Lesbian Couple Accosted at Church

A lesbian couple were assaulted at an 11:00 am church service on Sunday in Memphis, TN, and reported it to police, according to Advocate.com.

Attending the New Olivet Baptist Church, Monique Stephens and her partner of three years went to meet the Reverend Kenneth Whalum Jr., who is a candidate for the local election for mayor this October. The agnostic couple do not regularly attend the church. 

Whalum was conducting the service, and instructed the congregation to bow to the ground and blow kisses to God. Stephens and her partner remained seated. Whalum, along with other church service members began calling them "devil worshipers" and disparagingly called the couple gay, according to Stephens. Then they were allegedly pushed out by security guards. Both of the women got scratched and bruised during the altercation, and Stephens glasses were broken as a result of the rough treatment. 

According to Memphis Commercial Appeal, Whalum claims the couple was loud, saying they "had to have some kind of agenda to come in a church like that." He reported the removal of the women took about 10 minutes, and refutes throwing them out for being lesbians. He added "if I put every lesbian out of church we'd be putting people out of church all day long."

Whalum is one of at least 31 candidates for the mayoral seat. The special election is October 15 of this year. The deadline for petition filing with 25 signatures is September 3.