The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on
Saturday premiered The Book of John Gray, a reality show that
revolves around Pastor John Gray.
Gray is a pastor at Lakewood Church in
Houston, Texas, which boasts the largest congregation in the United
States with an average attendance of 52,000 parishioners per week.
In a trailer for the show, Gray and his
wife Aventer are seen struggling to keep their marriage together as
they raise their son John and daughter Theory Aspyn-Sky.
Instinct
Magazine points out that Pastor Gray is opposed to
LGBT rights that Winfrey has championed, such as marriage equality.
In a 2013 tweet, Gray called gay sex a
“sin” similar to fornication, adultery or “any other sin God
was clear about.”
A year earlier, Gray said that he was
“concerned” about President Barack Obama's announcement that he
supports the right of gay couples to marry.
“The Christian President of [the]
United States believes something different from the God he serves,”
Gray wrote in 2012. “Anyone else a little concerned?”
In 2014, he criticized the Grammys for
marrying 33 gay and straight couples during a performance of
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' Same Love. Queen Latifah entered
the stage through a church door to officiate over the weddings.
“Everyone is allowed to get married
based on state laws. But dishonoring ppl of faith by adding clear
church imagery is wrong. #Grammy's,” Gray messaged.
Gray has also protested comparisons
between the LGBT rights movement and the Civil Rights Movement,
chiding Brendon Ayanbadejo for making such a comparison in cheering
Michael Sam, the first openly gay football player to be drafted by
the NFL.
“@brendon310 to compare what Michael
Sam has done to what Rosa [P]arks did is dishonorable to the
systematic lynchings, murders...,” Gray tweeted in 2014.
The senior pastor at Lakewood Church is
Joel Osteen, who also is opposed to marriage equality and has called
gay sex a sin.
(Related: Joel
Osteen: I'm “for everybody” but I don't see “same-sex in the
scripture.”)