A nine-hour prayer service on the National Mall & LGBTQ+ hate in the midterms

By now, we know that the blasphemy brothers Donald Trump and Mike Johnson have completely done away with a cornerstone our founders established in the Constitution: the separation of church and state.

What little was left of that provision eroded completely on the National Mall last Sunday during a nine-hour, state-sponsored prayer service purportedly about patriotism that was really about prejudice.

They officially called the white-Christian-only “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving.” But it was really a nationalist rally designed to send one unmistakable message: if you aren’t a conservative, straight, devout Christian, you don’t belong in today’s America.

Watching clips of a mile-long communion table stretch across public land beneath towering stained-glass windows and white columns, the whole thing looked like it was happening inside a federal building.

Related: An LGBTQ+ faith event opened its doors as Turning Point USA shut people out, deep in the heart of Texas

There was also a massive white cross. You don’t have to be racist to understand the subtext of that image. And it goes without saying that many in the crowd wore Trump hats, which only underscored their true devotion to him, and not Him.

It was a brazen visual declaration of a Christian-only nation, orchestrated by an administration and congressional leadership so desperate to survive the approaching midterms that they will rely on a divisive god because they have nothing else to say, for God help themselves.

As we race toward the critical midterm elections, Republicans are panicked. Facing tough races across the country, the party will do what it always does when it has no real policy solutions: preach God and condemn its idea of sinners.

This nine-hour “prayer” marathon wasn’t a holy gathering. It was a cynical get-out-the-vote operation underwritten by taxpayer dollars and private church money. It was a calculated attempt to energize the evangelical base.

Because let’s face it: with absolutely nothing to show for themselves, they will aggressively drag unenthusiastic churchgoers to the ballot box by reframing a political vote as a holy war.

And that means what exactly? Well, you guessed it: they’re going to make the LGBTQ+ community the bogeyman again. Frankly, it’s old, tired, pointless, but so is today’s GOP, which is exactly why it fits.

Related: While John MacArthur and Jimmy Swaggart welcome James Dobson to hell, their bigoted legacy on Earth lives on

The lineup of speakers read like a who’s who of anti-LGBTQ+ extremists, seamlessly blending the highest echelons of government with some of the most venomous voices in American pulpits.

Donald Trump recorded a message, the living, breathing anti-Christ who spent Easter weekend threatening civilization in a series of Truth Social posts from his lavish palace in Palm Beach.

“Our Father, who art in the White House ballroom, hallowed be thy rage. Thy kingdom come, thy civilization be done…” was the prayer the white, straight anti-Christians should have been chanting.

Of course, no exclusionary white-Christian prayer service would be complete without Speaker Mike Johnson. Standing on that stage, Johnson prayed over the nation to save it from “sinister ideologies.”

We all know exactly what that means. To Johnson, our marriages, our families, our visibility, and our very lives are the “sinister” ideologies destroying America. Or as Johnson should have said: “Give us this day our daily doctrine, and forgive us our tolerance, as we condemn those who seek equality. And lead us not to a blue wave…”

There were also pre-recorded videos from Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who espoused an aggressive, hyper-masculine, exclusionary doctrine that perfectly matches their policy goals.

Hegseth’s version of The Lord’s Prayer might include: “Give us this day our daily virility, and forgive us our sensitivity, as we destroy those who are woke against us.” And for Vance: “Give us this day our daily arrogance, and forgive us our lecturing, as we correct the Pontiff who lectures against us.”

Sickeningly, Trump himself read scripture from the Oval Office, proving that his Truth Social post depicting himself as Jesus was no fluke. Trump read from 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray…”

Again, Trump was not offering this prayer on behalf of Him, but for him.

But these angry white males were only half the problem. At the microphone on Sunday was a collection of clergy whose entire careers are built on anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Franklin Graham, a man who has praised international laws criminalizing homosexuality and called our love a sin. Alongside him was Robert Jeffress, who has called homosexuality a “perversion.”

Related: The anti-LGBTQ+ clergy who'll be praying at Donald Trump's inauguration

When you look at this collective, Trump, Hegseth, Vance, Johnson, Graham, Jeffress, the reason for this event becomes terrifyingly clear. This was a massive anti-LGBTQ+ mobilization masquerading as a call for divine intervention. Because the God I know, who is inclusive and loving, probably thinks these men are a bunch of narrow-minded jerks.

You cannot separate the prayers on that stage from the men delivering them or the positions they hold. They are one and the same. This administration has gone bonkers trying to remove the LGBTQ+ community from the fabric of this country.

Sunday’s rally was the spiritual justification for their assault and the unmistakable beginning of their targeting of our community over the next six months of midterm campaigning. Watching the footage, it looked less like a prayer service and more like a pep rally for exclusion.

For the LGBTQ+ community, this is a code red. When the government and church merge to declare America a Christian-only nation, it is abundantly clear who gets targeted first, because being queer, to them, is about as un-Christian as it gets.

Our lives will once again become a wedge issue. Our existence will become a fundraising appeal. And the National Mall became a stage validating, for them, the rationale for our erasure.

It was disgusting. It was gross. It was dangerous. It was deliberate. And it was a harbinger of what’s to come.

Finally, if we’re quoting the Bible, let’s talk about what Jesus actually said about inclusion: “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.”

Sunday’s “prayer” service was a banquet where the poor, crippled, lame, blind, marginalized, and queer were not welcomed.

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