Ellen Page Doubles Down On Chris Pratt ‘Anti-LGBTQ’ Criticism

PA

Ellen Page has doubled down on her criticism of Chris Pratt failing to acknowledge his church’s ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ’ attitude.

The Juno actor is a leading gay rights activist and recently criticised Pratt after he appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and discussed his religious beliefs.

Pratt has been vocal about his faith in the past, making it known that he attends the Zoe Church and Hillsong – a Christian ‘megachurch’ that is popular among A-list celebrities.

So when The Hollywood Reporter put a tweet out about Pratt’s ‘spiritual side’ last week, Page wasted no time in making people aware of the church’s ‘anti-LGBTQ’ stance.

Page, who recently made a documentary series called Gaycation, retweeted the post alongside a message of her own, calling out the interview for failing to discuss the negative connotations of Pratt’s chosen place of worship.

She wrote:

Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?

And now the actor has doubled down on her criticism of the Guardians of the Galaxy star, saying he should ‘not be surprised’ if people question his belonging to the organisation.

Page was clear in her message that Pratt should be called out for his actions, implying the actor’s church ‘hates’ LGBTQ people and ending by saying she sends love to everyone.

She wrote:

If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed. Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all

While the church says LGBTQ people are welcome to worship at Hillsong, it has made clear in the past they cannot ‘take an active leadership role’.

Brian Houston, Hillsong’s leader, said in a 2015 statement:

Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles. Put clearly, we do not affirm a gay lifestyle and because of this we do not knowingly have actively gay people in positions of leadership, either paid or unpaid.

I recognise this one statement alone is upsetting to people on both sides of this discussion, which points to the complexity of the issue for churches all over the world.

So if you are gay, are you welcome at Hillsong Church? Of course! You are welcome to attend, worship with us, and participate as a congregation member with the assurance that you are personally included and accepted within our community.

But (this is where it gets vexing), can you take an active leadership role? No.

This won’t make everyone happy and to some, this stance may even be seen as hypocritical. We are a gay welcoming church but we are not a church that affirms a gay lifestyle.

Pratt is yet to respond to Page’s criticism, and did not comment on the church’s LGBTQ stance during his interview.

If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]

Lucy Connolly

A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).