'Gays are also God's creation'

Sexual minority Christians and their supporters from Korea and 11 countries, including Canada, Denmark and South Africa, stage a rally at Gwanghwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul, Sunday, protesting discrimination against homosexuals and lesbians, following the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches held in Busan last week. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-won

Gay Christians and their supporters staged a rally Sunday to protest discrimination against sexual minorities, in particular from conservative Protestant groups here.

A group of gay rights advocates from international Christian organizations, including the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups based in Paris, the Metropolitan Community Church from New York and the United Church of Canada, joined the rally at Gwanghwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul.

LGBT is an acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.

Their gathering coincided with the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches which was held last week in Busan.

"We profess the dignity of every person created in the image of God, and we also profess with faith that the sexual orientation and gender identity and expression of each individual are a part of creation," the group said in a statement.

The group also urged conservative Christians to stop discriminating against them, claiming that this is against the teaching of Jesus Christ.

"We underscore once again that the violent bigotry against sexual minorities in the name of Christianity fully contradicts the Christian mandate to love thy neighbor. We declare as follows as we unite and pray together so that this social abuse in Korean society will be ended."

The group also asked the Korean government to set up a law to protect sexual minorities from abuse.

It claimed that any type of discrimination against sexual orientation, gender identity and expression must be prohibited so that equal rights are never violated.

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