Back in August, Reverend Phil Snider delivered a speech speaking out against a local law in Springfield, Mo., that would ban discrimination based on a person’s sexuality or gender identity. The anti-gay speech began as one would expect, stating that homosexuality goes against the word of God. Reverend Snider continues, “It’s not that we don’t care about homosexuals, but it’s that our rights would be taken away … for we’d be forced to go against our personal morals.”
Toward the end of his speech, Reverend Snider stumbles over his words in a theatrical twist to reveal that he’d borrowed his argument “from the wrong century.”
He states, “It turns out, what I’ve been reading to you this whole time are direct quotes from white preachers from the 1950’s and the 1960’s, all in support of racial segregation.” He simply replaced racial integration with gay rights, in an ironic way to show how marriage equality is but another case in the fight for human civil rights. He closes his speech by asking the city council to “stand on the right side of history.”
The video of Reverend Snider’s speech recently went viral and has garnered over two million views. In response to the feedback the clip has received, he writes: “I view them [messages and emails] as a reflection of the thousands—indeed, the millions—of people who … are journeying together because we believe our world can be a better place … for all people.”
Check out the video below:
