Joan Parker Charged With Assault For Kissing Preacher At Gay Pride Event

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A Bible-waving preacher protesting at a gay pride event in North Carolina turned the other cheek – and got kissed on it by a 74-year-old female gay rights supporter who is now charged with simple assault.

Joan Parker admits she kissed a preacher on the cheek at the event, proclaimed by the Salisbury mayor as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Day.

"He was just waving his arms and has a Bible in one hand, up and down, and screaming at the top of his lungs, `sodomites' and `you're going to hell,'" Parker said in a phone interview. "I thought he needed a hug. So I gave him a hug."

At some point, Parker said, the preacher turned to yell to a man with a camera to take a picture of her. Also at some point, she kissed him. On the cheek, she says, not on the mouth.

"He claims I kissed him on the lips, and he's a damned liar," said Parker, who is from Colfax and said he was at the event with her husband to show support. "I believe I did kiss him on his cheek."

The preacher, James Edward Belcher of Taylorsville, says he never claimed Parker kissed him on the lips, but that's only because he turned his face as she came toward him.

"If I hadn't turned my head, I'd have gotten it right on my mouth," said Belcher, 49, minister at New Light Baptist Church No. 2 in Millers Creek.

He described the encounter this way: "She ran her arms all the way around me and pulled me toward her." As he held his Bible in one hand, he stuck both arms in the air and turned toward a police officer standing nearby who witnessed the exchange, he said.

Belcher contends the kiss "was just one of many attempts to silence the preaching to those in need of salvation who practice a death style that they call a lifestyle."

Police estimate that about 2,000 gay rights activists attended the event Saturday, along with 200 protesters. Belcher was among several people who showed up to preach and protest, even though they didn't have a permit. Police let them stay, with some rules, so officers didn't have to spend all of their time issuing citations.

Rory Collins, police chief in the town located about 45 miles northeast of Charlotte, said Belcher wanted to press charges, which he hadn't expected. Belcher contends police would have charged him if he had touched a 74-year-old woman and that he didn't personally pursue charges.

And it doesn't matter if Parker was aiming for Belcher's mouth or cheek, Collins said.

"She might disagree with this, but it wasn't done as a show of affection," he said. "It was an unwanted touching."

Parker is due back in court Sept. 12. Simple assault is a misdemeanor and could bring a sentence of up to 30 days of community service for a first-time offender.

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Comments

[Vikingdave]

06:32 PM on 07/24/2011

Pastor. Should you have not offered,,,,,,,,,,,, the other cheek as well.

[aviandonn]

07:42 PM on 07/23/2011

Hehehe. Now that preacher is going to lie awake at night worrying about whether he's caught 'the gay.'

[Vikingdave]

06:30 PM on 07/24/2011

I sincerely hope so. The lie awake at night part i mean.

[Randy Dye]

03:58 PM on 07/07/2011

Will PIIGS Fly in the United States?

http://randysright.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/will-piigs-fly-in-the-united-states/

[Randy Dye]

03:51 PM on 07/07/2011

Hanging High Noon Texas Showdown…Execution of Mexican murderer set for tonight as Obama seeks to stop it!!!

http://randysright.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/hanging-high-noon-texas-showdown-execution-of-mexican-murderer-set-for-tonight-as-obama-seeks-t-stop-it/

[Chipper1]

03:50 PM on 07/07/2011

Oops! I guess I'm guilty of the same thing because I kissed my octogenarian House rep on the cheek when he was in town at a politcal event. My bad! Seriously, what judge would take this charge seriously? Maybe a N.C. judge.

[planman]

03:24 PM on 07/07/2011

When 74-year old woman is charged for assault for kissing a hateful "preacher" (yeah, i'm sure he got a divinity degree at some prestigious strip mall in rural NC), then you know that full civil rights for all gay people is inevitable and just around the corner.

[Randy Dye]

03:54 PM on 07/07/2011

Bottom line...keep your hands to yourself. I wouldn't allow some strange woman/man try to come up and kiss me on the lips, dang Moonbats!! One good question if I may ask. Why is it no southerners are fleeing to the North, yet the North is fleeing to the South??
It is what it is

[planman]

04:37 PM on 07/07/2011

Well, as a native of the South and someone who works in economic development, I can answer your question regarding why people are moving to the South.

1) If you're old enough to recall, the migration of industry and people to the South began once Federal Civil Rights legislation turned a provincial backwater with a history of slavery, voter suppression and human rights violations into a begrudgingly law-abiding region of the USA.
2) With warmer weather, cheap labor and cheap land, the South became an attractive place for industry to expand or relocate.
3) With baby boomers reaching working age at exactly the same time, the US was primed for enormous economic expansion and the South was fertile for development, having lagged behind the rest of the country for its entire history.
4) Some states, like NC, made good decisions to invest in education, high tech and economic development. Others, like Alabama were more intransigent and less successful.

...the hateful preacher in the article is a vestige of the Old South--a place where hate, classism, racism, homophobia and other societal DYSFUNCTIONS were legion... he hardly represents the thinking of Southerners under the age of 40 who all attended integrated schools and were exposed to a more diverse nation and world through television, the internet, and improved travel and mobility.

[Randy Dye]

01:05 AM on 07/07/2011

http://randysright.wordpress.com/about-me/

[Randy Dye]

01:04 AM on 07/07/2011

MAYOR KLUTZ HAS GOT TO GO…Video Gay Pride Day Salisbury NC (the short verion)

http://randysright.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/mayor-klutz-has-got-to-go-video-gay-pride-day-salisbury-nc-the-short-verion/

[Dahveed1]

10:35 PM on 07/06/2011

It sounds like he should've been charged with assaulting everyone's ears.

From the headlines, I assumed a gay man had kissed the straight (and obnoxious) male preacher.

[ipolitics123]

10:22 PM on 07/06/2011

"Belcher contends police would have charged him if he had touched a 74-year-old woman and that he didn't personally pursue charges."

You know, I have to agree with the guy on this (nothing else, but this). Police generally don't cut males any slack in this area - touch a woman (in ANY way) against her will and you're going to jail and probably doing some time. Women, on the other hand, get much more leeway in this area, not just from cops but from society at large.

For example, how many times have you seen a movie where a man received a "funny" punch or a "funny" kick in the groin from a woman? Ever seen a movie where a man punched a woman and didn't suffer immediate (and serious) consequences?

Strangely, I don't hear feminist voices arguing against THIS double standard. Hmmmm.....

[Dahveed1]

10:47 PM on 07/06/2011

Yup, nailed that one. Somehow in our society its ok for a woman to do lots of things, some of which are definitely a no-no for a guy. Society will never be completely fair and equal, but there are signs of progress.

[TexasTreader]

11:01 PM on 07/06/2011

I don't see gender-blindness as progress. Blame my Southern roots but girls aren't guys and shouldn't be treated like them. I even teach my son that "girls are fragile and delicate like a little flower." Political correctness is just silly.

[Futurama]

01:48 AM on 07/07/2011

Men can run around without a shirt. Women can't.

[Futurama]

02:00 AM on 07/07/2011

I bet you unwanted kissing and touching of women goes on in bars and strip clubs every night and the guys may be asked to leave but not arrested.

"Ever seen a movie where a man punched a woman and didn't suffer immediate (and serious) consequenc­es?"

What's Love Got To Do With It?

[jlleon7]

07:25 PM on 07/06/2011

It is clear that the the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lame excuse for the Viet Nam War

[c15stars]

04:44 PM on 07/06/2011

I guess this " preacher " didn't know that he was suppose to turn the other cheek.
If this guy is a real preacher, then I'm Kyle Busch. lol

[Dahveed1]

10:42 PM on 07/06/2011

Maybe he's one of those hate-mongering preachers from that westboro church. WWJD? Strangely, I never read anywhere in the bible where Jesus stood on a street corner and yell insults at everyone in the street. Perhaps I skipped that part?

Yelling insults at the top of his lungs. Sounds like a typical Huffposter.

[Spiggy]

03:38 PM on 07/06/2011

Just once I would love to see one of these peaceful rally's go medievel when one of these so called Preachers's show up. Would be nice to see if his god is around to protect him from the big bad gay people.

[ipolitics123]

10:24 PM on 07/06/2011

I'll bet you're one of those people who thinks violence is just AWFUL when directed against gays though. It's so nice to not have a consistent morality, isn't it?

(/snark)

[Spiggy]

01:25 AM on 07/07/2011

Actually I think ignorance like yours is worse, but hey, I could not expect anything less from someone as weak in knowledge and worldly experiences as yourself as yourself.

And my morality is limited to those I deem deserve it. You see when a hypocrite such as this preacher shows up screaming hatred and going against everything that he swears upon in the bible, they deserve a good smack back into reality IMO. You might not think so, but hey, i doubt you have ever been accused of thinking too much.

FYI, I did not proof read this post either so if you want to criticize my literary and typing skills, feel free to do so. I mean it will be about the only thing you will have as ammunition for you have nothing of substance to add to any discussion.

[Hope Richardson]

03:04 PM on 07/06/2011

He's probably so mad about it because the kiss burned into his skin. Her kiss was too pure for him!

[Transam man]

12:19 PM on 07/06/2011

Is this from "The Onion"?