do not enter

Gay Couple Barred From Creation Museum’s ‘Date Night’ Christian Marriage Event

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.”

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!

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated