Westerly community holds “Love is Love” rally after anti-gay marriage sign displayed at church

October 21, 2018 7:36 pm

By: Amanda Pitts

alpitts@abc6.com

@APittsABC6

WESTERLY, R.I. (WLNE) — A sign that appeared outside of the Immaculate Conception Church in Westerly last weekend is leaving residents shocked.

The sign, that was placed on the lawn of the church on October 13th, reads “God’s Marriage = 1 man + 1 woman”.

“At first I didn’t believe it was in Westerly, and then when I realized it was, it made my heart sink,” said Megan Toscano.

The sign, spreading like fire on social media throughout the town, ignited the group Westerly Citizens for LGBTQ Rights to hold a “Love is Love” rally Sunday afternoon.

“We decided that instead of reacting with hate, that we would react with an overwhelming amount of support and love, and show that there is a community in this town that is accepting and loving… and there’s a lot of us as you can see!”

Megan Toscano is one of the organizers of the event, who invited people using Facebook, unsure of how many would show up. When the time came, the steps of Westerly Town Hall were flooded with people decked out in rainbow clothes and signs.

The point of the rally was to peacefully say that hate is not the answer and show support for same-sex couples.

“If we met their hateful message with more hateful message, no one would have listened to us,” said Toscano.

Many were upset this happened in their town in the first place, but resident Heather MacManus said she’s grateful.

“I wanna thank the people that made the sign, actually, because it gave us a great opportunity to get together and say, ‘hey, that doesn’t represent Westerly. Westerly is more than that.'”

In a Facebook post, the church’s priest said a prayer group put up the sign to pray for the sanctity of marriage, adding that he’s been verbally attacked on social media for “articulating a core Christian belief”.

The Diocese of Providence said to ABC6 that the sign wasn’t planted on church property, but was carried on a pole by parishioners. They added that the message is in line with church teachings, freedom of speech and freedom of religion.