Would You Press Charges If A Hate Pastor Grabbed And Kissed You?
Because a hate pastor is pressing charges against a lesbian who grabbed and kissed him during a North Carolina Pride parade.
74-year-old Jane Parker claims she saw New Light Baptist Church preacher James Edward Belcher waving his arms with a Bible in one hand screaming “Sodomites!” and “You’re going to hell!” at the tops of his lungs.
“I thought he needed a hug,” Parker said, “so I gave him a hug.” While hugging him, he turned his head away and she kissed him on the cheek.
Belcher said, “She ran her arms all the way around me and pulled me toward her. If I hadn’t turned my head, I’d have gotten it right on my mouth. She might disagree with this, but it wasn’t done as a show of affection. It was an unwanted touching.”
No! Stranger danger! Bad touch! Not without my permission!
So now Belcher has pressed simple assault charges adding that the kiss, “was just one of many attempts to silence the preaching to those in need of salvation who practice a death style that they call a lifestyle.”
So let’s forget the fact that Parker is old enough to be a grandmother and consider this: How many of you would feel repulsed if a hate pastor like Fred Phelps (pictured above) came up, grabbed you, and kissed you… especially if it was during a hate rally?
Would you be OK with it? Would you press charges? What about personal space and sexual assault? Does the fact that she’s 74 and a lesbian change anything? Should it? What if the roles were reversed?
What taste does that leave in your mouth?
So now Belcher has pressed simple assault charges adding that the kiss, “was just one of many attempts to silence the preaching to those in need of salvation who practice a death style that they call a lifestyle.”
Yeah…that’s gonna score you some major sympathy points. Good luck, buddy.
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What she did was unhelpful & inappropriate. I don’t know the specific legal definitions of assault, or hate-crime, but I’d be looking into that if I were on the receiving end.
I admire her fervor, but not her methods.
And I prefer NOT to think about the “taste” in my mouth! Blecccchhh….
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My defense for the lady, if I were a lawyer would be — she heard his message of “go straight” and wanted to try it. That’s what he wanted, for her to kiss a guy, your honor, so that’s what she gave him, a kiss. So now he’s unhappy when a girl kisses a guy too? Then I’d chuckle, hahaha. They ain’t never happy, are they? Not to mention, your honor, sexual assault by a woman on a man is improbable, and I’d like to see the specific statute that says a kiss of Christ’s love is assault, for he is a preacher, and she did find his message compelling. And I’d also like to see some North Carolina statute that says a woman can be charged with sexual assault (personally, I doubt there is one. After all, it took a straight man, one Mr. Onore of Louisiana, a trip to the Supreme Court to even establish that there was even such a thing as “gay sexual assault” and his case was predicated on the fact that the “gay sexual assault” took place in federal waters on an offshore oil rig — and not in Louisiana itself.)
Oh, people, there are many novel legal theories to be thrown against the preacher way before the lady could be charged with or sued for anything. And I doubt any state statute in North Carolina puts “kiss” on the “simple assault or battery” scale, since such laws usually require physical harm. And none could have taken place with a hug or a kiss. And hugging a preacher almost certainly can’t be considered assault, when he himself sought out the encounter. She didn’t go after him, but he went after her.
And if a hetero man saunters into a gay parade to scream hate, or an unconstitutional insistence on we change our religion against our 1st Amendment Rights, well, then he egged her on — it’s aggravated something. And surely the woman had a Second Amendment Right to defend herself — and her only weapon at hand was a kiss. I’d think “incite to riot” might do on the counterclaim against him. Oh, I’m sure there’s more to be considered, and a good lawyer would have much fun with it.
Time to get creative against the haters, people, and not just go “oooh, whine.”
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I can’t remember where I read this, but didn’t someone said something about turning the other cheek?
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@Jim Hlavac: Nice creativity. Scores you brownie points!
@the crustybastard: Yea… where did I read that?
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I would prosecute if Fred “Freeper” Phelps, or Pat Robertson, or Tony Perkins put their lips on me. The psychological trauma would be worth a few grand.
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she should have kept her hands to herself.
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Wow, I saw this headline and came to read this story thinking that perhaps Erica Diaz (lesbian granddaughter) of legendary Bronx City Councilman homophobe Ruben Diaz Sr.
For folks not from NYC, his granddaughter was having a counter rally with her girlfriend and friends, against his large anti-gay-marriage protest when he pulled her onstage and kissed her (http://www.villagevoice.com/20.....-values/2/).
I can’t believe preacher Belcher is going there with a straight, married grandma–way to look like a total hater a-hole!
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It is a double standard. Today i overheard a man state ” the heavyset guy” when describing someone. If a man said “the heavyset gal” he would be critiqued as insensitive and discriminatory. We live in a paranoid world pushing different rules regarding gender roles.
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I would TOTALLY press charges! Bad touch! I might even claim sexual assault… give Fred Phelps and his history.
(Though, yes, I’m aware this is a fantasy situation and would NEVER happen.)