Simone WilsonUpdate: Another anti-gay sign incident has been spotted in West Hollywood. See WeHo Daily for details.
There's a homophobic Hollywood-ite on the loose, and he's slashing “equality”s left and right:
One month after the banner in front of the Hollywood United Methodist Church was vandalized to read “THIS CHURCH SUPPORTS MARRIAGE EQUALITY,” the replacement banner — an open letter to the mystery vandal — has been altered to almost the same effect.
Only difference is, the removal of the word “equality” was performed in broad daylight, and for that, looks a heck of a lot more janky:
Credit: Hollywood United Methodist Church
The vandal's last strike was all but admired for its dark precision, a finely cut rectangle without the loose seams and hasty jags of his or her latest. For the sake of comparison:
Credit: Hollywood United Methodist Church
Another element of Tuesday's crime that has church officials amused: There was really no way for their message to be altered this time around. Marketing Director Chad Darnell posted to HUMC's Facebook page: “The word 'Equality' appears in this banner 14 times. Whoever vandalized the sign, you missed a few.”
Despite the fact that the replacement banner will cost $300 to $500 to replace, Pastoral Associate Dave Stambaugh tells the Weekly today that “we still need to love and pray for those who disagree with us.”
He says the church, located at the intersection of Highland and Franklin Avenues, will leave the botched sign up until members figure out what to raise in its place — plus, “it's sort of topical, I guess.”
Like last time, HUMC has received an outpouring of support from around the nation.
So… Maybe don't use the word “equality” next time? Stambaugh says that's an option the church will have to consider: “It's something we're passionate about. But it won't pay to keep spending $500 every two weeks.”
On a more optimistic note, check out HUMC's totally mod sermon series “Living your life beyond 140 characters” (just a blip in its packed, true-to-Hollywood schedule of celeb luncheons and Oscar-viewing parties), about “how social networking is such a big part of our lives.”
Ironically, it's vetted on Twitter. And speaking of Twitter:
Word.
[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]
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