Former SNL Star Unleashes Homophobic Rant at Tennessee City Council Meeting

On Tuesday, actor and former Saturday Night Live cast member Victoria Jackson delivered a homophobic rant at a city council meeting in Franklin, Tennessee.

The historic city of Franklin has recently been embroiled in controversy surrounding its annual LGBTQ+ Pride festival. Though Pride celebrations have been held in Franklin for the past two years, anti-LGBTQ+ activists called for the cancellation of this year's fest following the recent shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville as well as growing attacks on LGBTQ+ people and specifically drag performances.

The city's governing board voted Tuesday night to determine whether to authorize a permit for the festival. Franklin Mayor Ken Moore broke the board's 4-4 tie and approved the Pride event to proceed.

That same evening, Jackson joined more than 100 Tennessee residents to make comments at the council meeting. "God hates sodomy. He hates homosexuality. He said it's an abomination," the ex-SNL star said after taking the podium.

Jackson added that "God hates Pride" before citing Bible verses and claiming that Sodom and Gomorrah "proves that God hates sodomy."

A video of her tirade posted to Twitter has gone viral, receiving over 7 million views.

She closed by encouraging "this generation not to be brainwashed" and to watch an "ex-gay" YouTuber.

Jackson was an SNL cast member from 1986 to 1992. During her tenure on the sketch comedy show, she appeared in films like Baby Boom, UHF, and Family Business. She continued to work in minor television roles through the early 2000s, but as her stardom waned her radicalism and anti-LGBTQ+ comments began to emerge.

In 2012, Jackson publicly attacked gay people on an episode of her now defunct web show, referring to them as "irrational, immoral," and "unnatural." And in 2011, she described a same-sex kiss on the TV series Glee as "sickening."

Jackson has since reuploaded the anti-LGBTQ+ rant to her Instagram account. The beginning of her caption reads, "My minute of free speech at the Franklin City Hall vote regarding whether or not the Gay Pride Parade should be permitted this year."