Church Desecrated in Great Falls

Sometime between September 25 and 26, vandals attacked the Metropolitan Community Church in Great Falls. Half of MCC's congregation is gay and lesbian. Graffiti sprayed on the outside of the church included upside-down crosses, swastikas, and "666." Last November, similar symbols appeared on the Mount Olive Christian Fellowship Church which has a predominantly black congregation.

Members of the Great Falls community and the Great Falls Task Force for Human Rights held a rally on September 28 where public officials and local leaders spoke out decrying the attack. MHRN's Scott Nicholson, PRIDE!'s executive director Sandy Hale, Great Falls legislator Eve Franklin, and representatives from Sen. Baucus' and Rep. Williams' offices all spoke out at the rally.

"These two [desecrations] clearly demonstrate the connection between violence based on the color of a person's skin and violence based on a person's sexual orientation," says Scott Nicholson. The two incidents serve to segregate gays and other minorities from the rest of Montana citizens. Evident in the hate crimes is the message that gays and lesbians, along with blacks and other racial minorities, are not welcome in Cascade County. However, the community's response denouncing the crime proclaims this display of intolerance to be unacceptable.

The attack came shortly after Rev. Gina Hartung publicly opposed Congress' passing of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA legislates the only legal marriage to be between a man and a woman, along with giving states the authority not to recognize a same-sex marriage that may be legal in other states. The bill's passing (including two affirmative votes by Sen. Baucus and Sen. Burns) validates the discrimination against gay men and lesbians on a national level. Locally, the vandalism resulting from Rev. Hartung simply voicing her objections to DOMA, demonstrates the continued bigotry still present in our communities.

We cannot overlook the message that legislation like DOMA sends to citizens. DOMA will continue to provide an environment that allows intolerance and bigotry to fester and later to surface through such hateful demonstrations as the vandalism to the Metropolitan Community Church.