Rev. Louie Giglio, an Atlanta minister and founder of the Passion Conferences, has been dropped from President Obama’s Jan. 21 inauguration because of some past anti-gay comments Giglio made, according to MSNBC.com.
Giglio was scheduled to deliver the benediction at Obama’s second inaugural. However, ThinkProgress discovered anti-gay remarks Giglio made in a mid-1990s sermon entitled “In Search of a Standard—Christian Response to Homosexuality.”
Among other things, Giglio urged Christians to fight the “aggressive agenda” of the gay rights movement and advocated “the healing power of Jesus” as “the only way out of a homosexual lifestyle.”
The Presidential Inaugural Committee put out a statement saying, “We were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection and they don’t reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this Inaugural.”