Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery says she is seeking a review of a church's use of a City of Newcastle building on behalf of constituents who complained about members of the church distributing pamphlets reading "heaven or hell, it's your decision" outside a gay pride event on Saturday.
The pastor of Fletcher's Grace Bible Baptist Church Charlie Haddad has defended the actions of church members who handed out pamphlets near the entrances of Newcastle's Pride Fair Day and placed flyers in the handles of cars near a Newcastle Pride party at the Cambridge Hotel, saying congregants were not targeting any "specific group".
The flyers made no mention of "homosexuals", he said, and members of his church pamphleteer at different events, letterbox and distribute the pamphlets in different areas of Newcastle each weekend.
"We go where the people are," Mr Haddad said.
The Newcastle Herald has viewed the flyers. They did not mention any specific sexuality or sexual acts. The booklet quoted bible passages describing hell and heaven, and stated people would receive the gift of eternal life if they were born again.
In a statement sent to the Herald on Tuesday, Ms Hornery described the church's actions as "hate speech".
"The group actively went out of its way to target a section of our community by targeting the Newcastle Pride Festival attendees," she said. "I will be following up with the City of Newcastle to seek their position on this group who are actively promoting hate speech, utilising a council owned and run facility."
"The group actively went out of its way to target a section of our community by targeting the Newcastle Pride Festival attendees."
Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery
The Grace Bible Baptist Church uses the Fletcher Community Centre for sermons on Sunday mornings and evenings.
While the building is owned by the City of Newcastle, it is managed by a not-for-profit organisation, called The Canopy. The third-party organisation manages several community halls in the Wallsend area. It is understood groups hire out the facility from The Canopy on an hourly basis.
The Herald sought comment from the City of Newcastle.
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