Haley Stevens Faces Backlash Over Ad Featuring Anti-LGBTQ+ Pastor
Just before Michigan’s primary, a campaign spot spotlights a Flint bishop with a history of homophobic remarks
With just one day before Michigan’s Aug. 4 Democratic Senate primary, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens released a campaign ad featuring Bishop Christopher Martin of Flint’s Cathedral of Faith Ministries Church of God in Christ — a pastor with a documented history of anti-LGBTQ+ statements and Islamophobic social media posts, according to reporting from The Lever.
The ad, paid for by Stevens’ campaign, features several scenes with Martin. In a 2022 video that resurfaced this week, Martin can be heard saying “we cannot have perversion over the people,” referring to homosexuality, and adding that “we are trying to love them out of what they’re in.”
Martin has previously drawn controversy for comments about the firing of a pastor who was allegedly gay, remarks widely characterized as homophobic.
The timing is notable: the ad dropped in the campaign’s closing stretch of a race that has drawn nearly $81 million in outside and campaign spending, with a large share backing Stevens against rivals including Abdul El-Sayed. Michigan’s LGBTQ+ voters and organizations have not yet issued formal responses, but the choice to feature Martin is likely to draw scrutiny given his public record on LGBTQ+ issues.
Pride Source has reached out to the Stevens campaign for comment and will update this story with any response.
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