An "anti-gay pastor" is coming to Vancouver this weekend following an incident where a man's leg was broken during a confrontation with anti-gay street preachers in the West End.
David Lynn, head of Christ's Forgiveness Ministries, plans to visit Vancouver on Aug. 30 as part of the Christ's Forgiveness Ministries' Cross Canada Tour. The tour notes that, "times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."
Prior to visiting Vancouver, Lynn will visit Victoria on Aug. 29. After that, plans on staying in Vancouver for a couple of days, with a second appearance in the city planned for Aug. 31.
The organization describes itself as as, "a Non-denominational Christian Ministry founded by David Lynn who is a planting, pastoral and evangelistic figure within Toronto, Canada," which aims to change the world, "through radical evangelism, church planting, and discipleship."
Lynn was arrested in Toronto last year for preaching his "anti-gay" message, and he has been widely criticized for his beliefs about gender, other religions, and sexual orientation.
In an email, VPD Spokesperson Sgt. Aaron Roed tells Vancouver Is Awesome that officers responded to a disturbance in the area of Davie and Thurlow Streets on Saturday, Aug. 22 around 8 p.m. He says that a group of people using a microphone and amplifier were preaching about religion and anti-gay chants.
"A short time after the preaching started one individual approached the group and asked them to stop the anti-gay chants and to stop speaking into the microphone," writes Roed. "A disturbance ensued and the individual is suspected to have been thrown to the ground, where they unfortunately broke their leg."
In a series of Tweets, Sportsnets 650 host Justin Morissette writes that "anti-gay evangelical bullies in the West End" purposefully broke his leg because he told them to stop chanting. He adds that he is going to, "have metal plates in my leg for the rest of my life."
Since the assault, an online campaign to support Morissette's recovery has raised nearly $50,000.
In a Youtube video, Lynn says he's travelling across the country to spread "the gospel of Jesus Christ."
