Springfield, Missouri is called The Buckle of the Bible Belt, and it's never meant as a compliment. As in "If you are supposed to be the buckle of the Bible Belt, then why do you have homeless people, or meth or whatever?" It's always used as an example of Christian hypocrisy.
But in my experience most Springfield Christians are what they try to be, which is to be good people. I have seen great acts of generosity and compassion done often in the name of Christ. I have been welcomed to every church I have attended, even when my own behavior was rebellious and confrontational.
One of the reasons Springfield was given the Buckle name was because the Assembly of God Church built their headquarters there in the late 80s. Leaders Jim and Tammy Baker were the two most popular televangelists of the time, if not all time.
But I don't remember the Bakers being in any wayp involved in the Normal Heart protests. I doubt they were, considering Tammy was one of the first religious leaders to openly embrace the gay community.
No, the person behind the protests was Jean Dixon, our state representative.
"The play presents the perversion of homosexuality as though it were normal," Dixon complained to the news. She called the play propaganda for the Gay Political Party.
1200 people agreed, and formed the Citizens Demanding Standards.
When SMSU refused to stop the play, the bomb threats began.
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A Normal Heart in the Queen City
RandomIn the fall of 1989, Missouri State University put on a production of A Normal Heart, a play that discussed homosexuality and Aids. Springfield state representative Jean Dixon formed Citizens Demanding Standards to cancel the play. For a while we we...
