'A new level of anger': Demonstrators disrupt worship at Florida churches

The protests mirror a national trend, with anti-LGBTQ incidents doubling in the last two years.

Rev. Terri Steed Pierce has encountered hate before. People have stood outside her church and shouted that as a gay woman she is an affront to the gospel. Videos of her sermons have been altered to make her sound like a cartoon character and used in social media campaigns to disparage women and the LBGTQ+ community.

But March 9, was the first time the hate found its way inside Joy Metropolitan Ministries, as protesters entered the Orlando church and interrupted her service shouting “synagogue of sin” to the majority LGBTQ+ congregation.

“They actually came inside our sanctuary and spewed hate from our safe space,” said Steed Pierce.

Another Orlando church — one with a gay pastor — faced similar protests this month. At both churches, leaders have now hired off-duty police officers to serve as security guards for their Sunday morning services.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2025/03/30/orlando-church-protests-lgbtq-incident/

These obnoxious assholes are both emboldened and relentless.