*Just as the push to legalize gay marriage has gained momentum around the United States, a YouTube video posting has gay rights advocates up in arms.
The video, which was taken more than six months ago, shows the exorcism of a gay man. And the pastor of the church where it happened has defended their actions.
According to Reuters Life, Pastor Patricia McKinney said the man told the church "he did not want to live this way." McKinney is the pastor of the Manifested Glory Ministries church in Stamford, Connecticut. She said her church does not hate gay people, it just doesn't believe in their lifestyle.
"Every Sunday we call people up to the altar who want to be delivered from any spirit that causes them to not be able to function," she told the CNN television network. "We were just beginning to worship the Lord and all of a sudden he hit the floor."
The video, which has sparked outrage among gay rights advocates, shows a young man writhing around on the floor. It has been removed from the website, and it's not clear who posted it. A spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said he understood the man's situation because he went through the same experience.
"(The Manifested Glory Ministries) were acting out of ignorance by equating homosexuality to demon possession," Rev. Roland Stringfellow, of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Berkeley, California, told Reuters in an interview. Stringfellow said he was exorcised twice at a different church when he asked for help to deal with his own homosexuality.
"This young man who obviously went for help ended up being damaged I believe," he said. "I am concerned about the emotional and spiritual scars he has. I felt what they were doing was casting not a demon out, but casting shame."
The uproar over the video coincides with the upcoming gay pride week, marking the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City's Greenwich Village that triggered the modern U.S. gay rights movement. Gay marriage already is allowed in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Iowa. In Vermont it will become legal in September and will be legalized in New Hampshire in January.
Even though the video of exorcism has been removed from YouTube, you can still see it as part of this CNN report here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9oIuBNx-3A.