LGBT community celebrates hate pastor ban by eating at Wimpy and Spur

A number of LGBT people ate at Wimpy and Spur restaurants on Sunday to celebrate the banning of gay hate pastor Steven Anderson and to show their support for the companies.

When it was revealed in July that Anderson was coming to the country, plans were put in place to protest his “Soulwinning Marathon”, which was set to take place this past weekend in Johannesburg.

Following Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba’s historic decision to not allow him into the country, the protests were then changed to celebrations at some of the restaurants that committed to barring the evangelist, who had planned to meet his local followers there.

Mambaonline is aware of at least two groups that went out for a meal on Sunday to mark Anderson’s defeat. Chris Taute, founder of BearFest, had breakfast along with 12 other bears, at the Spur in Kempton Park’s Festival Mall, while KwaZulu-Natal’s Same Love Toti Support Group ate out at a Johannesburg Wimpy.

In July, Wimpy said it “reserves the right to prohibit  [Anderson] from entering any Wimpy restaurant,” while Spur also said that, “the Spur Group, are reserving our right to prohibit this person entering any Spur restaurants as his views are contrary to the non-discriminatory and openly tolerant stance of our brand”.

On Sunday, Same Love tweeted a photo of four of its members at the Montecasino Wimpy, with the caption: “Same Love Toti Supporting Wimpy, because they took a stand against hate. #LGBTI @gaysaradio @wimpy_sa #StevenAnderson.”

Speaking to Mambaonline, Kim Lithgow, the founder of Same Love explained that her group flew up to Johannesburg for the weekend because they had already booked accommodation in the city to take part in the planned protests against Anderson.

She said that they ate at the Wimpy to “support businesses that had stood behind us”. Lithgow explained: “It’s a financial decision that they make to ban somebody from their premises so I felt that it was only right for us to fill the gap and make sure that they don’t lose money for supporting us.

“It’s easy to jump up and down and want everybody’s support but it’s a two way street; we need to support the people who have supported us,” she said.

Taute added that he also believes that “it is important that we show brands that we are willing to support whoever supports the community.” He said: “We can’t expect to be taken seriously if we only sit and bitch from the sidelines.”

Meanwhile, Anderson on Sunday reportedly undertook a “Soulwinning Marathon” in Gaborone where he has opened a branch of his hate church. It appears that the Botswana authorities have allowed him to go about his business of spreading hate unhindered.

In a new video posted on YouTube, Anderson’s wife, Zsuzsanna, called for donations for his Faithful Word Baptist Church because Anderson and his followers were forced to incur “considerable additional expense” to change their flights to Botswana in order to bypass South Africa.

She said that by donating to the cause, members would also “help heap coals of fire on Minister Gigaba’s head for trying to stop the spread of the gospel”.