'Evil and disgusting': Days-long Israeli LGBT festival planned near Sodom prompts biblical backlash
The Israeli government announced on Monday that this June, "the Dead Sea becomes Pride Land, the biggest LGBTQ+ festival ever in the Middle East," adding that "Pride rises at the lowest place on earth."
This celebration of degeneracy and non-straight lifestyle choices — set to take place near what is believed to be the site of Sodom, the city razed by God because of its brazen sexual corruption — will run 24 hours a day from June 1 to June 4.
'You won't see this anywhere else in the region.'
According the Jerusalem Post, the non-straight festival will raise a city in the desert featuring parties, a central performance arena, art complexes, "relaxation" areas, and "family-friendly areas with children's activities."
"This is not just another festival; it's the biggest thing we've done here," Aaron Cohen, the main producer behind "Pride Land," told the Post. "It's an experience that lives 24/7, from quiet visits to nights of Pride, with a living envelope of music and people."
The promotion of the event by the Israeli government — just one day after the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that one of its soldiers smashed a statue of the crucified Christ outside a church with a sledgehammer — prompted significant backlash among some conservative Christians.
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American theologian and pastor Dale Partridge tweeted, "The devil couldn’t have written it better. 'The lowest place on earth' 'The Dead Sea becomes pride land.'"
BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre raised the matter of whether his tax dollars might be subsidizing the event, then asked, "Can anyone very carefully explain to me why American Christians owe anything to this?"
Conservative commentator Michael Knowles insinuated that the Israeli government's announcement answered the question recently posed by the New York Times about the cause of the recent increase in meteor sightings overhead.
Knowles' colleague, Matt Walsh, called the planned festival "absolutely evil and disgusting."
Tomasz Froelich, an Alternative for Germany politician who serves in the European Parliament, noted that "the Patriarch of Jerusalem was denied access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday for security reasons, but there is comfort: The Pride can take place without a care!"
The eponymous host of BlazeTV's "The John Doyle Show" wrote, "God could do the funniest thing ever."
On Friday, the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., plugged the event, stating, "You won't see this anywhere else in the region."
While the Israeli government appears keen to get the word out about the Sodom-adjacent LGBT festival, the U.S. State Department has recommended that Americans reconsider travel to the country due to terrorism and civil unrest and instructed travelers to avoid crowds.
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