Caitlyn Jenner's Prayer With Baptist Pastor Draws Criticism
Caitlyn Jenner is once again in hot water -- this time for praying with an anti-LGBT-rights pastor.
The reality star was photographed Thursday in prayer with controversial Houston pastor Dr. Ed Young after the Second Baptist Church’s Christmas pageant. Critics pounced, saying the meeting was a publicity stunt and not inclusive enough.
"Dad has always taught me to love everyone,” Young’s son, Ed Young Jr., tweeted Friday with a photo of the two praying.
Dad has always taught me to love everyone. Here he is praying with @Caitlyn_Jenner at tonight's service. pic.twitter.com/qpd7wFfEi8
— Ed Young (@EdYoung) December 18, 2015
The elder Young, who oversees the nation’s largest Baptist church, has been an outspoken critic of the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, or HERO, which would have prevented discrimination against LGBT people in the city but was defeated in November 2015.
The 79-year-old went so far as to call the ordinance "godless" in one of his sermons in September, according to Fox26.
That comment led dozens of local gay, lesbians and trans people to attend services at Young’s megachurch in hopes of sending the message, “we’re everywhere,” one activist told KHOU late last month.
The former Kardashian patriarch clearly echoed that message this week, appearing to turn the other cheek while united by prayer with Young.
But not everyone saw the move as inspiring and heartwarming.
Dad and @Caitlyn_Jenner had a great conversation and prayer after last night's service! #grace pic.twitter.com/kVlPQxMEwh
— Ed Young (@EdYoung) December 18, 2015
Former county GOP chair Jared Woodfill criticized the visit as a publicity stunt.
"You don't go to a kids' Christmas play and use that as a vehicle to send your message. That's just plain wrong," he told ABC13.
Jenner's reality TV crew accompanied her on her Houston visit, ABC13 reported.
Transgender activist Kate Bornstein, who said she witnessed Jenner’s appearance, defended her, tweeting: “The exchange [between] Pastor Ed Young & @Caitlyn_Jenner wasn't filmed or recorded by TV crew—I have a clip on my iPhone."
Bernstein further said she was proud of Jenner, claiming that Jenner addressed Young’s hateful rhetoric to his face.
"Proud of @Caitlyn_Jenner, saying to @EdYoung's father's face that the pastor's #transphobic hate videos r highly offensive to all #trans ppl,” she tweeted.
Proud of @Caitlyn_Jenner, saying to @EdYoung's father's face that the pastor's #transphobic hate videos r highly offensive to all #trans ppl
— Kate Bornstein (@katebornstein) December 18, 2015
Local black trans activist and blogger Monica Roberts also branded Jenner’s appearance a failure in a post titled "Caitlyn Comes To H-town, Screws Up Again."
"Unfortunately, whatever good will she earned from that initial coming out ESPY speech is rapidly dissipating," Roberts wrote, speaking of the Olympic gold medalist’s mainstream recognition as a transgender trailblazer.
Roberts complained that Jenner did not include people of color in the documentation of her visit, as seen in her "melanin free photo," as the blogger put it.
"The problem I have with it along with many of our allies is that the taping had no Houston trans representation, and especially Houston trans people of color," she wrote. She expressed upset that local HERO activists were not given a chance to speak on camera about the ordinance.
Since becoming an unofficial emblem of the trans community, the 66-year-old Jenner has received perhaps as many accolades as criticism.
Earlier this month she was lambasted for saying she's "comfortable" with human rights issues in the U.S. during an interview with the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, Samantha Power. LGBT website Towleroad said Jenner discredited the lives impacted by violence within the U.S. transgender community.
When Jenner reaffirmed her Republican voting ticket, the website branded her a "Republican hypocrite," criticizing GOP presidential candidates' anti-LGBT statements on the campaign trail.
After being recognized at the 2015 Glamour Women of the Year awards in November, she also faced public criticism for her answer to BuzzFeed to the question, “What’s the hardest part for you about being a woman?”
“The hardest part about being a woman is figuring out what to wear,” she responded.
In a Dec. 14 blog post, Jenner addressed her critics, writing that she's ultimately "tried to be a force for good."
"I am guessing this is probably not the last time I will say the wrong thing, or say something the wrong way. I promise to keep learning, and to try to be more articulate in the future," she wrote. "We have a lot of hard work to do. I am looking forward to doing it together."
Also on HuffPost:
Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.
Jeb Bush
![“To imagine how we are going to succeed in our country unless we have committed family life, a<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/jeb-bush-no-constitutional-right-marriage-equality"> child-centered family system is hard to imagine</a>. So, irrespective of the Supreme Court ruling [on marriage equality]… because they are going to decide whatever they decide, I don’t know what they are going to do, we need to be stalwart supporters of traditional marriage.”](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/UR.SM17yEZiQRjmJCP9p2A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/566867c51600002a0094c0c2.jpg)
Ben Carson
"If you look at a lot of the writings of the neo-Marxists when they talk about the New World Order, they say there's only one stick-in-the-mud, the United States. How do you get them out of the way or how do you change them? And they said there were two fundamental things: the Judeo-Christian faith and their strong families. I liken the gay marriage crowd to a new group of mathematicians who say, 'Two plus two is five. And the new ones insist that it is five."
Chris Christie
Ted Cruz
"The reason that so many Americans love Duck Dynasty is because it represents the America usually ignored or mocked by liberal elites: a family that loves and cares for each other, believes in God, and speaks openly about their faith. If you believe in free speech or religious liberty, you should be deeply dismayed over the treatment of Phil Robertson. Phil expressed his personal views and his own religious faith; for that, he was suspended from his job. In a free society, anyone is free to disagree with him -- but the mainstream media should not behave as the thought police censoring the views with which they disagree.”
Carly Fiorina
Jim Gilmore
Donald Trump
"I live in New York. New York is a place with lots of gays and I think it’s great, but I’m not in favor of gay marriage."
Lindsey Graham
Mike Huckabee
!["[Gay marriage] is not just a political issue, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/01/politics/huckabee-gay-marriage/" target="_blank">it's a biblical issue</a>. It's like asking somebody who's Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli." <br /><br />“If we’re determined to change the definition of marriage to accommodate how people feel and what they wish to do because of their mutual consent, then <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/01/mike-huckabee-gay-marriage-polygamy_n_3530188.html" target="_blank">we should immediately release those incarcerated</a> for practicing polygamy or bigamy. And, frankly, let’s make all consensual adult behaviors legal, whether prostitution, assisted suicide, or even drinking 16 ounce sodas in New York City.”](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Bj7.Sr8eY59Mn6SW7nywwA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5669d8d71600002b00eb8864.jpg)
“If we’re determined to change the definition of marriage to accommodate how people feel and what they wish to do because of their mutual consent, then we should immediately release those incarcerated for practicing polygamy or bigamy. And, frankly, let’s make all consensual adult behaviors legal, whether prostitution, assisted suicide, or even drinking 16 ounce sodas in New York City.”
Rick Santorum
“There are people who are alive today who identified themselves as gay and lesbian and who no longer are. That’s true. I do know, I’ve met people in that case ... But I suspect that there’s all sorts of reasons that people end up the way they are. And I’ll sort of leave it at that. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about these things, to be honest.”
Rand Paul
![“I don’t think I’ve ever used the word 'gay rights,' because <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/dominicholden/rand-paul-doesnt-believe-in-the-concept-of-gay-rights#.evqD4kvEX" target="_blank">I don’t really believe in rights</a> based on your behavior.” <br /><br />[On LGBT discrimination laws] "I don't know if we need to keep adding to different classifications to say government needs to be involved in the hiring and firing. I think <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rand-paul-lgbt-workers_561ed745e4b028dd7ea691a5" target="_blank">society is rapidly changing</a> and if you are gay, there are plenty of places that will hire you." ](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/9fFu2oJ3cA.FQPtkofccHg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5669d7701600002b00eb885c.jpg)
[On LGBT discrimination laws] "I don't know if we need to keep adding to different classifications to say government needs to be involved in the hiring and firing. I think society is rapidly changing and if you are gay, there are plenty of places that will hire you."
Marco Rubio
George Pataki
John Kasich
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
