The Pride-themed display was vandalised (The Big Red Church of Fresno)

A church in Fresno, California has had its LGBTQ+-affirming display of rainbow-painted doors vandalised for the second time this summer.

The First Congregational Church of Fresno, known locally as “The Big Red Church”, discovered the damage early on Sunday morning (9 August), according to local Fox affiliate KMPH. The doors, painted in Pride colours and bearing the message “God’s doors are open to all”, had been knocked over and smashed.

Rev Simon Biasell-Moshrefi, the church’s pastor, said he was notified at 6am. “This is unfortunately not the first time that these doors have been vandalised. It happened earlier this summer as well,” he told KSEE/KGPE.

“By the time everybody exited church, our neighbours had reinstalled the doors and put it back up, which is one of the wonderful things about this neighbourhood, the Tower District,” Biasell-Moshrefi said.

The church, which has been part of Fresno’s Tower District for 76 years, has been an “Open & Affirming” congregation for more than 30 years.

“We are disheartened by this incident, but we want the community to know that this will not deter our congregation from opening its doors to all,” it said in a statement.

Biasell-Moshrefi added that LGBTQ+ people were welcome: “We want them to be in our church, and we want them to thrive.”

The church said its  stance had previously drawn homophobic voicemails and social media messages over the years. “Our church members unfortunately have gotten used to that kind of hate language,” Biasell-Moshrefi said. “So while this wasn’t anything new, it’s still painful to experience that kind of treatment.”

The Fresno Police Department told KMPH the incident was not being investigated as a hate crime. The church, meanwhile, struck a defiant note. “We believe that all people are sacred creations of a loving God,” it said.

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