February 2, 2022
Watch: Florida Minister Attacks Gay Opponent in Mayoral Race with Homophobic Rhetoric
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A minister is going all out with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in a mayoral race in a Florida city, accusing the front-runner of wanting to turn the town into a "gay city" while calling himself a real man.
"Bishop Bernard Wright of Bernard Wright Ministries is one of four candidates seeking to replace out-going Boynton Beach, Florida Mayor Steven Grant, and he ranted about out city Commissioner Ty Penserga in a Facebook Live video," reported LGBTQ Nation.
"Ty Penserga, y'all see his big purple, pink signs?" Wright said in the video. Penserga is considered the frontrunner in the election, according to LGBTQ Nation.
"He's gay. He wants to make this a gay city," Wright, 69, said.
"Everywhere he looks, he's seeing gay like it's all right," Wright continued. "I'll call him what I will."
"And I tell his gay butt this, if you're gay, you're gay. I'm a real man, I'm a real man...I'm telling you his gay butt better sit down because we are not going to let him make this city gay."
He also said Penserga has a "transvestite lawyer."
"Penserga is a high school teacher and doesn't have a lawyer," LGBTQ Nation said.
The minister also claimed that Penserga plans on building a facility in the city where only gay people would be allowed to live, but failed to reveal his source.
"Gay marriage came in through Obama," Wright said. "That is so far away from the Scriptures it's a shame."
"What I'm saying is, don't make this like this is of God and it's a right of naturality," Wright said. "He created man, and I'm a man. And I'm gonna talk like a man, I'm gonna walk like a man...and I'm gonna be your mayor like a man. All you gotta do is put me in there."
"Wright also mentioned Penserga's race, saying he 'looks like a great man, but he's just an Asian student,'" added LGBTQ Nation. "He's a migrant here," Wright said.
"Penserga's family came to the U.S. from the Philippines when he was six-years-old and he is a U.S. citizen," the article clarified.
Penserga responded to Wright's comments, saying they were "bigoted, ignorant, and disgusting" and "reflect someone who is not only unfit for service but is unqualified for city leadership." He called Wright's values "hateful, bigoted and homophobic," and hopes voters will reject them. He added that the comments reflected when he was "bullied and picked on" as a child because of his Filipino heritage.
The election is scheduled for March 8.
Watch his comments below:
