Thursday afternoon a throng of students gathered outside the east side of the Union to listen and debate with some religious visitors on campus.
Two men stood outside lecturing about the evils of sin to passing students, cautioning them to be righteous or “you will go to hell” shouted one of the men claiming to be a pastor.
When asked where he was a pastor he did not respond, instead pulling verses from his bible and shouting that he was attempting to convert and save people through fear of sin.
“All homosexuals, all liars, all sinners will burn in hell!” he yelled after saying moments earlier how much he loved everyone. Students from the crowd with bibles in hand challenged him on verses, finding those centered around love, respect and the other aspects of many Christian religions.
“I feel like as a whole, people in Wyoming aren’t like this guy,” said student Emily Quigley who was watching from the edges of the crowd. “He’s just saying all this stuff and not making a whole lot of sense.
Other students had some strong opinions, shouting and pointing at the man lecturing with his bible. Officer Bade of UWPD was present and had to keep asking students to step back from the speaker.
Another student who had been asking questions of the speaker could not believe the sort of logic he was using.
“He’s just not making any sense,” said Braeden Davis. “I don’t know what this is, but it’s not right.”
Students stood on rocks behind the speaker wearing rainbow flags and speaking out whenever the man started preaching about hate and sin. They responded to his words with statements about love and acceptance, saying judgment couldn’t come from anyone but God.
Students involved with Spectrum, an on-campus group affiliated with the Rainbow Resource Center, were handing out rainbow heart stickers to those in the crowd protesting the speaker and his message.
“One thing I don’t agree with is deliberately demeaning a group of people,” said Spectrum Treasurer Pierson Linde in regards to the comments the speaker had made about homosexuals. “I’m just here to support everyone else in what’s happening.”
