When Brice Ehmig encountered a homophobic preacher on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University, she decided to fight back with music.
Ehmig, who is in her fourth year at the university, began drowning out the preacher’s anti-gay remarks by playing “Amazing Grace” and other songs on her bagpipes, as seen in the video above. The preacher, who was wearing a “Jesus Saves From Hell” T-shirt at the time of the Aug. 19 incident, appeared visibly agitated by Ehmig’s presence, but continued his spiel, which included comparing being gay to bestiality.
The political science major, who hails from Dunedin, Florida, told the Daily Record in an interview Tuesday that she’d seen and experienced “too much tragedy in the LGBTQ community to let a man in cargo pants tell me I am the embodiment of sin.”
As it turns out, the preacher is a regular presence on campus, which inspired Ehmig to “to stand up against these false prophets spewing bigotry.”
In an interview with Eagle News, the university’s student newspaper, Ehmig said she hopes students and faculty “realize that he does not represent religion,” and she didn’t think the preacher should be kicked off campus.
She went on to add the following:
“People should be honest about their feelings and if you have a creative, non-violent way to protest, go for it.”
H/T Towleroad
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