As rumours of homophobia spark up around Chris Pratt once more, James Gunn took to Twitter to defend Pratt remaining in the role of Star-Lord.

In response to the new Thor: Love and Thunder trailer, alongside Star-Lord’s recent portrayal as bisexual in a 2020 edition of the Guardians of the Galaxy comic book series, fans have taken to Twitter to express why Marvel should replace Chris Pratt.

While user @themeghanlodon didn’t provide reasoning for her statement, she did call for Chris Pratt’s replacement and suggested Aquaman star, Patrick Wilson, take over the role. Meghan’s request for replacement is most likely based on the accusation that Pratt attends the Hillsong church and that they do not support LGBTQ rights, an assertion put forward by Elliot Page back in 2019.

“Marvel. Hear me out. Just… replace him.”

James Gunn took to the comment sections to refute the request for Chris Pratt’s replacement and claimed that the initial poster’s supporting rumours are made-up and false.

“For what? Because of your made-up, utterly-false beliefs about him? For something that someone else told you about him that’s not true? Chris Pratt would never be replaced as Star-Lord but, if he ever was, we would all be going with him.”

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1518621994429784065?s=20&t=sh-OQKdtR9diJcriseIiVA

In a follow-up Tweet, Gunn said that he knows the church Chris Pratt goes to and implies that the church isn’t homophobic.

“He isn’t. I know the church he currently goes to. Do you? (The answer is you don’t, but you heard from someone who heard from someone who heard from someone where he goes to church, so decided, “yeah, okay, I’ll believe this terrible thing I heard online about this celebrity!”)”

https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1518635085943164928?s=20&t=sh-OQKdtR9diJcriseIiVA

Many of these rumours were spawned from Elliot Page’s claims in 2019 that the church Chris Pratt attended was, “infamously anit lgbtq.” He later doubled down after Pratt responded and defended his initial inquiries.

Chris Pratt’s response involved an argument of defending the church by saying they supported him through his divorce. Although the link between supporting the divorce of a wealthy member of the church and supporting LGBTQ rights is only based on the fact that the bible says both are wrong.

“It has recently been suggested that I belong to a church which ‘hates a certain group of people’ and is ‘infamously anti-LGBTQ.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” he wrote.

“I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone. Despite what the Bible says about divorce, my church community was there for me every stop of the way, never judging, just gracefully accompanying me on my walk. They helped me tremendously offering love and support. It is what I have seen them do for others on countless occasions regardless of sexual orientation, race or gender.”

chris pratt elliot page
Image: Instagram @prattprattpratt

It is still unclear whether Pratt attended Hillsong church as a one-time ordeal, attend it for a period of time, or if he continues to attend it on a weekly basis. It is also important to mention that Pratt technically never attended Hillsong Church, which other celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Kevin Durant, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner have openly attended and endorsed. Pratt goes/went to Zoe church, which is a Hillsong affiliate based in Los Angeles.

Now to get to why Hillsong has such a bad reputation when it comes to LGBTQ rights, and why it is a reputation earned by the culture that leadership cultivated within the church. The leader of the New York branch of Hillsong, Carl Lentz, came under fire for saying in 2015 that homosexuality is a sin and that a gay member could never hold a leadership position.

That same year, when two male choir members of the church got married, Brian Houston, the church’s global senior pastor, released a statement against them.

“I wish to correct reports that Hillsong church has “an openly gay couple directing a choir” at our New York City campus. Hillsong’s position on homosexuality and gay marriage has not changed and is consistent with Scripture… it was a complete surprise to us as well. It is my understanding that they have not been involved in an active leadership or ministry role since.”

Statements such as these are the reason why people claim the church is anti-LGBTQ.

“If you are a famous actor and you belong to an organization that hates a certain group of people, don’t be surprised if someone simply wonders why it’s not addressed. Being anti LGBTQ is wrong, there aren’t two sides. The damage it causes is severe. Full stop. Sending love to all”

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