人兽性交

A Florida church is now taking aim at a gay mayoral candidate 鈥� and possibly endangering its tax exemption.

Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville has been attacking City Commissioner Craig Lowe, one of two candidates vying for mayor in an April 13 run-off election. The church erected a sign on its property last month that declared, 鈥淣o Homo Mayor.鈥� That was followed by a YouTube video in which Wayne Sapp, a pastor at the church, targets Lowe, whom he doesn鈥檛 identify by name. The video begins with Sapp proclaiming 鈥淣o Homo Mayor鈥� and asserting that Gainesville is the 11^th gayest city in America. 鈥淲e鈥檙e talking about the homos, the f---, the queers, and now we got one running for mayor of Gainesville, trying to convert Gainesville into Homoville,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 have it.鈥� In the video, Sapp complains that Dove World Outreach Center called more than 100 churches to ask that they join a protest against homosexuals running for office, but none would do so. Sapp lashes out at some ministers and churches by name and urges churchgoers to oust pastors who won鈥檛 take a stand. 鈥淰ote鈥檈m out of there,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e leading you to Hell, and you鈥檙e following.鈥�

The video was removed from YouTube for violating its terms of use, according to the website of the Independent Florida Alligator, a student newspaper at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where the can still be viewed. In a follow-up video posted on the church鈥檚 website, Sapp says that gays should not hold public office because they鈥檙e perverts. 鈥淗omosexuals are going to force themselves upon your children in schools,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to be forced to hire the homo to work for your church, to work in your office, to allow the devil himself to come into your office.鈥� The anti-gay rants are somewhat new territory for Dove Outreach, which since last summer has been publicly defaming Muslims with its 鈥淚slam is of the Devil鈥� signs and T-shirts.

Unlike its rhetoric attacking Muslims, the church鈥檚 latest campaign could lead to trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. In a March 19 story, The Gainesville Sun that the 鈥淣o Homo Mayor鈥� sign likely contravened the law banning tax-exempt organizations from advocating for or against political candidates. A week later, the Rev. Barry Lynn, director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, wrote a asking the agency to investigate the church and ensure the law is enforced. 鈥淭his is an open and shut case,鈥� said Lynn in a statement. 鈥淭he church freely admits that it intended to intervene in the election in violation of federal tax law.鈥�

Eric Smith, a spokesman for the IRS, told Hatewatch that the agency is prohibited by law from commenting on investigations, though changes in the status of tax-exempt organizations are reported in a weekly IRS bulletin. It鈥檚 relatively uncommon for an organization鈥檚 tax-exempt status to be revoked, and the process often takes months or years. (Meanwhile, county officials are conducting an unrelated investigation into whether the church鈥檚 for-profit furniture business nullifies its local tax exemption. Sheila Crapo, who works in the Alachua County Property Appraiser鈥檚 Office, said she had met with church officials and that the property appraiser would make a decision before June, when the county sends out any denials for exemptions. The church property is assessed at $1.65 million, according to county records.)

The Rev. Terry Jones, who heads the Dove World Outreach Center, told The Gainesville Sun that the church was merely exercising its First Amendment Right to free speech when it put up the sign. 鈥淲e are within our constitutional rights,鈥� he said.

Not so, say tax law experts. Both Robert Atkinson, a professor at Florida State University College of Law, and Laura Chisolm, a professor at Case Western Reserve University Law School, told Hatewatch that the church鈥檚 鈥淣o Homo Mayor鈥� message appears to violate the prohibition on tax-exempt organizations taking part in political campaigns. However, the law often isn鈥檛 enforced for 鈥渄e minimus鈥� (small) infractions; Atkinson noted that leaders of large churches routinely tell members to vote against candidates who support abortion rights and that Catholic clergy have tried to deny religious rites to such candidates.

But Chisolm felt the IRS might act in this case. 鈥淲hen the activity is as 鈥榠n your face鈥� as this, I suspect the IRS might not ignore it, although they may try just to get a promise to quit it and not do it again,鈥� she wrote in an E-mail. 鈥淭he first amendment free speech argument has been tried before, and hasn鈥檛 worked. Although the government cannot prohibit anyone from speaking, the courts, including the Supreme Court, have held that the government can condition the privilege of tax exemption on forgoing certain kinds of speech, as long as there are alternative avenues for the speech.鈥�

Dove Outreach has since retreated somewhat. The Gainesville Sun this week that the church changed its sign from 鈥淣o Homo Mayor鈥� to 鈥淣o Homo.鈥� (However, a video remains posted on the church鈥檚 website in which Sapp says that Gainesville can鈥檛 afford a gay mayor.) Americans United that the church鈥檚 action came too late and that the IRS should still revoke its tax exemption.

Regardless of the IRS鈥檚 decision, the church seems to be on theologically shaky ground. 鈥淚t鈥檚 ironic that a church would be doing this,鈥� Atkinson said. 鈥淚 think they would find themselves constrained not by the laws of the state but by the principles of Christianity that forbid hate generally.鈥�