What happens when Christianity is invoked to justify hostility towards LGBTQIA+ people? Rev. Milly van Wyhe (pictured above) responds to the vandalism of Cape Town’s rainbow crossing and argues that faith should be a force for love and belonging, not condemnation.
The recent vandalism of the rainbow pedestrian crossing on Somerset Road in De Waterkant has caused hurt, anger and disappointment across Cape Town’s LGBTQIA+ community and among those who believe that our city should be a place where every person can live with dignity and belonging.
For Good Hope Metropolitan Community Church, however, there is another dimension to this incident that we cannot ignore.
The name of Jesus was written across the vandalised crossing. Later, words condemning LGBTQIA+ people and a reference to Romans 1:24–27 appeared alongside the declaration, “Jesus is Lord.”
As Christians, we cannot remain silent when the name of Jesus and the words of Scripture are used in ways that contribute to exclusion, condemnation and hostility toward LGBTQIA+ people.
We therefore want to say clearly:
This does not represent the Jesus we know, worship and follow.
Jesus consistently moved towards people whom society pushed to the margins. His ministry crossed boundaries. He sat at tables with those others rejected. He touched those considered untouchable. He challenged religious systems when they placed burdens upon people rather than offering mercy, justice and life.
At Good Hope MCC, we believe that the Gospel is good news — not a weapon.
Scripture should never become graffiti used to condemn another human being, and the name of Jesus should never be used as justification for destroying a symbol that tells people, particularly those who have historically experienced rejection, that they belong.
The rainbow means something
Some may see the Somerset Road crossing as nothing more than coloured paint on a road.
For many LGBTQIA+ people, however, visible symbols of inclusion matter.
They communicate something very simple:
You are seen. You are welcome. You belong here too.
The repeated vandalism of the crossing therefore raises questions that extend far beyond paint and public infrastructure. It asks us what kind of city — and what kind of society — we wish to become.
Can we disagree without destroying?
Can people hold different theological or moral convictions without denying someone else’s dignity?
Can our public spaces communicate that Cape Town belongs to all of us?
We believe they can.
There is another Christian voice
We are also conscious that Christianity is not represented by only one interpretation, one denomination or one voice.
There are Christians across Cape Town, South Africa and the world who passionately follow Jesus while fully affirming LGBTQIA+ people.
Good Hope Metropolitan Community Church is part of that Christian witness.
For decades, Metropolitan Community Churches around the world have proclaimed that LGBTQIA+ people do not have to choose between their faith and who they are.
We have seen the wounds caused when people are told that God rejects them.
But we have also witnessed what happens when someone discovers that the doors of a church are open to them, that there is a place for them at God’s table, and that they are deeply and completely loved.
That is why this moment matters to us.
When the name Jesus is painted across a vandalised rainbow, we want LGBTQIA+ people — especially those who have experienced rejection from churches — to know that this is not the only Christian message.
There are churches that will stand beside you.
There are Christians who will speak up for you.
There are communities of faith where your whole self is welcome.
And there are people who believe that God’s love is wider than the boundaries human beings so often try to place around it.
Our response will not be hatred
We do not respond to this vandalism by returning hatred for hatred.
Neither do we believe that those who disagree with us should be silenced or treated without dignity.
But disagreement does not require destruction.
Faith does not require intimidation.
And Christianity does not require us to diminish the humanity of another person.
Our response must instead be rooted in the way of Christ: love, justice, compassion, courage and peace.
The rainbow crossing will eventually be repainted.
But perhaps our greater task is to continue building the kind of Cape Town that the rainbow represents — a city in which people of different races, cultures, sexual orientations, gender identities, religions and backgrounds can share the same streets and know that they belong.
So, to every LGBTQIA+ person who saw those images and felt once again that Christianity was being used against you:
Please know that there is another Christian voice.
A voice that says you are welcome.
A voice that says your dignity matters.
A voice that refuses to use Scripture as a weapon.
A voice that believes there is room for you in the Church.
And a voice that will continue to proclaim that the love of God is bigger than fear, prejudice and exclusion.
Paint can be covered.
Colours can be scratched away.
But the hope represented by the rainbow is much harder to erase.
Good Hope Metropolitan Community Church stands in solidarity with Cape Town’s LGBTQIA+ community and with all who work towards a city of dignity, justice, inclusion and belonging.
And we will continue to proclaim the name of Jesus — not as a weapon of condemnation, but as a name associated with radical love, grace, justice and welcome.
Rev. Milly van Wyhe is an ordained clergy leader and theology graduate with a deep interest in the intersections of faith, identity, community, and belonging. She is involved part-time in inclusive Christian ministry while working full-time at Stellenbosch University. She writes from both lived experience and a love for creating spaces where people can be fully themselves.
