Pro- and anti-LGBTQ groups sparred verbally in front of ART/ifact Sunday afternoon as a drag show and fundraiser took place inside.
“The Bible says that God hates all workers of inequity,” said Oklahoma street preacher Rich Penkoski, who traveled to Lakeland to protest the event today.
After a little more than a minute into Penkoski’s protest, a Lakeland Police officer told him he could not use a megaphone, which he immediately stopped using.
Penkoski and other local protesters were outnumbered 3 to 1 on the sidewalk by LGBTQ supporters.
Multiple law enforcement officers from the Lakeland Police Department were also on hand.
LPD spokeswoman Stephanie Kerr said no arrests were made Sunday and there was no violence.
“Love will silence out the hate and it’s so easy to get caught up in it,” DeShazo told the crowd Sunday. “This week has shown me so much. Can I tell you how proud of Lakeland I am for the love that has come out of all of this – whatever it is? That was such a great representation of what we stand for and what we believe.”
The motto of DeShazo’s organization, the Rose Dynasty Foundation, has long been “loved, accepted, and wanted.”