Ellen Page Slams Chris Pratt For Attending ‘Infamously Anti-LGBTQ’ Church
Ellen Page is calling Chris Pratt out for failing to acknowledge his church's anti-LGBTQ stance.
The actor appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where he discussed his faith and going to church. During the show, Pratt revealed that he had just completed a 21-day cleanse called the "Daniel Fast," inspired by the Book of Daniel. He said he was "inspired" by his pastor to do it.
"I did it through my church," Pratt shared. "It's based on Daniel...he was a guy, who...only ate fruits and vegetables and grains...I was inspired by my pastor, we do it, it's kind of like our Lent, you know, give something up. And so, for 21 days I had no meat, no sugar, no alcohol, and it was actually amazing, it was really cool!"
He did not, however, mention that the church he attends has a long history of negative views toward members of the LGBTQ community. Page, 31, took to Twitter after Pratt's late show appearance to discuss the issue.
"Oh. K. Um. But his church is infamously anti lgbtq so maybe address that too?" she tweeted on Friday.
Pratt attends Zoe Church in Los Angeles, according to a report from Vox. The church bills itself as "a place where our doors are open to people of all backgrounds," pastor Chad Veach, told The New York Times in Mach he "modeled his church after Hillsong." He occasionally preaches at the aforementioned church, which is attended by many famous folks, including Justin Bieber and Kourtney Kardashian. Brian Houston, Hillsong's pastor, released a statement in 2015 called "Do I Love Gay People?" in which he said the church was "a gay welcoming church but we are not a church that affirms a gay lifestyle."
"Hillsong Church welcomes ALL people but does not affirm all lifestyles," the statement read. "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 recognize 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."
Page's call to Pratt comes not long after she appeared on The Late Show to make an impassioned speech about the current administration's views on LGBTQ people. Video from the speech went viral.
"If you are in a position of power and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them – you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering. What do you think is going to happen?" She said. "Kids are going to be abused, and they're going to kill themselves. And people are going to be beaten on the street. I have traveled the world and I have met the most marginalized people you can meet. I am lucky to have this time and this privilege to say this. This needs to f---ing stop."