Phil Snider: Missouri pastor’s gay rights speech goes viral

Two years ago, Texas councilman Joel Burns stood up to address a recent spate of suicides among gay teens in the Fort Worth area.

He spoke of his own experiences as a bullied gay teen and, in a moving speech, wanted today's crop of suffering kids to know that "it gets better" -- the tagline of a project aimed at giving hope to LGBT youth that their lives will improve once they become adults.

So when Springfield, Mo. pastor Phil Snider began his own speech against equal rights for gays during an August city council meeting, he appeared to be confirming everything Burns had railed against.

As the Daily Mail notes, the Brentwood Christian Church leader was there to speak at the hearing on amendments to Bill 2012-226. If passed, the bill would mean no one could be denied employment, public housing or living accommodation based on sexual orientation or gender identification.

"It's not that we don't care about homosexuals, but it's that our rights will be taken away, and un-Christian views will be forced on us and our children, and we'll be forced to go against our personal morals," Rev. Snider says in the video recording of his speech.

"The liberals leading this movement do not believe the Bible any longer… When you run into conflict with God's established order you run into trouble... Our city is in the gravest danger that is has ever been in its history."

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Snider continues his condemnation until he gets tripped up by one word: segregation.

"The right of segregation… is clearly established by the holy scriptures both by precept and example," he says, stumbling over the sentence in mock confusion before revealing his ruse.

"I've borrowed my argument from the wrong century," he finally admits to a surprised crowd, admitting that he'd been reading actual quotes from white preachers in the 1950s and 60s who fought to maintain racial segregation.

Snider ends his performance by urging council to sit on the "right side of history," by suggesting that the refusal to allot equal rights to the LGBT community will soon seem as ridiculous as barring racial integration.

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Since the video was uploaded, it has garnered nearly 2.5 million views and sparked impassioned discussion on message boards across the Web.

Many laud Snider for his progressive views and brave action -- support he has gratefully acknowledged on his personal blog.

Others have condemned him for what they see as an affront to their views.

As for Snider's impact on the bill, so far it remains somewhere in the middle. For the past two months, city council has put the proceedings on hold.

No doubt when they do revisit the bill, the eyes of the world will be watching.