Right-wing pundit: LGBTQ community has “raped” the rainbow’s true meaning
Linda Harvey contrasts how the symbol of "depravity" has been embraced, while the cross is banned from the public sphere
“…[T]he sweet rainbow image has been violated, raped by the deluded and fraudulent, and it now serves too often as a garish signpost for slavery to grave homosexual sin.”
—Linda Harvey, the founder of Christian rights organization Mission: America, writing in World Net Daily about the cultural appropriation of what was once a Christian symbol — the rainbow — by the LGBTQ community. As Harvey notes, the rainbow — associated with the Biblical story of Noah and the Flood — used to represent “simple joy, innocence, and purity of heart.”
In her editorial, Harvey laments the use of the rainbow as a symbol of acceptance of the LGBTQ community, saying the image has become “the banner…for human depravity, lust, defiance and heresy.”
Harvey notes that the Obama White House, government buildings, embassies, and even corporate America have used the rainbow to market themselves to the LGBTQ community in recent years. But, she warns, those involved in promoting, endorsing, or condoning homosexuality and transgenderism need to repent to God for their endorsement of sinful actions, warning that “there will be an accounting” of their actions.
But Harvey also attempts to contrast the embracing of the rainbow — and by extension, the LGBTQ community — with what she sees as an attack on religious symbols, such as a cross in a public park, which courts have found violates the First Amendment.
“Atheists want crosses removed wherever visible, of course, believing they deserve veto power over what they ironically find offensive — God’s salvation offer to humankind,” she writes.
“Well, I’m offended by the rainbows hung all over Columbus, Ohio, every June for ‘pride’ month, as this beautiful image morphs into a brand identity for perversion. I feel excluded because the depraved have taken the Lord’s glorious sign of hope and corrupted it. Why shouldn’t I sue?” she asks rhetorically.
She also argues that Christians should seek to reclaim the rainbow symbol from the LGBTQ community, writing: “Rainbows should accompany what God would smile on. God is not smiling on homosexual conduct, gender defiance or the corruption of children, and He never will.”
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