Exclusive: Swiss Official Calls US Preacher’s Anti-Gay Attack ‘Wrong In Every Point’

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Last week, Rick Joyner, a Christian Minister and head of Morningstar Ministries, a huge megachurch operation, claimed gay activists are “advocating” to “forbid marriage between a male and a female,” as The New Civil Rights Movement reported.

WATCH: Gays ‘Advocating’ To ‘Forbid Marriage Between A Male And A Female’ Says Joyner

But Joyner also made a ludicrous attack on the country of Switzerland, claiming that he was told “it’s hate speech” in Switzerland to refer to one’s spouse as “husband” or wife.”

“I was in Switzerland this past summer and speaking at a conference I kept hearing people say, ‘my partner,’ instead of their wife or husband,” Joyner told Michael L. Brown, an anti-gay author:

“One guy actually said, ‘And my wife,’ — it was like it shocked him — ‘No, I mean, my partner.’ I took him aside afterwards and asked him, ‘Why are you so afraid to say husband or wife here?’”

“He said, ‘It’s hate speech. We can go to jail for that’,” Joyner said, adding, “It’s happening in America.”

As we reported last week, the Consulate General of Switzerland denied Joyner’s claim when The New Civil Rights Movement spoke with them last week, but today, Michael Vettiger, of the Economic Affairs and Communication department at the Consulate General of Switzerland in New York City sent to The New Civil Rights Movement the following statement regarding our inquiry about Joyner’s claim:

Mr. Joyner’s claim is wrong in every point and lacks any legal or moral ground. In fact, there is no provision in Swiss criminal law that could in any way provide a legal base to condemn somebody for calling its spouse “wife” or “husband”. Nor does such a case exist within Swiss jurisprudence. The Swiss penal code contains a strong and comprehensive provision criminalizing hate speech on racial and discriminatory grounds (art 261bis) but it does in no way apply to the case alluded to by Mr Joyner.

Apparently, the Swiss government was concerned enough about the manner in which Joyner is defaming their country that they felt obliged to respond to the attack.

It’s good to know that anti-gay “preachers” in America cannot go about bearing false witness without being called out for it.

Mr. Joyner’s Morningstar Ministries did not respond to a call for comment.

Image, top: Rick Joyner, via Facebook