WATCH: New Christian Anti-Gay Movie Stars Pro-LGBT Equality Actors

Audacity is a new anti-gay, Christian film with pro-equality actors. Is that an oxymoron?

Just when you thought you’ve seen it all when it comes to the anti-gay religious right’s hateful tactics, something new happens to surprise you. For example, how about a new movie with an anti-gay plot, starring people who support LGBT equality in real life? Yes, that’s really happening, and just for clarification, no, this isn’t a comedy.

Audacity, the new 55-min. film by executive producer Ray Comfort is currently available for download for $19.99 on the movie’s website. Its official release will be on August 2, but according to religious right-wing Charisma News, thousands have apparently flooded to audacitymovie.com to purchase the film since they launched their downloadable pre-release online.

Perplexingly, two of the stars, Travis Owens (Friday Night Lights, Sordid Lives: The Series) and Molly Ritter, support LGBT equality in real life. Both of them posted supporting messages on Twitter in response to the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling last month.

So why did the actors sign on to a film with an anti-equality agenda? Owens gave an interview with the Friendly Atheist Podcast to clarify why and how he participated in the film.

“I think that I got the complete script about a week before filming,” Owens told the Friendly Atheist, “after some kind of rehearsals of scenes and I knew that, the only thing that I knew was that the goal, the mission of the movie was, from the beginning, to open up the conversation between religious people and gay people, and that to me sounds like a great starting point to something, you know, and that’s as basic as it was. So I was like, I am interested in that kind of topic of discussion and then it started to kind of form and evolve.”

Owens didn’t back out of the project after he knew what was really going on. Instead, he took it as an opportunity to challenge himself by acting in a role that is the complete opposite of how he is in real life.

“My little brother’s gay, my best friend’s gay, and my sister’s gay,” Owens continued, “and the first thing I did is took this project to them and said, ‘hey this is what it seems like I’m doing here,’ and they were excited for me. They were genuinely excited because A, they know that they want to see me do that role because they’re like that is so opposite of you that I’d be interested in even seeing you in that role, and I’m a comic. This is not a role that’s strictly for a comedic actor.”

When Hemant Mehta, aka the Friendly Atheist, asked Comfort if he was aware of the actors’ views on LGBT rights before filming, Comfort gave them the following answer:

“We were looking for good actors. That was the criteria, rather then what they believed. Often Christians like to ‘keep it in the family,’ but years ago I learned that isn’t always a good idea. I went to a dentist because he was a friend rather than because of his ability, and it was a painful mistake. We were aware that even a few seconds of bad acting is very painful, and so we chose the actors solely by merit. Travis and Molly are both excellent actors and wonderful people. They are also extremely professional, and we really enjoyed working with them and getting to know them. What they believe is their business. In America we have the freedom to have differing convictions and still get along. That’s healthy.”

That seems like a very professional way to handle the situation, however that hasn’t stopped Comfort from calling foul to all the negative reviews his movie has gotten on IMDB. The average review score is currently 3.1 out of 10 stars. 

Just how did the movie get a score higher than zero? Well, it has the support of the typical anti-LGBT crowd flaunting their praise. Take a look at these anti-gay activists in this screenshot from Audacity’s website: 

 

Jeremy Hooper at Good As You calls Ray Comfort a “longtime anti-gay propagandist,” and notes Comfort says the point of the movie is how gay people can and should be “free of their sin.”

Hooper adds, “this is not just a simple movie. This is cause that Comfort is pushing into Christian churches. That is what Ray Comfort’s work is all about: evangelization. He creates content for the purpose of pulling people to his view. It’s political (though he’d see it as spiritual).”

Camille Beredjick, also at Friendly Atheist, posted a lengthy review, concluding the “target audience is not ‘homosexuals’ seeking to repent, but supportive Christians who aren’t doing enough to marginalize and harass their LGBT friends and family.”

Here’s the trailer:

 

 

 

Image, top, via Facebook