple, guess who security denied admittance to?
Jonathan Meador recounts the evening’s experience at LEO:
Three of us (myself, my girlfriend and our friend Brandon) passed the security checkpoint despite minor scrutiny. We arrived right at 6:00 p.m.; Ken Ham was just beginning his talk of love in the museum’s special effects room, and we were eager to hear it. Brandon’s “date,” Joe of Barefoot & Progressive, was late, and so the solo Brandon was the focus of much interest for the two guards, who carried the air of actual police.
“What kind of car will she be driving?” asked one of the guards. They wanted to know so they could keep strict tabs on who came into the museum.
“Oh,” I said. “His partner’s name is Joe. I think he drives one of those hybrids…” No sooner had I uttered the word partner that the officer exchanged glances with a fellow guard, whose name badge read D. McDonald. “Joe?” McDonald asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Is there a problem with that?” McDonald then informed us that the security staff had had a meeting earlier in the morning in which this very scenario was discussed. “You guys (my girlfiend and I) can go inside,” he told us, “but your friend and Joe cannot.” When pressed on the issue, McDonald said that an “un-Christian” couple like Joe and Brandon would upset the evening for everyone, and, as proof, the museum’s website explicitly stated that couples like Joe and Brandon would not be allowed entry. (For the record, it does not)
Meador goes on to explain how he tried to LOL his through the exchange, by saying he meant Joe and Brandon’s girlfriends had to cancel, and that they decided to attend together, but the story wasn’t convincing enough for passage. So Joe and Brandon were barred from the event; Meador and his girlfriend attended. For shits and giggles?
As for Joe, he would be Joe Sonka of Barefoot And Progressive, and he writes on his own blog: “Anyway, the great irony is that while two men were not allowed to attend the Creation Museum last night, guess who they are welcoming with open arms today? None other than Jeffrey Bornhoeft, a lovely fellow making his first trip out of Ohio since the time that he shot his ex-wife’s husband three times in the head 11 years ago. Jeffrey is OK though, because he’s totally not into dudes.”
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Best line of the entire evening, however, goes to security guard D. McDonald, who asked the group, “Can you tell me what exactly is Christian about being gay?” Consider me stumped!
JT
Ah, more lying from the 10 commandments crowd. When Jebus created that way to the father, he obviously built those pearly gates to keep out anyone not like him (white, straight, fully-abled, and wealthy).
ron
I’m sorry, but if you are gay and believe this religious bullshit, then you deserve whatever happens at the hands of these bizarre fanatics.
jay_max
@ron: Where does it say he believed this “religious bullshit”? I remind you its best to know your enemy…and since they’re bloggers, probably poke a little fun at them online after the event.
Joe
Not that it matters, but Brandon and I are straight. I just wanted to expose the fact that they would discriminate against us for suspicion of The Gay, and show that their promises to not discriminate in their new Dineysore Boat Park in order to get $40 million in tax breaks was a huge joke. They did just what I suspected they would do.
Jeffree
@Joe: Good on you for showing the Creation Museum’s hypocrisy & lies.
It’s great to have such allies in the world. Thank you !
TheRealAdam
@Joe: “Not that it matters,” and yet that’s the first thing you admit? OK, then…
Thank you for throwing a bone to the gays at the cliched expense of the religious nut-jobs. Yes, you are so progressive and pro-gay. A serious ally. Really…we are in your debt.
Shannon1981
@Joe: Glad you did what you did! Bad press for fundies always makes me smile.
Jeffree
@TheRealAdam. Wow, your snark was completely uncalled for. Read the guy’s blog; they’re involved in several good projects. If someone mis-identifies my orientation, I point it out. No big deal.
Craig
SHAME SHAME SHAME on you Queerty. I like this site, but Im after real news, not fabricated material. I do not want a gay version of the Whats-it-called Enquirer! You can do better!
“aliens are probably responsible for all those dinosaur fossils” Bull! Aliens are not a common element to these people’s beliefs. The museum would not state that. External sources confirm that the founder does not believe in aliens:
http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2010/04/20/ken-ham-says-theres-no-extraterrestrial-life/
Paul F
The answer to the question of:
“Can you tell me what exactly is Christian about being gay?”
Is quite simple, Jesus COMMANDED his (male) followers to love thier fellow MAN. We do exactly that and they get all bent out of shape. What I find so amusing are all these Faux News viewers and Republicans who hate those horrable liberals. Do they even have a clue as to where “we” got all those wacky liberal ideas from? Yep, Jesus! If you hate liberals, you hate Christ’s teachings and that makes you “anti-Christ”. One look at the Republican agenda being pushed in Washington and it’s obvious which side they’re on. Screw the poor,trash the planet,the hell with the sick and down trodden…yeah, REAL Christ like.
the crustybastard
@Joe: Seriously, Mr. Sonka — brilliant work. Thanks. (And please try to ignore the idiot with the disparaging comments. He’s either a troll or a nut.)