A West Virginia food bank’s shelves are bare after refusing supplies from organizations that are allegedly “part of the gay rights movement” because they support LGBTQ+ people.
“To let you know the reason why we’re in this position is because I done some research, I made the phone calls, I talked to the proper people,” said Pastor Alvin Christian in a since-deleted Facebook Live video. “Are y’all tied in or partners with LGBQ, T, whatever? And they said ‘yes.’ I done some more research and found out that they are part of the gay rights movement.”
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Pastor Christian runs the God’s Store House Food Bank in Bluefield, West Virginia, which until recently was serving over 800 families daily and 8,000 unique families every month across four Virginia and West Virginia counties.
But in a video, which was archived by another Facebook user, Christian shows bare shelves. He notes that he’s “had a lot of messages and a lot of concerns wondering when and why we haven’t given out food. As you can see, our cupboards are empty, our freezers are empty. We have nothing in the warehouse as far as food-wise as of this moment.”
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The food bank has clearly been a lifeline for many in the community, one that has now been cut off by Christian’s bigotry. Since it opened its doors in 2023, God’s Store House Food Bank has grown rapidly, and Christian has hoped to move to a larger venue. However, as Friendly Atheist, who first reported the story, notes, a GoFundMe Christian started to help fund the purchase of a permanent building has received zero donations so far.
Christian makes a clear connection between his faith and his decision to reject food supplies from organizations that support the LGBTQ+ community. “Well as a man of God and standing in faith with god, I refuse to receive food from anybody that is tied into that,” he says in the video. “I make a stand right here, right now. That’s why we haven’t had no food here in a while, because I will not be part of a gay rights movement because the [Feeding] America is partnered up with them and I will not be with them.”
Feeding America is a nonprofit, nationwide network of food banks.
He then goes as far as to call gay people an abomination, saying, “I refuse to be tied in to something of that nature that’s totally an abomination against god.”
It is worth noting that in the Bible, Jesus helps those he does not agree with and does not leave them to go hungry. There are also many interpretations that the prohibition against same-sex relationships in the Bible is actually just the result of a translation error or specific to a cultural context.
While he appears to be punishing the local needy because of the perceived sin of his supplier, Christian wants to make it clear that he does not discriminate. “Now hear this, I will not turn anybody away. I will not discriminate against anybody. I will be honest, I will love you the same, I will pray for you. I will give you food if I got it.”
While an apparent willingness to feed the LGBTQ+ community but not receive supplies from others who support the community seems strange, the contradiction is likely to harm the work of faith-based groups further.
In a 2022 podcast, Feeding America’s Chief Equity Officer, Ami McReynolds, explained that “22% of LGBTQ+ adults live in poverty and are disproportionately affected by food insecurity. 22%. A fact that makes this community twice as likely as others to face hunger.” A USDA report from the same year notes that trans people were “almost 2.5 times more likely than cisgender people to face food insufficiency during the pandemic.”
Despite that higher need, a Williams Institute study from 2020 showed that they were more hesitant to use food banks, especially if they were faith-based, out of fear of judgment or harassment. While many who visited faith-based food banks were warmly welcomed, the fear was there, and actions like Christian’s are likely to exacerbate that situation.
While Christian says he is searching for a new food supplier who is not associated with LGBTQ+ people, much of that hope seems to rest on God handling it for him. “Keep us in your prayers. Pray that God will open another door, cause the food belongs to him anyway. That he can continue to hopefully start shipping us food here soon. Always remember all you need is faith in God.”
Since his original video, he has posted a new one claiming that there was a misunderstanding and that the food bank wasn’t refusing donations, but refusing to purchase from organizations where the money might then go to LGBTQ+ groups.
However, the only organization mentioned in his initial video is Feeding America, which is a non-profit and does not sell food to food banks, but donates it after receiving external donations and corporate partnerships. LGBTQ Nation reached out to Feeding America for comment.
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