Subscribe nowIn a recent sermon titled Pray the Gay Away inside Indianapolis Sure Foundation Baptist Church, church leader Stephen Falco said the LGBTQ community should be ashamed of themselves and die. Theres nothing good to be proud about being a f*ggot. You ought to blow yourself in the head in the back of the head. Youre so disgusting, Falco said during the Churchs Mens Preaching Night.Shortly after, Brother Wayne from the Church doubled down on its desire to execute gay people, stating, I think they should be put to death. These people should be beaten and stomped in the mud, and then they should take a gun and blow the back of their heads off.We posted this on our Instagram and folks from all over started weighing in, outraged andin some casesconfused about how this level of hate speech isnt illegal in the U.S.Screengrabs of some of our Instagram followers remarks.These comments got me thinking is this definitely not illegal? In Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany, hate speech is restricted.However, in the U.S., hate speech is legally protected under freedom of speech laws. That means you can call someone a f*ggot or any horrific racial or antisemitic slur without facing legal repercussions. There are exceptions, including if something is considered a true threat where the speaker is knowingly causing someone to fear for their safety or if they use fighting words intended to provoke a violent reaction.But even then, there is still a high bar that would make the speech illegal in the eyes of a court. For a true threat, a judge will consider what the speaker intended; whether they knew how their speech would affect the receiver; whether they could reasonably carry out the threat; and how the receiver reacted.I reached out to a lawyer friend about the Churchs horrific remarks and he said that while the quote is dancing on the line of hate speech, he thinks the courtsand in particular the current conservative Supreme Courtwould likely rule that it wasnt a serious call to violence but rather a political statement.So what do you guys think? What should be done when someone is this vitriolic, hateful, threatening and abusive toward LGBTQ people?Subscribe for LGBTQ-focused, accountability journalism.NIH Halts Black Infant Health Study Amid DEI Controversy (The Cincinnati Herald)The study, which focused on how stress associated with racism and poverty might alter gene function and contribute to adverse birth outcomes, lost its funding under a new NIH directive targeting research areas deemed inconsistent with national priorities.Democratic Governor Vetoes Anti-Trans Measure Passed by Republican Legislature (LGBTQ Nation)"My faith teaches me that we are all children of God," Gov. Josh Stein said as he vetoed the measure.Church Stands by Call to Execute Gay People: I Will Not Apologize for Preaching the Word of God. (LGBTQ Nation)A men's night sermon said gay people should "blow yourself in the back of the head."Trumps Tax Law by the Numbers: $1 Trillion Less for Medicaid, $75 Billion More for ICE (The 19th)The new law extends tax breaks for the wealthy, slashes Medicaid and food aid and expands immigration enforcement threatening health care, nutrition and safety nets for millions.Subscribe nowWeve passed 10,000 subscribers! Thank you for being part of this amazing milestone. Your support and readership mean everything to us. Were just getting started, and we need you with us to keep the momentum going. Stay tuned! Well be celebrating 10K strong in your inbox very soon!Over the next week, be on the lookout for new Uncloseted reporting: The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline recently discontinued Option 3, a call menu route once dedicated to specialized support for LGBTQ youth. While the broader crisis line remains active, the closure has raised alarms among mental health professionals, advocates and those who relied on the unique services it offered. We investigate why Option 3 was shut down, who is most affected and what the decision reveals about the state of mental health support systems in the U.S. Alex Byrne, an MIT philosophy professor with connections to at least one Southern Poverty Law Center-designated hate group and no experience with gender medicine, recently came forward as one of the authors for the Trump administrations controversial HHS report on pediatric gender dysphoria. We spoke with MIT students and others who know Prof. Byrne to hear about how this revelation has rocked the department.Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me with questions, complaints and story ideas! Spencer Macnaughton, Editor-In-Chief spencer@unclosetedmedia.comIf objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media