Christian Restaurant Owner Accused of Incitement for Displaying Bible Verses about Homosexuality

Case information
Incident date
Country
Germany
Place
Berlin
Categories
  • Government Restrictions
Attack Against
  • Morals
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Radical Left
Societal Sphere
  • Governmental
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Lawsuit
  • Defamation
  • Freedom of Expression
  • Freedom of Religion
Place of Incident
  • Business
Bias Indicators
  • Racial/Ethnic/Gender/Cultural Differences
  • Victim/Witness Perception
Symbolic image; not a photograph of the reported incident.Image credit: Sincerely Media on Unsplash

The prosecuting attorney's office in Berlin instituted preliminary proceedings against Park Young-Ai, a 71 year-old Christian who owns a Korean restaurant in the Berlin district Schöneberg. She was accused of incitement for displaying a bible verse critical of homosexuality in the window of her restaurant "Ixthys". She was subject to a house search and has been called to a hearing.

Several complaints had previously been submitted to the association of lesbians and gays (Lesben- und Schwulenverband Berlin). Their director Yasmine Blanche-Werder and the general manager Jörg Steinert requested in a letter that the "abusive message" be taken down.

Park Young-Ai explained that she was not going to take the bible verse (Leviticus 18,22) down since the bible talked about homosexuality being a sin and it was a matter of salvation. Her wish is for people to find their way to God. Homosexuals are being served in the restaurant and conversations about faith are not forced on anybody. "We love these people too."

Sources